Blockchain metaverses are alive and well. These otherworldly projects are still in their infancy and, as the world moves slowly into virtual space, the best metaverse cryptos could one day become valuable. So, which ones are the best?
This page compares the best metaverse cryptos to keep an eye on. The tokens are part of new and existing ecosystems. We delved into these virtual realms to discover the ones that show the most potential.
Now we unpack them in this comparative guide.
1. Axie Infinity (AXS) - Overall Best Option
2. Decentraland (MANA) - Best Open World
3. The Sandbox (SAND) - Best Metaverse for Building Experiences
4. Gala (GALA) - Most Enjoyable Metaverse Games
5. Enjin (ENJ) - Best Metaverse Integration
6. ApeCoin (APE) - Most Anticipated Metaverse
7. Vulcan Forged (PYR) - Best Metaverse Gaming Studio
8. Alien Worlds (TLM) - Most Played Metaverse Game
9. RMRK - Most Advanced NFT Standard
10. Metacade (MCADE) - Best Web3 Community
11. Wax (WAXP) - Best Web3 Gaming Blockchain
12. Star Atlas DAO (POLIS) - Best Metaverse Graphics
13. Illuvium (ILV) - Best Auto-battler Game
14. Defi Kingdoms (JEWEL) - Best Metaverse with DeFi Integration
15. Render (RNDR) - Best Rendering Platform
Metaverse Token
Exchanges Listed
Blockchain Network
Axie Infinity (AXS)
20+
Ronin
Decentraland (MANA)
22+
Ethereum, Polygon
The Sandbox (SAND)
21+
Gala (GALA)
Ethereum
Enjin (ENJ)
ApeCoin (APE)
Vulcan Forged (PYR)
19+
Ethereum, Polygon, Wax
Alien Worlds (TLM)
23+
Wax, Binance Smart Chain
RMRK
3+
Polkadot, Moon River, Moon Beam
Metacade (MCADE)
-
Wax (WAXP)
17+
Wax
Star Atlas DAO (POLIS)
11+
Solana
Illuvium (ILV)
Ethereum, Immutable X
Defi Kingdoms (JEWEL)
5+
Harmoney, Avalanche, DFK, Klatyn
Render (RNDR)
The metaverse is a shared digital space where multiple people (users) can exist simultaneously, interact with one another, play games, work, shop, and carry out many of the activities that they already do online. In many ways, the metaverse is the next iteration of the internet.
The concept was first coined in 1993 by a science fiction novelist, although it could be said that the metaverse started when the internet became interconnected.
The first iteration of a metaverse came in 2003 with Second Life, an adult virtual world with a thriving economy, and Robolox, an online platform where users can create games and play games created by others.
Minecraft, an open world where people could build experiences, buy materials, and trade tools items launched in November 2011. Since then, several games and open worlds have been launched including Fortnite, PubG, World of Warcraft, etc. However, they were all controlled by centralised entities.
The true revolution came with the invention of both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin used blockchain technology to prove digital scarcity could exist, and Ethereum allowed people to build decentralised applications on a blockchain.
The major difference between blockchain-based metaverses and others is that the ownership of items on blockchain-based metaverses can be mathematically proven and no one can take them away from the owners.
AXS is the metaverse token for the Axie Infinity universe where cute little creatures, called Axies, build, breed, and battle across several planes. Axie Infinity started out as a game on the Ethereum blockchain that ushered in the era of play-to-earn gaming.
You can buy Axies or their eggs, grow them, accessorise them, and then battle them against other people’s Axies to win AXS. You can also own land to help grow and feed your Axies. All items are NFTs with verifiable proof of ownership.
We like Axie Infinity because its play-to-earn mechanics creates a win-win situation for everyone. If you win battles, you earn money, the game gets a steady stream of active users, and the ecosystem grows as people come up with innovative ways to win battles.
Axie Infinity universe runs on the Ronin blockchain, a blockchain dedicated to the metaverse. It operates on the same standard as Ethereum and also uses the ETH coin to buy Axies, land, and accessories.
