20 Best Metaverse Cryptos for 2023
Imagine a universe free from the everyday physical realities of your life. In this alternate world, you can work, play, relax and connect with people anywhere else on the planet. You can attend gatherings, create incredible art and amass a fortune. You can do anything your imagination can conceive. This is not a far-flung dream: this is the metaverse, and cryptocurrency is the key to accessing it.
Metaverse blockchain technology is still under development, but the concept of this digital world is well-developed with roots extending decades into our past. Visionaries and sci-fi writers have been working on the concept, dreaming of a way to move beyond the physical limits of our world, explore boundless horizons and create new possibilities.
Whether you want to reach new heights of digital success, explore another world or interact with friends and family members in novel ways, the metaverse makes it all possible. In this article, we’ll explore the best metaverse crypto coins for you to consider investing in for 2023.
Key Takeaways:
- In the metaverse, you can inhabit your own space and interact with others using an online avatar that enables you to move, speak and act freely.
- Some of the top metaverse cryptos include The Sandbox, Decentraland, Star Atlas and Axie Infinity.
What Is the Metaverse?
The idea of the metaverse first sprang from the fertile imagination of Neal Stephenson, who described a “metaverse” in his 1992 cyberpunk novel, Snow Crash. Stephenson describes a shared digital space that people access using virtual reality goggles and a shared fiber optics network. His metaverse contains virtual versions of everyday, ordinary spaces, from parks and buildings to fantastic and wildly whimsical spaces where the laws of physics no longer apply — only the rules and limits one imagines.
With Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement describing the metaverse as the next chapter of the internet, the public’s interest in the concept has exploded. This virtual world opens up entirely new vistas of possibilities, giving you the space you need to do whatever you want: Gathering with others, working, playing, shopping, creating, or learning about new places and ideas. The metaverse puts not just the entire physical world at your fingertips, but the capabilities of your mind in the power of your own hands.
In the metaverse, you’ll inhabit your own space and interact with others using an online avatar that enables you to move, speak and act freely. You’ll have complete autonomy to do whatever you want, including owning virtual property, much as you would own actual real estate. You can even create property, such as art or buildings, and sell that property to other metaverse users, exchanging it for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other units of value.
NFTs are a type of in-game currency and collectible. These digital assets form a virtual economy for users, who participate in play-to-earn (P2E) platforms and exchange virtual goods or property for tokens. They can also exchange their metaverse crypto with other users, or invest their metaverse tokens to earn interest or other collectible items. Many of the top metaverse gaming sites are already using their own tokens, which can be used for a variety of purposes or exchanged for real value in cryptocurrency, or even fiat currency.
Top Metaverse Coins
There are multiple projects working toward building a metaverse for all users. Understanding the differences in these projects can help you identify the one suitable for you, facilitating your investment decisions.
The Sandbox (SAND)
Source: The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a metaverse where you can buy and sell virtual land and other digital assets using SAND. You can create and transform anything you can imagine, monetizing your virtual experience through the power of SAND.
The Sandbox is backed by established investors such as SoftBank, one of today’s most influential tech investment companies. Apart from tech investors, it also has the backing of gaming brands like Atari, and even film companies such as Lionsgate have partnered with The Sandbox to create a “Hellboy”-themed metaverse destination.
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Decentraland (MANA)
Source: Decentraland
Decentraland is a virtual reality platform that enables you to buy, sell and manage your virtual property (called LAND). You can create and develop your world any way you want, and explore this version of the metaverse from the convenience of your phone, computer or virtual reality (VR) headset. To get started, you’ll need Decentraland MANA, the native cryptocurrency used to give you the power to access interactive apps, pay for goods and services or invest in more property.
MANA is a well-established metaverse crypto and is widely available, making it highly attractive to even the novice user. The metaverse associated with Decentraland also hosts exciting interactive opportunities, such as concerts, festivals and meet-and-greets. Decentraland’s ecosystem has been growing, thanks to the efforts of the members constantly hosting events. You may find the calendar of upcoming events here.
