The Sandbox Cryptocurrency Jumps 68% After Trading Restrictions Lifted

The Sandbox (SAND) cryptocurrency, linked to the Metaverse project of the same name, saw a significant price surge last week. The token rose by approximately 63.64%, climbing from $0.044 to $0.072. The rally continued the following day, reaching $0.081 on October 3 before a slight downturn to $0.073, resulting in a weekly gain of 68.82%.

The sudden upswing was driven by three major cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone, removing a trading caution designation they had placed on The Sandbox in August. Bithumb announced on October 2 that the reasons for the warning had been resolved, allowing the resumption of deposits and withdrawals later that day.

The August caution was implemented after an attacker exploited a bridge flaw on Coinbase’s Base platform and Binance’s BNB Smart Chain to mint an estimated $49 billion worth of unbacked SAND tokens. The Sandbox severed the bridges, warned users against interacting with the affected platforms, and set a 1:1 compensation plan for those impacted. The team confirmed that SAND tokens on Ethereum and Polygon were unaffected.

The recent rally appears disconnected from broader market trends, as SAND has been in a near-continuous downtrend for the past five years. At its current price of $0.073, The Sandbox is 98.98% below its all-time high of over $7 reached in 2021 and is down 78.84% year-to-date. Additionally, the surge was not accompanied by a significant increase in user activity within the Metaverse, suggesting the move may be short-lived.