To begin playing, you’ll need a team of at least 3 Axies which can be bought with Wrapped Ether (WETH) on the game’s marketplace. The price of Axies changes with their power level, attributes, and the price of ETH.
As of writing, Axie Infinity has processed $3.6 billion in transactions and has 2.8 million daily active users. AXS also serves as a governance coin that grants its holders voting rights on proposals for the future of the universe.
AXS hit an all-time high of $150 in November 2021 but has since lost over 90% of its value as metaverse coins are one of the first to fall during bear markets. Its 52-week high is around $71.44 while its 52-week low is around $6.02.
AXS has a total supply of 270 million coins, 114 million of which are in circulation. This means that more than 50% of the total coin supply is still locked away. As time goes on, these coins will be released, which may create sell pressure on the price of tokens in the market.
You can buy AXS on exchanges like eToro
MANA is the metaverse token for Decentraland, an Ethereum-based open world. Decentraland is a metaverse in its true form as it provides a platform where users can congregate and do pretty much anything they want.
We love Decentraland because of the endless possibilities it creates. You can build an Avatar that represents you, buy land and build experiences on it, invite your friends over and even charge for entry.
We’ve been to museums, pyramids, art galleries, and several places in Decentaland, including a game where we mined precious gems. All land, accessories, and items are ERC-721 NFTs, so your ownership is verifiable.
Decentraland has taken another step towards decentralisation by creating a DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation) that owns all the open world’s key assets, including its smart contracts and content servers, and decides on the future of the project.
Anyone can belong to this DAO and vote on issues by holding MANA in their decentralised wallets.
Everything purchased in Decentraland is done so with MANA, including land. The tokens used to buy things end up being burned, creating perpetual utility provided the open world retains users.
MANA has a total supply of 2.19 billion tokens, 1.82 billion of which are in circulation. This means that 83% of its total supply is already priced. While future token unlocks can create sell pressure, mechanics like token burns have been put in place to gradually reduce the supply.
MANA hit an all time high of $5.12 in November 2021 and has since fallen to a recent low of $0.29. Its market capitalisation currently sits at $1.3 billion, making it the largest metaverse token by market capitalisation.
You can also buy MANA on exchanges like eToro
The Sandbox is an open-world metaverse project with a Minecraft look and feel. Like Decentraland, users can buy land, collectables, wearables and other items, create experiences, and trade items in the in-world marketplace.
We like Sandbox because it provides a platform for game builders, including large companies, to build full-fledged games. Once you purchase land, you can build pretty much anything you want, thanks to the custom builder.
Sandbox has attracted the attention of major celebrities and brands. Major game publishers like Atari and Animoca Brands own mega estates in Sandbox’s metaverse and have built various digital “experiences” for fans.
Celebrities like Snoop Dog also own virtual real estate on which he has hosted concerts. Most available land parcels are listed on OpenSea, a major NFT marketplace.
The SAND token has been integrated into the platform and is used to transfer value throughout the metaverse. The token is needed to buy land, avatar accessories, gems, and other collectables in the marketplace.
The token is also used to stake on land to earn a share of rewards from that land. It is used by creators to list their creations on the marketplace, and for players to gain access to some games and experiences.
SAND has a total supply of 3 billion tokens, 1.58 billion of which are in circulation. This means that there is still a sizable chunk of tokens that are yet to be released. This could cause significant sell pressure at future release dates.
The token reached an all time high of $7.51 in November 2021 and has since declined 94.8% to a recent low of $0.38.
You can buy SAND on exchanges like eToro
Gala is a film, gaming, and music studio that produces immersive content. It started as a gaming studio called Gala Games, and although it has expanded to include other forms of entertainment, including an upcoming metaverse, its gaming arm is still a core pillar.
We love how the gaming studio emphasises on blockchain games that are enjoyable. Gala’s games set themselves apart at a time when most blockchain games consisted of repetitive staking and yield farming tasks with no actual gameplay.
Then, most games felt like a series of Defi activities that saw players grind for unsustainable yields rather than playing along an immersive storyline. Their flagship games, Spider Tank and Town Star, were a refreshing change to the blockchain gaming space.
