Gaming and Metaverse Tokens Bounce: Decentraland, Gala, STEPN Up 35% or More

It’s been a brutal week for the cryptocurrency market, with hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of value wiped off the map as Terra’s LUNA and UST collapsed—and apparently dragged much of the market along with them.

But after a few days marked mostly by declines, crypto prices are perking up today. The wider market is up nearly 8% over the past 24 hours, with Bitcoin and Ethereum logging solid gains and altcoins like Solana, Avalanche, and Cardano up more than 20% each.

However, it’s gaming and metaverse tokens that are seeing some of the largest price increases over the past day, including a couple that have popped up more than 40% during the span, per data from CoinMarketCap.

Gala Games (GALA) and Decentraland (MANA) both match that description. GALA, the token of Gala’s burgeoning ecosystem of crypto games, is up 50% over the past 24 hours at a current price just below $0.10. It’s still down nearly 27% over the past week, but it’s starting to claw back some of its recent lost value.

Meanwhile, MANA—the token of long-running metaverse game Decentraland—has risen 41% to $1.11 in the past 24 hours. Competing metaverse game The Sandbox has seen its SAND token gain 19% (now at $1.44) in the same span. Both tokens have lost much of the value gained since last October when Facebook revealed its own major metaverse plans.

GMT, the token of recently hot “move-to-earn” mobile running game STEPN, is up nearly 39% to $1.66 today. Enjin Coin (ENJIN), the token of crypto gaming firm Enjin, has gained 26% at a current price of almost $0.74.

ApeCoin, the recently launched Ethereum-based token of the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem, hasn’t logged as dramatic an upward pop at 9% over the past 24 hours to a current price of $9.21. However, given that it was trading under $6 as recently as early Thursday, it’s another gaming and metaverse token that is bouncing back from some serious lows.

We’ll see whether these gaming tokens and others can maintain this upward momentum after a brutal few days, or whether it’s temporary relief—a “dead cat bounce” before potentially added losses ahead.

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