The platform is constantly being upgraded to add new features and options, and Decentraland tokens have multiple uses. You can auction both LAND and NFTs, and the community is governed by its Security Advisory Board.
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ApeCoin (APE)
Source: ApeCoin
ApeCoin was launched by Yuga Labs in 2022. It’s an ERC-20 coin that’s native to the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) community and used for Otherside, a metaverse game. Yuga Labs raised $320 million in a virtual land sale that allowed APE token holders to purchase parcels called Otherdeed, which is the key to claiming land in Otherside.
Otherside is a metaverse game that features a full-fledged MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) virtual world integrated into the BAYC ecosystem, and utilizes APE as a native token.
APE is both a governance as well as a utility token, and has multiple use cases in the ecosystem, including for participation in governance of the DAO, and enabling holders to access exclusive mints, games, events, merchandise and services.
Just a couple of months back, Yuga Labs launched the “2nd Trip” on Mar 25, 2023. This served as a preview for its community members to get a gist of what the Otherside metaverse will look like. The 90-minute trial run was a success, with approximately 7,200 users attending . The event left the community with a refreshed sense of confidence, given how smooth the interaction was for them throughout the game. We can anticipate more users coming onboard once the game has gone fully live.
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Star Atlas (ATLAS)
Source: Star Atlas
Star Atlas gives you the power to take your experience beyond the terrestrial. Here, the stars are your limit and you can explore an entire universe of possibilities. Take your customized spaceship and delve deep into a unique metaverse, join or create a faction and develop a world that’s all your own.
ATLAS is the native token fueling this unique play-to-earn game. It runs on the Solana metaverse blockchain and is the key to exciting new vistas and possibilities, given Solana’s fast speeds and low transaction costs. You can use ATLAS to purchase any of the digital assets you need to immerse yourself into the Star Atlas universe, including land, ships, crew members and equipment. You can also use ATLAS to purchase POLIS, an in-game currency necessary to manage certain aspects of your gaming experience. Specifically, you’ll need POLIS to govern your new world through publishing decrees and managing your community.
Despite the brilliant graphics featured by Star Atlas, the dual token design might come across as confusing for users. It should be noted that ATLAS is the unit of exchange currency for buying and selling assets, while POLIS is the governance token for voting on changes to the game.
Star Atlas recently hosted its Escape Velocity Surge Event, aimed at encouraging users to participate in the game by offering increased opportunities for earning rewards. Given the constant development and interaction by the team, Star Atlas will likely foster a vibrant and exciting metaverse.
Axie Infinity (AXS)
Source: Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity’s AXS was one of the best performing tokens in 2021, increasing in value from $0.141 to a high of $164.90. This translates to a price increase of 116,850%, achieved within a year. At its peak, the game managed to hit 1 million daily active players with its suite of introduced features.
Users can participate in the game by first purchasing three in-game characters known as Axies, which are NFTs that can engage other players in a battle. This participation will then reward users with the Axie utility token, known as Smooth Love Potion (SLP). To continue breeding more Axies, users have to hold onto AXS. in addition, they can also stake their AXS to earn more rewards.
Axie Infinity has its own metaverse, known as Lunacia, an open world that’s owned and controlled by players. WIthin Lunacia are different tiers of land that can be purchased by users. These tiers differ in cost, based on the characteristics they possess. By participating within the metaverse, users can earn LUNA tokens, which can eventually be applied to a variety of use cases.
With its cute graphics and innovative gameplay, Axie Infinity is a fun game for users to learn.
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Alien Worlds (TLM)
Source: Alien Worlds
Alien Worlds is both a DeFi metaverse and blockchain-based game in which players compete within the community for scarce resources. The game boasts decentralized elements and players get to take things to another level by staking Trillium (TLM) and gaining voting rights in the Planet DAO.
