Metaverse tokens trade volumes on CEX drop to all-time lows

The metaverse attracted a lot of unwelcome attention on October 7 after CoinDesk reported using data from DappRadar that two of the most well-known metaverse crypto coins, Decentraland (MANA) and The Sandbox (SAND), had just 38 daily active users and 522 users, respectively.

Although these numbers have since been called into question due to the manner in the way that DappRadar defines active users. However, the latest figures on October 18 from DappRadar suggest Decentraland currently has 650 daily Unique Active Wallets (UAW), or people engaging with the dApp, which is identified as a decentralized application that operates on a blockchain without a central administrator.

New numbers of daily active users on Decentraland. Source: DappRadar

Metaverse tokens, as a result, found themselves thrust into the limelight once more. Interestingly, the trade volume for four of the largest metaverse tokens, The Sandbox, Decentraland, Axie Infinity (AXS), and Enjin (ENJ), in September 2020, has apparently fallen to an all-time low, per Kaiko exchange volume data for eight exchanges published on October 17.

Notably, the lack of momentum for blockchain-based metaverses is evident in trading volumes, with last month being the lowest-ever CEX trade volume for AXS, SAND, MANA, and ENJ, totaling just under 1% of daily Bitcoin (BTC) transactions.

Kaiko commented:

“Despite the historically low volumes, liquidity is generally similar to tokens with similar market caps. Conveniently, SAND, MANA, and AXS are the 46, 47, and 48 largest tokens by market cap according to CoinGecko and were sandwiched by AAVE at 45 and XTZ at 49 at the time of this writing; ENJ is 92nd.”

Gaming continues to dominate the metaverse

That said, although the cryptocurrency market may be going through turbulent times, Finbold reported on October 12 that Web3 games and metaverse projects are still recording massive investments.

Data from DappRadar revealed that blockchain and metaverse projects received $1.3 billion in investments throughout Q3, albeit a 48% decrease compared to Q2 2022. As Real Vision opined on the statistics:

“On-chain metrics now signal a recovering crypto market with Web3 gaming leading the charge.”

With this growing demand, Japanese gaming giant Konami revealed it is making inroads to widen its crypto talent pool while simultaneously focusing on offering Web3 and metaverse experiences, as well as trying to embrace a new non-fungible token (NFT) market.

Metaverse land value decreases

Finbold earlier reported on the metaverse projects that offer the highest return on investment (ROI), pinpointing metaverse game Axie Infinity, as well as two virtual environments where you can purchase metaverse land – The Sandbox and Decentraland – as the most profitable.

However, the trade volume for 18 metaverse virtual land projects had dropped by 98% from its high in November 2021, when it reached barely over $8 million. Furthermore, the profitability of metaverse land flipping has decreased in tandem with falling earnings in Q2.

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