Since then, the studio has included more games and has even partnered with the movie franchise, The Walking Dead, to create a game along the same narrative as the hit series, which is currently in development.
Gala also implements play-to-earn mechanics in its games which reward players for winning battles and completing challenges. Players can buy assets like weapons, tools, characters, skins, etc as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.
Most items are paid for with the GALA token which serves as the major medium for transferring value in the ecosystem. However, some items can be paid for using Ethereum.
The play-to-earn mechanics are powered by a different token in some instances. For example, the game Town Star used a token called TOWN to reward players for completing challenges.
GALA’s tokenomics isn’t the best we’ve seen. The token has a maximum supply of 50 billion tokens, however, only 39 billion have been created. Of the created tokens, only 7.5 billion are in circulation.
In our experience, tokenomics like this are a recipe for disaster, and GALA has struggled to retain value in the last few months. The token has fallen from an all-time high of $0.71 in November 2021 to a recent low of $0.017, a 97.6% drop.
While this should not be considered financial advice, we have noticed some discrepancies with the way members of the Gala team have handled situations in the past, including a situation where they made an announcement involving some Hollywood celebrities and promptly retracted it.
When people asked about the announcement on the discord group, they were banned. This behaviour combined with spotty tokenomics makes this a project to be watchful of, despite their great games and potential.
You can buy GALA on exchanges like Binance.
Enjin is not a metaverse. It is a framework that allows game publishers to integrate blockchain mechanics with their games. This is mostly geared towards already existing game publishers, but can be used by all.
The Enjin team also developed an NFT standard called the ERC-1155 standard that allows you to create reversible NFTs that can be converted to ENJ tokens. These NFTs also have advanced features such as upgrades.
We love Enjin because it provides the technology to truly own in-game items across games and metaverses. We can buy a hammer in game A and use it in game B, provided both games use the ERC-1155 standard.
This brings a level of NFT interoperability that was non-existent before Enjin’s inception. The project has already gone to power the creation of 1.2 billion NFT assets and achieve a marketplace volume of roughly $4.4 million.
The ENJ token has a total supply of 1 billion tokens that are all in circulation. We do not expect any sell pressure from token releases, which is a good thing. However, it does not guarantee a price increase.
Several projects still use the ERC-721 NFT standard, and those that build on non-ERC blockchains do not use Enjin’s standard, hence we have not seen rapid growth in ENJ’s price since 2021.
However, as more traditional games move to adopt blockchain technology, Enjin will grow in utility.
So far, the token has traded within a range of $2.16 (52-week high) and $0.23 (52-week low), after reaching an all-time high of $4.14 in November 2021.
You can buy ENJ on exchanges like Binance.
ApeCoin is the official token for Yuga Lab’s ecosystem, which includes a metaverse called Otherside. Yuga Labs rose to popularity after the success of its premium NFT collection, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), often considered the gold standard of NFT (after Crypto Punks).
Note that ApeCoin is the token that powers all of Yuga Lab’s ecosystem (fondly called the Yugaverse), not just the metaverse as Yuga Labs has a growing portfolio of projects including popular projects like the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Bored Ape Kernel Club (BAKC), and Meebits.
Otherside has not yet been released but has gathered a lot of attention as its parent company is a leader in the space and the BAYC collection include A-list celebrities, billionaires, influencers, and thought leaders.
In the meantime, ApeCoin serves as a medium of exchanging value in the rest of the Yugaverse and as a governance token for the ApeCoin DAO. It has a total supply of 1 billion tokens, 368 million of which are in circulation.
Some sell pressure is bound to happen at future token release dates but as long as the Yugaverse continues to provide value and successfully capture it using APE, the ecosystem will create enough demand to keep prices elevated.
You can buy APE on exchanges like Coinbase.
Vulcan Forged is a gaming studio with a suite of blockchain games and protocols like a decentralised exchange and NFT marketplace that make up a thriving ecosystem.
The studio’s metaverse is called the VulcanVerse, a mediaeval-style massive multiplayer online role-playing game complete with lore where tools and weapons are NFTs. The entire ecosystem has around 126,399 unique users (112,259 active), and has processed about $2 million worth of transactions.