Any players who wish to participate must have a WAX Cloud Wallet. Once they log in to Alien Worlds, they can begin mining, which is incentivized through TLM tokens. These tokens give players a say in the governance of one or more Alien World planets, and even allow them to become candidates to rule a planet.
Players can also earn NFTs that can be used to complete in-game quests, battle with other players or mine TLM. Incidentally, TLM isn’t only used to govern the Alien Worlds metaverse, but can also be used to mine NFTs, purchase or upgrade specific items, or participate in quests and in-game activities. The most active users are incentivized through TLM. Additionally, TLM can be ported between Ethereum, WAX and BSC.
This game is growing fast, and players are attracted by low up-front costs and the ability to earn cryptocurrency through gameplay. However, the platform’s interface might be too simplistic for some users.
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Enjin (ENJ)
The Enjin platform enables users to mint, store and sell virtual goods. To begin, developers must assign value to their virtual goods by locking ENJ metaverse tokens into a smart contract. Players can then trade, sell or use virtual goods, according to the terms of the contract. When the item is sold, the seller receives ENJ.
As with other metaverse coins, there’s a limited supply of ENJ. Only one billion will be created and issued. Users can store ENJ in the platform’s wallet, which ties all features together. With the wallet, users can connect to games, access and use items, trade items and metaverse coins with other users, and sell digital goods for ENJ.
Enjin also offers a unique marketplace experience that can help users and businesses expand their markets using NFTs and QR codes, and connect with other users through websites, applications and games. The network is powered by Ethereum, offering a decentralized experience. However, the wallet isn’t open-source, so it can be difficult to vet. In addition, ENJ isn’t backed by any commodity, profit or assets.
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Illuvium (ILV)
Source: Illuvium
Described as an open-world role-playing game (RPG), Illuvium has a vast, beautiful landscape that players can traverse. As they explore, they complete quests, discover creatures called Illuvials and investigate the mystery underlying the world of Illuvium.
Each Illuvial has its own capabilities, classes, strengths and weaknesses, and there are more than 100 of them to collect. Once you’ve found an Illuvial, you can keep it, upgrade it or store it in your player wallet. The Illuvials, skins and other collectibles are all NFTs that can be traded in the game on Illuvium’s decentralized exchange (IlluviDex), or even on third-party platforms.
Illuvium runs on the Ethereum network and uses a native ERC-20 token called ILV. However, players don’t need ILV to play Illuvium. The game itself is free in many regions, with an optional premium paid subscription, but its structure revolves around the ILV. Illuvium has a play-to-earn model in which players can be rewarded with ILV tokens when they complete certain milestones, such as quests.
Much effort has been put in by the Illuvium team to implement sound tokenomics. To prevent too much inflationary pressure on ILV, the maximum supply of ILV is only 10 million. Additionally, in order to further minimize inflationary pressure and maintain the value of ILV, the team has introduced variable locking to reduce the circulating supply of ILV, which is beneficial in decreasing selling pressure.
There’s also Illuvium Zero, a “mobile companion game,” which is like a “city builder with NFT land.” Owners of the land can earn Fuel, which is linked to the Illuvium economy as an integral resource needed to effectively play. Land owners are expected to make 5% of in-game revenue in this manner.
The team has made good progress over the past year, launching Overworld Private Beta 2 for users to try out the developments to date. Given the game’s visuals, it will be exciting to see what the end product looks like.
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Gala Games (GALA)
Gala Games is a gaming ecosystem that gives players more control over their gaming experience. Players can own NFTs that facilitate various gaming functions, or they can sell, trade or gift the items to other users. Gala Games features a variety of NFTs, such as the CraneBot, which can be used in the specific game to which it belongs or in other games in the same ecosystem.
As with other metaverse games, Gala Games has its native token, called GALA. GALA is secured cryptographically and is used as the primary medium of exchange between players. Nodes and players are rewarded by GALA, with nodes being incentivized by the token and top players earning tokens for playing. Players can also use GALA to gain a voice in the governance of Gala Games, allowing them to enjoy almost unprecedented control over the content and development of new games.
