India: The Targeted Top Market for The Sandbox Crypto

• Metaverse Platform, The Sandbox, Targets India as Largest Market
• The Vision of a Borderless Metaverse
• BharatBox: A Cultural Metaverse Hub for India
• Challenges and Opportunities in India's Web3 Industry
• Partnerships and Projections
• The Role of CoinDCX and Okto
• Future Plans for The Sandbox in India

Metaverse Platform, The Sandbox, Targets India as Largest Market

The Sandbox, a leading metaverse platform, is venturing to make India its biggest market within the next two years. This initiative follows its entrance into the Indian market earlier this year through a joint venture with a local entity, an unprecedented move for this subsidiary of Animoca Brands, a heavyweight in metaverse gaming and venture capital.

The Vision of a Borderless Metaverse

Our goal is to create a diverse and inclusive world without borders that unites different global regions. With this vision guiding us, we initiated a joint venture in India a year ago, said Sebastien Borget, Co-Founder of The Sandbox. The conversation took place in India's southern city of Bengaluru earlier this month.

BharatBox: A Cultural Metaverse Hub for India

The essence of the joint venture announcement in February 2023 between Brinc, a worldwide venture accelerator, and The Sandbox, was the establishment of BharatBox. As a cultural metaverse hub for India, BharatBox encompasses Bollywood, India's popular Hindi cinema industry, among other cultural aspects. The Sandbox's Indian entity is BharatBox, while BharatVerse represents the Indian land on The Sandbox map, explained Karan Keswani, CEO of BharatBox.

Challenges and Opportunities in India's Web3 Industry

As The Sandbox sets its sights on India, the nation's lawmakers have called for the Web3 industry to disentangle itself from cryptocurrency. India's cryptocurrency industry has been grappling with survival following the imposition of substantial taxes in 2022. However, a Web3 gaming titan like The Sandbox pushing into India despite regulatory uncertainties reflects the nation's promising gaming and developer landscape. We are prepared to engage with regulators and facilitate discussions about this space, Borget commented.

Partnerships and Projections

In the preceding six months, BharatBox has forged alliances with 25 Indian partners, including Eros Entertainment, Hungama, and Shemaroo, all longstanding media entertainment companies in Indian cinema. Keswani expects that their partnership with CoinDCX, a significant Indian exchange, will propel India to become The Sandbox's largest market.

The Role of CoinDCX and Okto

Our strategic ecosystem partnership with CoinDCX and the Web3 wallet Okto provides us with access to their 16 million users, Keswani stated. The Sandbox globally has five million wallets. Together with CoinDCX and Okto, we are optimistic about bringing three to four million gamers through their Okto community. Our aim is to onboard these users within 24 months, making India The Sandbox's largest market.

Neeraj Khandelwal, co-founder of CoinDCX and Okto, expressed his enthusiasm about their collaboration. Okto is pleased to work with one of the best players in the metaverse and gaming ecosystem to assist them in establishing a solid presence in India, he said.

Future Plans for The Sandbox in India

Most partnerships involve contractual and land partner agreements which allow the company to utilize its acquired Land NFTs in the open metaverse, building gamified experiences specifically for India in The Sandbox. This includes a recent initiative to introduce India's epic Mahabharat to the metaverse.

BharatBox is also proceeding with plans to bring Animoca Brands' wider portfolio to India, offering other Web3 solutions, such as ticketing and blockchain gaming.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker