Decentraland's native cryptocurrency, MANA, has seen an astonishing 70% increase in value over the past week, reaching its highest price in nine months. This surge is part of a broader movement within the Metaverse sector, where virtual world-related tokens are experiencing a revival.

Decentraland is a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain. Users can create, experience, and monetize content and applications.

The Sandbox (SAND), a prominent player in the metaverse space, has caught the attention of crypto investors with a significant 53.39% surge over the last 24 hours, pushing its price to $0.6112. This sudden increase in price has been accompanied by an astronomical 557.67% rise in trading volume, now reaching $1.87 billion.

The firm's founder has stressed that the layoffs are not financially motivated.

The Sandbox has experienced a strong upswing over the past 24 hours to outperform major coins!

Bitcoin rally stalls as few altcoins lead the day's gains.

The Sandbox (SAND) doubled its price in a week, while Animoca Brands deposited 26M SAND tokens on Binance in the past 30 days.

Non-fungible tokens are gradually rebuilding momentum with MANA and SAND now soaring to new weekly highs.

The Sandbox (SAND) continued its bullish trend, hitting a new yearly high of $0.86 during Monday's early Asian session. However, it has since pulled back by 14%, trading at $0.76 at press time.

Story Highlights The live price of the Sandbox token is . SAND price could hit its potential high of $1.08 in 2024. Sandbox price with a potential surge could go as high as $5.69 by 2030. The crypto sphere turned over a leaf of its directory in the bygone year.

The Sandbox (SAND) token has broken its long-term downtrend with a 53.39% surge to $0.6112, accompanied by a 557.67% increase in trading volume to $1.87 billion and a 134.61% spike in open interest, suggesting strong market confidence in further upside potential.

SAND's breakout and bullish signals suggest the metaverse rally might be reigniting.

MANA, Decentraland's native cryptocurrency, has seen an impressive 70% price increase over the past week. This MANA crypto price surge is part of a broader rally in Metaverse-related tokens, which has caught the attention of the market.

Sky Mavis is pushing for growth, and as part of this restructuring, it has downsized its workforce.

DOGE, XRP and XLM are the most traded cryptocurrencies on Upbit since Donald Trump's election victory. The latest activity points to a pivot toward metaverse tokens.

Axie Infinity creator Sky Mavis lays off 50 employees as part of broader efforts to adapt post-hack and market shifts.

With the broader market recovery, the altcoin segment has been set ablaze. In this heating demand, the Metaverse tokens are making a comeback. With Decentraland and Sandbox tokens surging nearly 200% in the past three weeks, the bull run is aiming for an extended rally.

Sky Mavis co-founder and CEO Trung Nguyen said resources freed up from the layoffs will be used in a new Axie Infinity game and other projects.

The GameFi and Metaverse sectors have taken charge of the next leg of the crypto market rally with The Sandbox (SAND) price gaining almost 100% in the last 2 days. Apart from SAND, other market players like Decentraland (MANA), Gala (GALA), and Axie Infinity (AXS) have also staged strong gains over the past week.

The non-fungible tokens (NFTs) sector has seen prolonged underperformance as trends such as meme coins, RWA, and AI dominate the cryptocurrency marketplace. However, the emerging bull run, where Bitcoin stares at the $100,000 milestone, has invigorated each sector. CryptoSlam data shows NFTs performed well over the past few sessions.

Sky Mavis cut 21% of its workforce to focus on core products, with the CEO claiming it wasn't due to financial issues. The post Axie Infinity Creator Sky Mavis Lays Off 21% as Part of Restructuring appeared first on Cryptonews.

Sky Mavis has laid off 21% of its workforce The web3 firm said the decision was not related to its finances.

The layoff reflects a strategic move to focus on its projects, including a new Axie Infinity game, according to its CEO.

For quite a long time, NFT space remained under shadows as the newly created space has dominated the crypto markets. Moreover, the rising interest of the market participants in memecoins had prevented the other segments of the crypto space to thrive.

As Bitcoin (BTC) closed the third consecutive week in the price discovery phase, the altcoin space gained significant bullish sentiment. During the past week, the altcoin market – led by Stellar Lumens (XLM), Decentraland (MANA), and The Sandbox (SAND), among others – registered palpable gains.