In 2022, Gala Games announced a partnership with Epic Games to launch a Wild West battle royal NFT game called Grit on their Epic Games store and others, such as Steam. The game is in a basic battle royal mode, in which players can fight against others in a squad, duo or as solo players until the last team or man survives. What makes it interesting is that there will be a perk system to help players enhance their skills in the form of building card decks. In addition, because the game is on the blockchain, these cards can be traded as NFTs.
Recently, Gala Games announced that they’d burned $600 million worth of GALA (approximately 21 billion GALA) after the GALA(v2) airdrop had been completed. The team’s aim was to reduce selling pressure, which concerned some of the GALA holders. It’s apparent that the Gala Games team is putting in effort to protect the interests of their holders and to maintain a community to continue building.
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Flow Blockchain (FLOW)
Flow is a developer-friendly blockchain network that’s designed to support a variety of DApps, games and digital assets. Its multi-node, multi-role architecture scales without sharding and specializes in individual node functions, improving speed and throughput. Flow preserves the integrity of users’ data, granting them maximum privacy and security while offering digital assets that can be traded on the open market.
The Flow blockchain offers some other unique attributes, too, including smart contracts written in Cadence, a programming language that’s safe and easy to use. Developers have a wide range of tools and built-in support, while consumers have access to convenient, easy-to-use payment on-ramps.
Flow uses a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, with validation split among several types of nodes. Each type of node must be involved in validating transactions. What primarily differentiates Flow from other blockchains is its multi-role architecture that allows the network to scale without sharding.
Because Flow is designed specifically to support crypto games and NFT collectibles, opportunities for engagement might be limited initially. Users can purchase NFTs through the marketplace or other apps, or can trade digital assets through NBA Top Shot. Developers can access the wide range of built-in tools to create DApps, or simply to experiment.
The FLOW token is Flow’s native coin. Validators are incentivized through FLOW, and the token serves as a payment method. FLOW is the primary currency fueling the network and sustaining the ecosystem of the decentralized applications that build on top of it.
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WEMIX
WEMIX is a blockchain platform designed for gaming and more. Users can win or craft items for NFTs and trade them, and can also trade WEMIX tokens with other users. Designed by Wemade Tree, WEMIX provides users with a decentralized marketplace to use and exchange digital currency. Game tokens are easily swapped for WEMIX, which is also listed on crypto exchanges and can be purchased with Bitcoin, ETH and other cryptocurrencies.
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Netvrk (NTVRK)
NETVRK tokens are used much like other metaverse tokens, making it possible to access virtual assets such as property, homes, vehicles and other items. You can even use tokens to purchase advertising space that earns passive income, providing you with more tokens to build your wealth and further develop your world. The token also enables you to purchase a stake in Netvrk, granting you a fixed interest payment based on how many metaverse tokens you have staked with the network.
The Netvrk metaverse allows all users to build and create the virtual world of their dreams with an unlimited amount of unique content. Its platform offers endless experiences and interactions with other users, and grants rewards for participation.
While the possibilities are exciting, there are a few drawbacks. Netvrk runs on the Ethereum network, and gas fees and other costs can be high. Netvrk is also newer than some other platforms, which means that there could still be some bugs to work out of the system.
Highstreet (HIGH)
Source: Coincu
The Highstreet metaverse crypto project offers a secure, effortless and entertaining way of making online purchases by pioneering a new era of retail therapy.
HIGH is the native token of commerce-centric decentralized metaverse Highstreet, a platform that uses a play-to-earn model and features VR support. Apart from enabling a two-way currency flow between virtual and physical worlds, Highstreet also presents an open market where players can redeem in-game assets for real-life products within the gaming ecosystem. Additionally, users can explore the metaverse during gameplay while fighting virtual monsters, and complete quests while acquiring goods that have utility both on- and off-line.
As a governance token, HIGH allows gamers to vote on significant platform decisions, make profits through staking (play-to-earn games) and purchase products in the Highstreet Market. Property owners can collect taxes on their property in HIGH, and HIGH can also be obtained through special events in the metaverse.
