The Sandbox, a metaverse platform, is changing after its co-founders left and Animoca Brands took control.
Main Points:
- The founders of The Sandbox have stepped down from their day-to-day jobs as Animoca Brands takes over completely.
- More than half of the company’s employees have been let go during a big reorganization.
- Animoca might be getting The Sandbox’s cryptocurrency funds ready for a possible public offering in Hong Kong.
A report from The Big Whale says that co-founders Sébastien Borget and Arthur Madrid are no longer involved in day-to-day work, and more than half of the company’s employees have been laid off.
Robby Yung, the head of Animoca Brands, is now the new CEO of The Sandbox.
Borget is now an ambassador while Madrid has a non-executive role.
Borget is still active as a public representative, while Madrid takes on a role as a non-active chairman.
“Sébastien and Arthur are leaving their roles in strategy and no longer have executive authority,” a source told The Big Whale.
Borget said the change is true, but he still represents the brand around the world.
The leadership change is happening because people are unhappy with how The Sandbox is doing. Even though it raised $300 million in the last eight years, the platform has not attracted many users.
The number of people using it every day is said to be in the low hundreds, and many of these accounts are marked as bots, especially from South America.
The main token, SAND, has dropped over 95% from its highest point in 2021. Its total market value has fallen from $8 billion to about $700 million.
The changes will lead to many job cuts in different areas. More than half of the company’s 250 workers have been let go, and offices in Argentina, Uruguay, South Korea, Thailand, and Turkey have shut down.
France’s office in Lyon will close, and more job losses are expected in Paris.
The company says the changes are due to a “strategic turnaround” made possible by better development tools.
However, sources indicate that a bigger change is happening. Animoca Brands is planning to possibly sell shares to the public in Hong Kong. They believe that The Sandbox’s crypto funds, which are worth between $100 million and $300 million, will be a strong point for attracting investors.
The Sandbox is changing its focus away from the metaverse.
The Sandbox seems to be shifting its focus away from just its original plans for the metaverse.
People close to the team say they are creating a place to launch memecoins on Base, taking inspiration from Pump. funThis shows they want to explore more in the Web3 space.
“The situation has changed, so projects need to adjust,” said an investor who knows about it. Borget said, “We’ve always focused on gaming, but we need to pay attention to what is happening in the market. ”
These changes signal the end of an important time in NFT gaming. The Sandbox was a big part of the metaverse trend, drawing in brands and organizations from 2019 to 2022.
Now, with its founders out of the picture, half of its workers gone, and a new plan in place, the platform has to change itself.
Earlier this week, popular NFT collections like Pudgy Penguins, BAYC, and Doodles had big drops in their lowest prices after the price of Ether fell from its highest point ever.
While many collections dropped by a lot, CryptoPunks stayed fairly steady, only losing 1. 35%
Even though prices went down, people kept buying and selling a lot. Pudgy Penguins and Moonbirds were the most popular.
The total value of the NFT market fell by almost 5% to $7. 7 billion after reaching a high of $9. 3 billion earlier this month.
NFT Market Booms as AI Companion Tokens Offer Fun Experiences
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are becoming popular again after having a rough few years. DappRadar reports that NFT trading amounts fell from $16. 8 billion in 2023 to $13. 7 billion in 2024.
Even though there was a big drop, a recent report from DappRadar found that trading in NFT metaverse increased by 83% in July compared to June.
DappRadar’s report for July says that NFT prices have been going up along with token values, especially on Ethereum (ETH).
AI Helps the NFT Market Grow
Also, using artificial intelligence (AI) with NFTs is helping the industry grow.
Hamza Eddiouane, an advisor and co-creator of the NFT project FURO, told Cryptonews that AI is changing what NFTs are all about.
“NFTs can now change, be more engaging, and be customized instead of just being the same all the time. ” “They can talk to users, learn from them, and even improve over time,” Eddiouane said.
Even though it sounds like just another trendy term in the blockchain world, Eddiouane said that mixing AI with NFTs is important because it adds real value and feelings to them.
