The ongoing year can be considered a revolutionary one for cryptocurrency investors. The widespread adoption of Bitcoin and other digital tokens have meant cryptocurrencies are now viewed as an alternative asset class. The future looks extremely bright for long-term crypto investors. Let’s see which tokens operating in the gaming space have generated maximum returns in the first 11 months of 2021.
Gala
The first cryptocurrency on my list is Gala, which has gained close to 62,000% in 2021. Valued at a market cap of US$4.44 billion, Gala Games was launched in 2019 and currently has 1.3 million monthly active users. The platform has sold 26,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with the most expensive token sold at US$3 million, according to CoinMarketCap.
Gala Games is focused on creating blockchain games where users can own the asset they win while playing these games. The items won are verifiable assets on the blockchain that can be traded with other players or can be used to play in-game.
Axie Infinity
One of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world, Axie Infinity is valued at a market cap of US$8.18 billion, and the AXS token has surged 22,584% in 2021. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Axie Infinity is a battling game that allows players to trade Axies, which are NTFs. Right now, there are close to 61 million AXS tokens in circulation.
The rising popularity of Axie Infinity provides investors with an advantage compared to other crypto-based games. In May 2021, Sky Mavis, which is the company that developed Axie Infinity raised US$7.5 million in a Series A funding round from high-profile investors, including Mark Cuban and Alexis Ohan, who is the co-founder of Reddit. Recently, it closed a US$152 million Series B funding round, valuing Sky Mavis at a market cap of US$3 billion.
The Sandbox
The Sandbox, which offers a digital token called SAND, is a cryptocurrency valued at a market cap of US$6.3 billion. In the last year, SAND has returned 18,500% to investors. A key driver of these gains can be tied to the launch of The Sandbox Alpha, a play-to-earn event where 5,000 selected players can earn rewards that include NFTs as well as SAND tokens.
As the play-to-earn metaverse games are rising in popularity, the digital tokens associated with these platforms are also gaining traction. The Sandbox platform currently has over 500,000 registered wallets and 12,000 virtual landowners.
Decentraland
The final crypto-gaming platform on my list is Decentraland, which is valued at a market cap of US$8.6 billion, making it the 23rd-largest cryptocurrency in the world. Its token MANA has surged 5,530% this year, and there are 1.82 billion tokens in circulation, at the time of writing.
Similar to most other networks, Decentraland is also powered by the Ethereum blockchain, allowing users to create and monetize gaming applications.
Decentraland was launched in 2017 after it raised US$24 million in an initial coin offering. Users can purchase virtual plots of land on this platform that can later be monetized. Decentraland recently announced the largest ever metaverse land purchase for US$3 million by Tokens.com.