This project is a promising one, having been backed by huge players. Just last year, Highstreet announced a partnership with Animoca Brands to launch an Initial Home Offering (IHO). In this event, 5,000 NFTs were launched and made available to Highstreet players. The goal was to bring players together, creating a stronger community. With such strong support, we can look forward to future developments from Highstreet.
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Floki Inu (FLOKI)
Source: CryptoGlobe
FLOKI is a dog-themed metaverse crypto coin named after Elon Musk’s Shiba Inu. A digital currency that was birthed by fans and existing members of the Shiba Inu community, FLOKI regards itself as a “movement" rather than a meme coin.
Floki Inu has three flagship utility projects:
- Valhalla, an NFT gaming metaverse
- FlokiPlaces, a merchandise and NFT marketplace
- Floki University, a content/educational platform
The Floki Inu community calls itself the “Floki Vikings” in honor of Floki (Musk’s dog, who is named after a Viking character.) Floki Inu promises to take its community's efforts seriously, and has been featured several times in the top 10 rankings of LunarCrush’s social engagement leaderboards.
Floki Inu has partnered with CryptoCart (CC), giving token holders the option to purchase items from over 1,700 CryptoCart stores. It’s also planning to form a similar partnership with Curate (XCUR), allowing FLOKI to be used as a digital currency for payment in Curate's physical goods marketplace.
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Metahero (HERO)
Source: Medium
Metahero aims to take crypto adoption to the next level through the act of our evolution into a parallel digital universe. This metaverse project promotes the idea of metascanning — realistic scanning of real-world objects into avatars that are useful within the metaverse. Essentially, Metahero serves as a bridge between reality and the digital world, connecting gamers, artists and entrepreneurs in unique ways.
HERO, the native token of Metahero, is used exclusively within the Metahero ecosystem for transacting on the 3D NFT marketplace, and in getting paid for scans and purchases within the metaverse.
HERO is built on BSC, whose smart contracts enable platform scalability. This enables HERO to cater to investors of every portfolio size.
HERO employs real business use cases across the realms of social media and art. It uses ultra-realistic 3D technology to create avatars and virtual objects that can be used across games, social media, art, fashion and medicine. Metahero also spearheads revolutionary metascanning technology, and features some of the best graphic rendering capabilities recorded so far.
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Virtua (TVK)
Virtua (formerly Terra Virtua Kolect) is a cross-platform NFT ecosystem that provides a curated marketplace experience in which NFT creators can interact with NFT collectors.
Virtua has a comprehensive reach that spans PC, web and mobile augmented reality/virtual reality environments. It has raised $2.6 million from three rounds of token sales, and creates digital collectibles via collaborations with partners such as Legendary Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.
TVK is the metaverse crypto that fuels Virtua, giving users access to an entire avenue of experiences, privileges and opportunities. The token takes the best of everything that's out there and packages it into an amazing fan-centric ecosystem.
Epik Prime (EPIK)
Epik Prime proposes the radical idea that anyone, anywhere in the world, should be able to access their full collection of digital in-game items easily across all of their games.
The global leader in introducing blockchain technology to mainstream gaming, Epik now works with some of the biggest gaming companies in the world to create premium digital merchandise and NFT collectibles. EPIK Prime, Epik's NFT platform, works with AAA gaming companies and renowned entertainment brands to offer in-game NFT goods and marketplaces.
Epik Prime is the world leader in digital content collaborations between games and brands, creating premium licensed NFTs based on original content. The resulting NFTs offer utility and a number of exclusive experiences for fans across digital platforms and metaverses.
The Epikverse comprises Epik's network of games, metaverses and VR spaces, which have the ability to communicate with one another. It’s a groundbreaking innovation that enables interconnectivity and shared experiences between players of all games and metaverses. Thanks to Epik's innovative technology, you can now take your favorite games (and even places!) with you wherever you go.