“I’ve noticed that most JPEG NFTs lost most of their value: over 95% are basically worthless now,” he said. When you mix owning things on a blockchain with AI that can interact with you, you create something useful that people can connect with and want to return to. “That’s a much better base for lasting cultural and financial value. ”
Aaron Teng, the CEO of Pudgy Penguins in the Asia-Pacific region, said in an interview that NFTs are becoming more popular and part of everyday life.
“Now, we are seeing NFTs connected to people’s identities, cultures, and interests—not just for making quick money—because of AI,” he said.
AI Companion Token Provides Feelings and Support
To make it clearer, Eddiouane said that FURO is a 3D NFT project on Ethereum that changes how we think about NFTs. Instead of pictures that might become less valuable over time, FURO provides AI friends that can learn, remember, and grow along with their owners.
“People don’t just want digital keepsakes; they want to engage and connect with the things they have. ” Consider why Tamagotchis, Pokémon, or Labubu became popular—it’s not just about having them, but about the emotions those characters made people feel, he said.
Eddiouane says that FURO is adding cultural and emotional meaning to cryptocurrency.
For example, the $FURO token offers its owners a personal AI that learns and grows with them. This AI-driven crypto token also gives special access to a collection of digital art NFTs. FURO will soon have a physical version where its AI assistant is built right into the toy.
“The AI assistant is the main part of FURO,” Eddiouane explained. Each $10 NFT gives you access to a small AI app where you can talk to and develop your FURO character. As time goes on, FURO gets more personal: it remembers previous chats, changes to match how users communicate, and can even show feelings. “It can be a friend and a helper. ”
Another similar example comes from Treasure DAO, which is part of the group that supports the $MAGIC token. Treasure DAO has just released a tool called “AI agent creator. ” This allows owners of popular NFTs, such as Pudgy Penguins, to transform their NFTs into independent AI agents.
A recent post on X says that these agents can talk, share posts on X, play games online, and trade cryptocurrencies.
AI Drives Content Created by the Community
AI is helping people who create NFTs add more items to their collections. For example, Teng said that Pudgy Penguins has thousands of pieces of content created by AI based on ideas from its community.
“This helps us share more content and reach more people,” he said.
Teng said that AI is changing NFTs from fixed items into active digital assets by making them customizable, interactive, and able to adapt to different cultures easily. “This makes NFTs seem more like experiences instead of just images,” he said.
Sebastien Borget, one of the founders of The Sandbox, a metaverse platform, told Cryptonews that they are making it easier for users to create content using AI tools.
“The Sandbox is using smart AI and special coding to help creators easily share their work on their digital lands, which are like virtual properties. They offer ready-made options, a library of assets, and the ability to copy and paste existing designs,” Borget said.
Borget said that making content has become easier and more like a product because of AI. “A simple instruction can create many different versions of an NFT. ”
Things to Think About
AI is helping the NFT market grow, but there are still some problems to solve. For example, Borget said that using AI has its price.
“Many people believe that AI is easy to access and free, so it’s been difficult for many projects to get users to pay for the costs. ”
Also, Borget said that while many NFT collections focus on being rare, it’s harder to value work made by AI.
Teng said that the main problems with AI-powered NFTs are being real, being able to grow, and who owns them.
“To provide AI services to millions of people, we need a solid system in place. ” “Rights frameworks need to clearly state who owns the results,” he said.
Kai Wawrzinek, co-founder of Impossible Cloud Network, told Cryptonews that it’s unclear who owns the rights to an artwork NFT created by AI.
“Who owns the rights: the person who codes, the one who gives prompts, or the AI itself. Also, if things are made in large quantities, it could flood the market and make something that was once special lose its value,” Wawrzinek said.
Despite some difficulties, NFTs that use AI seem to be the next big thing for digital collectibles. Rules in the United States that support cryptocurrency will probably help in the growth of AI-generated NFTs.
“AI won’t replace human creativity; it will help it grow,” Wawrzinek said.