SAND, the token powering the metaverse platform The Sandbox, has seen a meteoric rise, surging 55% in the past 24 hours. This performance far outpaces leading assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which each gained just 1% during the same period.

This week's 'top cryptocurrencies to watch' are all from the gaming market segment: Sandbox, MANA and Axie Infinity.

The crypto market is expecting Bitcoin price to break the $100k mark imminently, with analysts saying the altcoin season is next. Meanwhile, Solana, XRP and Cardano have soared to new highs after the SEC Chair announced he will be leaving the agency on January 20.

Bitcoin (BTC) continued towards the $100,000 mark, rising to a new all-time high of $99,314 before declining to its current level of $99,124. BTC is now up 45% since Donald Trump was announced as the winner of the US elections.

Axie Infinity (AXS) and Smooth Love Potion (SLP) tokens have crawled back in the past few days as the ecosystem started to bounce back. The SLP coin was trading at $0.0035 on Friday, up by 65% from its lowest point this year. Similarly, the Axie Infinity coin was trading at $5.

HBAR, OM, and APE are grabbing the spotlight as Binance unveils expanded trading pairs and Spot Algo services. Launching November 22, the announcement has market watchers eyeing a rally despite recent turbulence in token prices.

SAND may be building momentum as key technical and on-chain signals pointed to a breakout.

Sandbox (SAND) gains momentum, with $0.50 in sight if it clears $0.35.

Amid bullish market sentiment, SAND is poised for a 30% rally as it forms a bullish pattern on the daily chart.

Surge in Whale Activity: Several altcoins, including ApeCoin (APE), SushiSwap (SUSHI), and Treasure DAO (MAGIC), have experienced a significant rise in whale transactions. According to Santiment, these cryptocurrencies have seen a marked increase in large trades, indicating potential price shifts that may go against their recent patterns.

Bitcoin (BTC) has rocketed by almost 10% in the past 24 hours and has just set a new all-time high of $74,730, as Republican candidate Donald Trump took an early lead in the presidential elections.

ApeCoin (APE) faces strong downward pressure, with several indicators signaling potential further declines. The 7-day MVRV suggests recent buyers are mostly at a loss, which hints at undervaluation but leaves room for additional downside.

BBVA is launching a tokenized fund integrated into the Spanish securities regulator's sandbox. The fund will be open only to BBVA employees to research the benefits of applying blockchain technology to these applications.

In a recent court decision, Aurelien Michel, creator of the “Mutant Ape Planet” NFT collection accused of defrauding investors, has avoided prison but will forfeit over $1 million as part of his sentence.

In an interesting development, the creator of the fraud NFT collection “Mutant Ape Planet” Aurelien Michel is set to avoid a prison sentence following a recent court ruling. However, the defendant has been ordered to forgo over $1 million as punishment for conducting a rug pull.

Michel sentenced for defrauding investors through Mutant Ape Planet NFTs. Court ordered $1.4 million forfeiture and a $15,000 fine.

Mutant Ape Planet creator Aurelien Michel pleaded guilty to defrauding investors and avoided a prison sentence.

ApeCoin is holding steady at the crucial $1 support level, fueling speculation on whether the bulls are ready for a comeback as it maintains its position above this key mark. Recent bearish pressure has driven the token to a point where a recovery might be on the horizon, yet the critical question is: can buyers defend this level and push prices higher?

Bitcoin (BTC) is teasing a record high after it peaked at $73,464 on October 30, bringing it within touching distance of its all-time high of $73,750. However, the cryptocurrency has registered a marginal decline during the ongoing session and is trading just above $73,200.

ZA Bank, Hong Kong's digital bank, has launched a sandbox trial of its crypto trading service, aiming to provide retail investors with a regulated platform for virtual asset trading.

Here is how some of your favorite assets concluded the week.

Amid confusing cryptocurrency market sentiment, the creator of The Sandbox (SAND), Animoca Brand, has gained notable attention from crypto enthusiasts due to its recent acquisition. On October 26, 2024, the blockchain transactions tracker EyeOnChain made a post on X (Previously Twitter) that Animoca Brand bought 20 million SAND tokens worth $4.95 million from Binance.

Altcoins outperformed this week as BTC traded in a tight range.