Little-known MANA token shoots up 400% after Facebook metaverse announcement

Little-known cryptocurrency Mana surged by 400% over the weekend after Facebook announced changing its name to Meta. Mana is the native token of Decentraland, a self-proclaimed metaverse crypto platform where users can buy and sell virtual assets. Crypto investors believe Facebook’s rebrand is a sign of the growing interest in the metaverse trend.

Decentralnad (MANA) is now among the top 50 largest cryptocurrencies in the world. In less than seven days, this virtual currency registered a price increase of over 400%, according to Coingecko data.

Launched in 2017, MANA is the native digital token of Decentraland, a self-proclaimed metaverse platform where users can buy and sell virtual properties. Ownership of the land is purchased through nonfungible tokens (NFTs), a type of digital asset meant to track who owns what. It runs on Ethereum, the blockchain network behind ether, the world’s second-largest digital currency.

MANA token has registered a massive price increase that pushed the virtual currency to over $3.90 at the time of writing. This shows that people and investors believe that Facebook could have something ready for the Metaverse that could have a positive impact on MANA and other digital currencies.

Facebook’s decision to change its name and focus on the metaverse has also had an impact on other Metaverse cryptocurrencies such as Axie Infinity (AXS). Other coins could also be positively impacted by the expansion of the Metaverse as other large companies start focusing on these virtual worlds.

In just three days, MANA moved from below $0.80 to almost $4 per coin. This resulted in a price increase not only in USD terms but also in ETH and BTC. This represents a growth of 400% in just three days after Facebook’s announcement.

Vijay Ayyar, head of Asia-Pacific at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, told CNBC that mana and other metaverse-focused cryptocurrencies were rallying on the back of Facebook’s rebrand, which is being seen as a sign of growing acceptance of the metaverse trend.

“I read it as an interpretation of a vote of confidence amongst both speculators and investors that this concept of a metaverse is now taking a serious turn in terms of reaching mainstream consciousness and — soon — adoption,” Ayyar said.

Other cryptocurrencies, including the tokens of blockchain-based games Axie Infinity and The Sandbox, have also seen solid gains the past few days.

Investors are looking to smaller alternative cryptocurrencies, or “altcoins,” as interest in bitcoin has begun to peter out after the world’s largest digital coin hit a record high of nearly $67,000 last month, according to Luno’s Ayyar.

“Typically, once Bitcoin crosses an all-time high, we see money flow into other altcoins,” he said.

Last week, Shiba Inu — a ‘meme-token’ challenging Dogecoin — rallied sharply amid speculation over whether Robinhood could add the coin to its trading platform. It now ranks ahead of Dogecoin, with a market capitalization of more than $39.6 billion.