(Kitco News) - Saudi Arabia has become the latest country to publicly announce its intentions to develop a presence in the metaverse and plans to do so through a partnership with The Sandbox, a blockchain-based virtual world that allows users to create, build, buy and sell digital assets in the form of a game.
The announcement was made on Tuesday during a partnership ceremony at the LEAP conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which formally acknowledged the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between The Sandbox and the government of Saudi Arabia.
Sebastien Borget, the co-founder and COO of The Sandbox, posted a video of the announcement on his LinkedIn page, saying, “It was a true honor to sign our MOU partnership ceremony between The Sandbox and the Saudi Arabia Digital Government Authority (DGA) during #leap2023 conference, and we look forward to exploring, advising and supporting mutually each other in activations of the Metaverse!”
A request for additional information was met with an email response indicating that further details about the partnership are not currently available, but would be forthcoming in the “coming weeks.”
The Sandbox is considered by many in the crypto industry to be the leader when it comes to development in the metaverse as it offers a virtual space where users – including companies, brands, artists, and the general public – can create their own mini-universes that others can explore.
Some celebrities, brands and high-profile influencers that have already laid down roots in The Sandbox include Snoop Dogg, Gucci, TIME, Atari, HSBC and Warner Music Group, among others.
A report from Bloomberg shows that in April 2022, The Sandbox was looking to conduct a fundraising round to raise $400 million, which would give the company a valuation of $4 billion. This funding round followed a Series B round in 2021 which was led by SoftBank's Vision Fund and successfully raised $93 million.
Following the partnership announcement, the price of SAND, the native token of The Sandbox, spiked from $0.716 to a high of $0.941 in the early hours on Wednesday, an increase of 31.4%. It has since pulled back 12% and currently trades near support at $0.825.
SAND/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
Animoca Brands, the parent company of The Sandbox, is also a major player in the gaming and metaverse space. In November, Animoca Brands CEO Yat Siu revealed that the company was preparing to launch a $2 billion fund dedicated to investing in metaverse companies. The fund is expected to make its first investment in 2023.
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The Middle East region has seen a surge in metaverse-related activity in recent years.
In November, the Middle East, Africa & Asia Crypto & Blockchain Association (MEAACBA) selected Abu Dhabi to launch the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) with the goal of facilitating the development of blockchain and crypto ecosystems across the MENA region.
ADGM is a free economic zone based in the center of the city that is subject to its own set of civil and commercial laws. It was originally created to help further the growth of fintech companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Data provided by Chainalysis shows that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continues to be one of the fastest-growing hubs for cryptocurrency adoption.