RFOX (RFOX)
Source: RFOX VALT
RFOX is among a number of rapidly-growing metaverse projects that empower the masses to play, create and earn in a metaverse that has no borders. It aims to be the world leader in immersive technology, with a keen focus on retail, entertainment, rewards and community experiences. RFOX is the native metaverse coin of the RFOX project.
The RFOX metaverse platform presents a clever solution in the 21st century: a virtual world which acts as a platform to connect white-label services in a central hub. Through an immersive platform called RFOX VALT, creators and businesses can tap into tools for gaming, VR, non-fungible tokens, finance, e-commerce and retail through the RFOX ecosystem.
Users can get onboard the RFOX metaverse easily, and are rewarded generously for their participation in the space.
Bloktopia (BLOK)
Source: The VR Soldier
Developed as a decentralized metaverse project, Bloktopia is built on the Polygon blockchain. A decentralized VR skyscraper, it consists of 21 levels — a nod to Bitcoin’s total supply of 21 million coins.
This skyscraper built on virtual land acts as a central hub for users to access immersive content and crypto information in one place. Here, “Bloktopians” — members of the Bloktopia community — can choose to learn the basics of cryptocurrency or delve deep into its technical aspects. They can also earn revenue by owning virtual real estate, playing games, building networks and more. In addition, advertisers and sponsors can monetize Bloktopia’s user base through a unique, dedicated NFT mechanism.
Bloktopia strives to create an engaging user experience by adding various elements, which Bloktopians can interact with on the platform. Users can engage in an immersive experience per Bloktopia's four core pillars: Learning, earning, playing and creating.
Render Network (RNDR)
Render Network is a GPU rendering network built on the Ethereum blockchain. It aims to connect artists and studios who require GPU computing power with mining partners who want to rent out their GPU capabilities.
The project was conceived in 2009 by OTOY Inc CEO Jules Urbach. Launched in 2017, the first public token sale of RNDR was held in October of the same year. A private sale then ensued from January 2018 to May 2018, in which approximately 117 million RNDR tokens were sold at $0.25 per token.
Early adopters of the platform were onboarded onto the RNDR Beta Testnet during the private sale period. Beta node operators and artists worked in collaboration with the RNDR team to build and test the network until its public launch on Apr 27, 2020.
RNDR is an ERC-20 token that serves as the utility token of the Render Network® platform. Artists on the network use the token to get GPU computing power from GPU providers (node operators).
RNDR metaverse tokens use a combination of automatic and manual proof of work (PoW) consensus mechanism (in this case, proof of RNDR) to verify that all the digital art has been successfully rendered before payment is disbursed and the artwork released.
Proprietary assets are hashed on upload and sent piecemeal to nodes for rendering, using the inherent security properties of the Ethereum blockchain. All payments are securely stored in escrow during rendering, and released later to node operators after manual verification of the digital art by the commissioning artist of the work.
The Render Network team has been working on pushing forth developments, and the community recently passed the new tokenomics model that had been proposed. Essentially, a burn-and-mint equilibrium model has now been invoked in which jobs done will be paid in USD, and RNDR tokens equivalent to the job price will be burned afterward. With this new tokenomics model, it appears that market participants have become even more bullish on Render Network, with RNDR experiencing an increase in its price.
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Is Crypto the Key to the Metaverse?
NFTs and crypto are ultimately the keys to accessing the virtual reality of the metaverse. With NFTs, you can access digital assets ranging from virtual homes and businesses to digital clothing for your avatar, digital art, or other virtual items. Your NFTs are secured by the metaverse blockchain, protecting your digital property from duplication or hacking.
Nonetheless, the metaverse is still evolving. While there’s a lot of hype surrounding what that will look like, much uncertainty continues to swirl around the value of NFTs, which are heavily utilized in the metaverse. However, many metaverse tokens, including those listed here, have proven their potential for growth and possibility, which is why people are increasingly coming to see them as an investment opportunity.
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