The PYR token powers the ecosystem by serving as a vehicle to capture and transfer value across all games. The Vulcan ecosystem is spread across the Ethereum blockchain and Polygon Pos chain, and PYR can be used in titles across both chains.
The token has a total supply of 50 million tokens, 23 million of which are in circulation. Sell pressure could still be created by future token unlocks as less than half of all tokens are not yet on the market.
Furthermore, public confidence in Vulcan Forged took a hit in December 2021 after a hack cost the ecosystem and investors $140 million worth of PYR tokens. While the team was able to replace the funds with money from the project treasury, the token fell 34% and has been on a decline since.
Nonetheless, Vulcan Forged is still among the top-rated metaverse projects. Since the post-hack redistribution, PYR reached an all-time high of $18 in April 2022 and has since fallen to a low of $2.69.
You can buy PYR on exchanges like Coinbase.
Alien Worlds is a space-inspired NFT metaverse where players explore the galaxy, participate in planetary elections, and earn rewards by staking the game’s native currency, Trilium (TLM).
Digital items in the metaverse from lands to tools, weapons, and even characters are NFTs that can be bought and sold on the in-world marketplace.
The metaverse is also spread out across three blockchain networks namely Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Wax as explorers can visit various worlds, buy lands, and mine them for resources and TLM
We love Alien Worlds because of its ability to retain active users. Unlike several metaverse projects whose activity levels grind to a halt during bear markets, this space metaverse has been able to retain users.
For example, the metaverse saw 564,000 unique active wallets and 409 million transactions processing a volume of $3.23 million within the last 30 days of writing in a bearish market. We reckon that bullish market numbers will be even better.
TLM has a maximum supply of 10 billion tokens, of which 5.8 billion exist. The difference between maximum supply and total supply is that the former is the total number that can ever exist while the latter is the total number that already exists.
Of the total supply, 3.3 billion is in circulation, which means some sell pressure is to be expected at future release dates. Alien Worlds also implements inflationary mechanics, so the metaverse will have to retain users and value to match the tokens being released into the ecosystem each year.
You can buy TLM on exchanges like OKX.
RMRK is an NFT standard that allows creators and developers to build interactive, upgradable, programmable, and forward compatible NFTs. While not a metaverse, the project shows tremendous potential in the realm of interoperable NFTs.
We love the technology behind RMRK. The NFT standard allows creators to program attributes into NFTs and change those attributes based on the actions of others. For example, you could change the attributes of your NFT using emoticons.
The NFT standard also allows you to nest NFTs within one another. You could buy a land NFT and a house NFT, and then transfer the ownership of the house NFT to the land NFT. So the land owns the house, and you own the land.
Lastly, creators can deposit various resources into one NFT. For example, you could create a sword NFT with a 3D version in case the NFT is used in a 3D metaverse, a card version in case it is used in a card-based game, and even a super-Mario version in case it is used in a Super Mario-like game.
RMRK is available on the Polkadot and Ethereum ecosystems as the project pushes for cross-chain NFT composability.
RMRK has a total supply of 10 million tokens, 9.5 million of which are already in circulation. The token is used to create NFTs with the RMRK standard and as the native currency in the Skybreach metaverse.
As metaverses grow and become multichain, the RMRK NFT standard could power a new wave of super-advanced NFTs and metaverses. You can buy RMRK on decentralised exchanges like Solarbeam.
Metacade is a hub/arcade for gamers, builders, creatives, and thought leaders to come together and explore web3. The company aims to be the go-to place for people in web3 by providing value for the gaming community.
We like how Metacade provides a holistic experience for gamers. You can play games on the platform as it will be integrated with top play-to-earn games. You can check the leaderboards of your favourite games, discover new and trending games, and publish reviews for your favourite (or least favourite) games.
Decentralised finance mechanics are often built into web3 games and you’ll need to devise strategies to balance earnings and gameplay. Metacade helps with GameFi strategies to grow your earnings.
You will be rewarded for your contributions to the ecosystem with the native tooken, called MCADE. While the tokens have not yet been fully released, it has a total supply of 2 billion.
