The Sandbox

This is an in-game utility coin and governance token of The Sandbox metaverse, built on the ERC-20 standard. The token is used for payments on the marketplace (avatars, items, LAND and other NFTs), paying for access to certain game experiences, staking, rewarding content creators, and participating in governance through The Sandbox DAO. The maximum supply is fixed at 3,000,000,000 SAND; no monetary inflation is planned, although the contract contains burn/burnFor functions. The project is developing as a gaming metaverse with a focus on user-generated content (UGC).

The intellectual property of The Sandbox was created by the studio Pixowl in 2011; initially, these were mobile and PC sandbox games (2012, 2015). On August 27, 2018, Animoca Brands acquired Pixowl to build a blockchain version of a three-dimensional metaverse. Since then, the project has been developed under the management of Animoca Brands, with TSB Gaming (a subsidiary) as its operational structure.

The ecosystem consists of three key tools: VoxEdit (creating voxel 3D objects), Marketplace (trading platform for NFTs), and Game Maker (a game scenario builder without the need for programming). Unlike traditional video games, The Sandbox grants users full ownership rights to the assets they create as NFTs. The key difference from its closest competitor Decentraland (MANA) lies in its more pronounced focus on gameplay (gaming-first) and voxel tools, which are often compared to Roblox or Minecraft. Unlike Axie Infinity (AXS), the project has shifted its focus from "play-to-earn" to "play-and-earn," emphasizing gameplay rather than purely financial motivation.

What Makes It Unique

The Sandbox actively uses the Polygon PoS network to reduce fees - all major marketplace transactions, staking, and reward payouts are conducted on Polygon. A proprietary bridge (The Sandbox Bridge) supports transferring SAND and LAND tokens between Ethereum and Polygon. Additionally, gasless quotas (gasless transactions) are active on Polygon, allowing users to perform operations without paying fees at the project's expense. As of mid-2020s, over 2.8 million gasless transactions have been completed.

Features of The Sandbox

Technical Information

The SAND token is deployed on the Ethereum mainnet as an ERC-20 token (contract 0x3845badAde8e6dFF049820680d1F14bD3903a5d0, 18 decimal places). To reduce costs, a canonical bridged instance on Polygon PoS is supported - mSAND (contract 0xbbba073c31bF03B8ACf7c28EF0738Decf3695683). On Ethereum, the Proof-of-Stake consensus (Gasper: Casper FFG + LMD-GHOST) operates with 12-second slots and epochs of 32 slots (~6.4 minutes); finalization is economic, occurring at the epoch boundary. Polygon PoS uses a two-layer architecture (Bor - execution, Heimdall-v2 - consensus based on CometBFT/Cosmos SDK) with checkpoints on Ethereum; typical block time is ~2 seconds, finalization via milestones is achieved in ~2-5 seconds, although delays are possible during update periods.

In 2025-2026, SANDchain was announced - a proprietary L2 network for content creators, built on the zkSync ZK Stack and the Caldera rollup infrastructure. In this environment, SAND will be used as a gas token and governance token, expanding its utility. SANDchain is currently in the testnet stage; full mainnet specifications are expected.

Tokenomics

Fixed maximum supply - 3,000,000,000 SAND. Initial distribution at launch (August 2020):

• Company Reserve - 25.82%
• Team - 19.00%
• Foundation - 12.00%
• Binance Launchpad Sale - 12.00%
• Seed Sale - 17.18%
• Advisors - 10.00%
• Strategic Round - 4.00%

All allocations, except Launchpad (fully unlocked at TGE), had a 12-month cliff followed by semi-annual unlocks over approximately 5 years (until August 2025). Historically, large unlocks occurred in February and August of each year. By mid-2024, about 75% of the total supply was in circulation; as of Aug 3, 2026, the circulating supply is 3,000,000,000.

The marketplace charges a 2.5% fee on each primary and secondary sale, which goes to The Sandbox Foundation and is directed to the Game Maker Fund, staking, and ecosystem rewards. Burning SAND during regular transfers is not planned; EIP-1559 applies to ETH, not SAND. The token can also be burned via the burn function, but there is no systematic protocol-level burning.

Security of SAND

The smart contracts for SAND, LAND, and LANDSale have undergone audits by CertiK (verification with manual review, static analysis, and formal verification; public report "SANDBOX V1") and OpenZeppelin (LAND and Tunnel migration contracts between Ethereum and Polygon). Quantstamp is also mentioned in the context of auditing staking contracts and the bridge.

Known security incidents (all off-chain, social phishing):

• February 2023: Compromise of a third-party email provider; attackers sent a phishing email with the subject "The Sandbox Game (PURELAND) Access". Users were warned not to click on links.
• May 26, 2023: Hack of the CEO's Twitter account; a link to a fake "airdrop" was posted. The account was restored.
• August 2022: Hack of the official Instagram account; a phishing link was posted.

No on-chain exploits of the SAND ERC-20 or LAND ERC-721 contracts themselves have been recorded.

Where It Is Traded

List of trading platforms from the encyclopedia database:

CEX exchanges: Binance, Gate, OKX, Coinbase Exchange, Kraken.

According to research, SAND is traded on major centralized exchanges, including Binance (pairs USDT, FDUSD, BTC), OKX, Upbit, Bithumb, and Kraken. Decentralized liquidity is concentrated on Uniswap V3 (Ethereum) and QuickSwap (Polygon).