The tokenomics breakdown includes 70% of the total supply allocated to the presale (which took place in Q4 2022), 10% of the supply allocated to development, 12.5% for centralised exchange listings and marketing, 5% for liquidity on decentralised exchanges, and 2.5% for competition winners.
MCADE will be launched in Q1 2023 with its first listing on Uniswap, the leading DEX. Staking features will come soon after with rewards paid in stablecoins, not MCADE. This is a new wave of DeFi called real-yield DeFi that could create demand for the MCADE token if executed properly.
You can get in on the token presale or wait for it to be listed on Uniswap.
Wax is a blockchain network that powers several metaverses and NFTs. It is fast becoming the go-to protocol to launch metaverse, gaming, and NFT projects as it provides the infrastructure to run them.
The Wax platform includes the blockchain, a decentralised marketplace, a decentralised virtual item generation and trading feature, and decentralised wallets. It started out as a store for digital goods and NFTs but has grown to power games.
We love Wax because of the infrastructure it provides to blockchain games, including metaverses. It hosts some of the most played blockchain games like Alien Worlds, Splinterlands, and the Forge Arena.
Wax also pioneered the trading of virtual in real-life assets (vIRL).These NFTs are virtual representations of goods that exist in the real world. It could be baseball cards, collectibles, or even clothing.
These vIRLs can be traded on the blockchain easily without having to ship the real product to several places. For example, a baseball card can be bought and sold several times on the Wax blockchain and only shipped once to the “final” owner.
Wax processes 23 million daily transactions made by 700,000 daily active users and is one of the most used blockchains for NFTs. We reckon that Wax stands to gain tremendously as the metaverse front makes headway.
The WAXP coin has a total supply of 3.77 billion tokens, 2.33 billion of which are in circulation. You can buy WAXP on exchanges like eToro.
Star Atlas is an ambitious space exploration game, complete with breathtaking graphics, lore, and an in-game financial ecosystem. Players explore the universe as a member of one of three factions (shown above), settle on planets, and vote in planetary DAOs.
We love Star Atlas because of the scale at which it is executed. It is one of the most ambitious blockchain metaverse projects that move beyond the conventional minecraft-esque pixelated graphics to deliver high-quality visuals using Unreal Engine 5.
However, we must mention that the project is built on the Solana blockchain which faced issues when FTX fell as it was closely affiliated with the former crypto exchange. Asides from that, the project holds potential as the barrier for entry is low i.e. the most common spaceship, land, and resources are easily under $70.
Star Atlas runs a dual token system where POLIS is the token of the DAO that owns and manages the metaverse’s assets which include smart contracts, unsold NFTs, and servers. It has a total supply of 360 million tokens, 161 million of which are in circulation, so some sell pressure is to be expected in the future.
The token serves two major functions: external governance and internal influence. POLIS is needed to vote on governance proposals outside of the game, while in the game, it represents political influence, and its holders can exert influence over certain regions.
You can buy POLIS on decentralised exchanges on the Solana network, like Raydium.
Illuvium is a play-to-earn, auto-battler game and exploration metaverse that follows lost humans on an alien planet filled with powerful creatures, called Illuvials, that can be bought, bred, and battled.
The game was one of the most anticipated projects in the metaverse run of 2021 and while it has not fully launched, it has completed a successful launchpad campaign and is currently in a yield farming stage.
The metaverse is powered by the Illuvium token (ILV). However, in-game purchases are made with ETH, not ILV. The token is used for staking rewards and in-game rewards. The token has a maximum supply of 10 million tokens, 7.4 million of which are in existence and 2 million in circulation.
While the game shows potential, the ILV tokenomics seem quite inflationary. The fact that it cannot be used for in-game purchases gives players fewer reasons to hold on to it. Also, the fact that an overwhelming majority of tokens are not in circulation could lead to selling pressures in the future.
You can buy ILV on exchanges like Binance.
Defi Kingdoms is one of the first metaverse games to combine gaming mechanics with decentralised finance strategies. It is also one of the oldest play-to-earn games.
We love the game’s pixelated graphics as well as the way it gamifies otherwise boring Defi activities. For example, planting trees in this game is the real world equivalent of staking a liquidity token in a Defi protocol.
So while you go on quests and complete tasks in the game, you are also investing your cryptos in protocols that yield returns.
Defi Kingdom possesses cross-chain features as it operates on the Avalanche, Harmony, DFK Chain, and Klatyn networks, creating deeper liquidity opportunities for players.
The ecosystem consists of the game, a DEX, liquidity pools, and an NFT market. It is powered by the JEWEL token which is the in-game currency and can be staked to receive rewards.
The token has a maximum supply of 500 million tokens, a total supply of 396 million tokens, and a circulating supply of 112 million tokens. This means that while only 396 million tokens exist, there is a provision to mint an additional 104 million.
These tokenomics are not ideal as minting new tokens could exert sell pressure on existing tokens, diluting their value, and weakening the ecosystem’s internal economics.
You can buy JEWEL on the metaverse’s in-built exchange.
Render is a decentralised GPU-as-a-service network that allows people to rent GPU power ro render digital assets including NFTs, art, and entire metaverses.
As the world moves closer to a virtual future, there will be a growing demand for hardware powerful enough to bring digital creations to life. With Render, designers do not need to worry about the equipment needed to render their creations.
The network, called the Octane Render Cloud (ORC), connects everyday people who have GPU power with people who need it, similar to decentralised storage services that allow people to rent out unused hard drive space.
The ORC network acts as a marketplace for GPU power. People who have GPU power (nodes) connect their computers to the network and accept rendering jobs from creators. When an agreed upon job is completed, the node gets paid.
The network connects to the Ethereum blockchain where the token smart contracts reside. User accounts are also connected to smart contracts on the blockchain through wallets.
When a contract is agreed upon on the ORC network, the platform calculates the price of the job and opens a smart contract to transfer the RNDR tokens after the job is completed.
RNDR has a total supply of 530 million tokens, 299 million of which are in circulation. You can buy RNDR on exchanges like Coinbase.
Go to the eToro website and click on the Start investing icon to create an account. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app from the Play Store/App Store and click on Sign up. Fill out the form with your full name, email address, and password.
Next, verify your account with personal details like your date of birth and a passport photo, after which submit KYC documents. These documents include proof of ID (National ID or driver’s licence) and proof of residence (utility bill).
Once your account has been verified, click on Deposit funds on the left pane of the page. The deposit options available will be displayed. Choose a convenient method from the drop-down menu and set the amount you’d like to deposit.
Once your account is funded, search for any Metaverse crypto in the Discover tab. An interface like the one below should load. You can then set your parameters and buy.
We explored 15 of the most promising metaverse projects and tokens in 2023 and our top choice was Axie Infinity because it is an established metaverse whose play-to-earn mechanics has been proven.
It has grown from a game on the Ethereum blockchain to developing its own blockchain, running a thriving metaverse ecosystem, and attracting active players from several parts of the world.
Although it has some ways to go to get all its tokens in circulation, its tokenomics is solid and have proven to work so far.
Some other great metaverse projects include Sandbox because it has partnerships with some big brands in the movie and gaming industry, Enjin as it powers a new wave of games that integrate blockchain mechanics, and RMRK which is at the forefront of NFT technology.
The tokens covered in this guide were chosen through rigorous research and reviews. We paid attention to security, transparency, reputation, gameplay, tokenomics, and competitive edge.
The tokens listed are the best we found in the various categories we listed them. For example, we listed ApeCoin as the most anticipated metaverse because the Otherside metaverse is highly anticipated by its massive community.
Check out our why trust us and how we test pages for more information on our testing process.
Metaverse cryptos are tokens that are native to metaverse projects. These projects can be a direct gaming metaverse or open world, or could be metaverse-adjacent like tokens of projects that provide infrastructure like blockchains and NFT frameworks.
The best on our list is AXS from Axie Infinity. However, the best metaverse crypto for you should be the one that belongs to your favourite metaverse. Always ensure that you check the coin’s tokenomics first as bad tokenomics can ruin good projects.
You can buy Metaverse coins on centralised exchanges like eToro or on decentralised exchanges like Sushiswap.