In the US, the availability of SAND is limited after the SEC classified it as a security in June 2023: Robinhood delisted the token on June 27, 2023, Bakkt on June 16, 2023, and eToro introduced restrictions on new positions starting July 2023. In the European Union, SAND is traded under MiCA; in Japan, it is on the FSA/JVCEA "Green List" and available on Coincheck and OKCoin Japan; in Hong Kong, it is permitted for retail investors on licensed VATP platforms; in South Korea, it is regulated by the Virtual Asset User Protection Act.

All-time high - $8.40 (Nov 24, 2021), decline from ATH -99.50%. All-time low - $0.028978 (Nov 4, 2020).

Listings on Aggregators

Project's position in rankings by market capitalization:

• CoinGecko rank: 241
• CoinMarketCap rank: 157
• Finkonkurs rank: 202

Investors and Funds

The Sandbox raised funds in several rounds:

• 2019-2020: Private/seed round totaling approximately $2.5-3.6 million from Animoca Brands and Hashed. Token price: ~$0.0036-0.005. Terms: 12-month cliff, then 20% unlock every six months.
• November 2, 2021: Series B of $93 million led by SoftBank Vision Fund with participation from Animoca Brands, Galaxy Interactive, LG Technology Ventures, Liberty City Ventures, Polygon Studios, Samsung NEXT, and others.
• June 6, 2024: Round of $20 million at a $1 billion valuation from Kingsway Capital, Animoca Brands, LG Tech Ventures, and True Global Ventures.

The main token holders remain Animoca Brands (the parent company) and The Sandbox Foundation. Institutional custody of SAND is supported by BitGo, Coinbase Custody, and Anchorage Digital. For accredited investors, there is the Grayscale The Sandbox Trust (launched in November 2021).

Key Partnerships and Ecosystem

The project has formed numerous partnerships with global brands:

• Adidas: Joint "adiVerse" zone, LAND acquisition, and avatar integration.
• Snoop Dogg: 10,000 unique in-game characters, sold and traded on the secondary market.
• Warner Music Group, Gucci, Ubisoft, The Walking Dead: Creation of themed lands and events.

Ecosystem metrics: over 130,000 creators, 24,000 LAND owners, 200+ studios. A Game Maker Fund of 100 million SAND is active to incentivize developers. Marketplaces: Magic Eden, MOOAR. Integrations with cross-platform projects (Upland).

Bridges: native SAND/LAND bridge between Ethereum and Polygon, as well as bridges to Binance Chain and Base (launched in July and December 2025, respectively).

Potential

The success of SAND is tied to the proliferation of metaverses and the UGC economy. A fixed supply (3 billion) combined with sustained demand from the marketplace and staking creates a basis for price dynamics. The development of SANDchain adds the token's role as gas and governance on L2, expanding its functionality. Institutional interest is supported by the Grayscale The Sandbox Trust and its presence on regulated exchanges in Asia and Europe. Regular updates to Game Maker and VoxEdit, along with brand partnerships, attract an audience beyond the crypto community.

Risks [Identified by the Finkonkurs AI analytics system]

• Regulatory: The US SEC classified SAND as a security in lawsuits against Binance (Case 1:23-cv-01219) and Coinbase (Case 1:23-cv-04738) in June 2023, leading to delistings on US platforms. The outcome of these lawsuits remains uncertain.
• Tokenomics: Historically high concentration of allocations (about 64% team, reserve, foundation, advisors) regularly led to semi-annual unlocks, creating market pressure. Approximately 75% was circulating by mid-2024; remaining unlocks could continue until August 2025.
• Technical: The trust model of the Polygon PoS sidechain - an independent network of validators, periodic finalization delays during updates. SANDchain is in the testnet stage; its community adoption and security have yet to be battle-tested.
• Social Engineering: Three confirmed phishing incidents (email, Twitter, Instagram) indicate vulnerability in the project's communication channels.
• Competition: Direct competitors (Decentraland, Yuga Labs' Otherside, Axie Infinity) vie for the same audience. The decline in interest in metaverses after the 2021 peak could reduce activity.

Related Individuals

• Adrien Duermaël (co-founder, former CTO) - creator of the mobile game Doodle Grub (2010), finalist of the "King of Code" competition (2011). Developed early UGC tools that became the basis for VoxEdit and Game Maker. Subsequently worked as a programmer at Docker, Head of Engineering at Fundamental. Known by the pseudonym @aduermael on X and GitHub.
• Arthur Madrid (co-founder, CEO) - entrepreneur in the gaming and blockchain industry. Led the strategic transition from mobile games to Web3, oversaw fundraising and initiatives like Global Creators Day (2023).
• Sébastien Borget (co-founder, COO) - Chief Operating Officer, responsible for scaling the creator ecosystem, brand partnerships, and day-to-day platform management.

Legal entity: The Sandbox (TSB Gaming) - a subsidiary of Animoca Brands (Hong Kong). Related organizations: Pixowl, The Sandbox Foundation.

Contests, Activities, and Hackathons on Our Platform

No contests, hackathons or marketing activities for this token have been published on Finkonkurs yet. New activities will appear here automatically once the team or partners launch them.

WhitePaper

The official document describes SAND as the main utility token of the ecosystem, DAO governance mechanisms, staking, and the marketplace economy with a 2.5% fee benefiting the Foundation. The token's functions are detailed: payment for items, access to experiences, rewards, staking, and voting. Emission parameters (3 billion) and initial distribution are also provided.

Link: Whitepaper (PDF)