Kraken is the cheapest way that I can find to buy Sandbox (SAND) directly with GBP in the UK (up to 0.26%).
A simpler and easier alternative is CoinJar. It’s much more suitable for beginners, or casual buyers/sellers, but its fees are higher (1% fee when depositing GBP with a UK bank transfer).
Read on for more information.
Summary: Buying Sandbox (SAND) in the UK
Here’s a list of some of the places where you can buy Sandbox (SAND) in the UK.
| Provider | Payment Method | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Kraken | UK Bank Transfer | Up to 0.26% |
| CoinJar | UK Bank Transfer | 1.00% |
| CoinJar | Credit & Debit Card | 2.00% |
| Gemini | UK Bank Transfer | 1.99% (if > £150) |
| BC Bitcoin | UK Bank Transfer | 5.00% |
| Crypto.com App | UK Bank Transfer | Variable |
| Crypto.com App | Credit & Debit Card | 2.99% + Variable |
Buy Sandbox (SAND) in the UK
1. Kraken
Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange that’s available in many countries around the world – which includes the UK and Europe. Founded in 2013, it remains one of the most popular crypto exchanges around.
However, for what it’s worth, Kraken doesn’t have great reviews on Trustpilot (2-star rating, with 1000+ reviews).
It currently supports more than 80 cryptocurrencies now – which, on top of Sandbox (SAND), includes Cardano (ADA) and Ripple (XRP).
You can deposit GBP using a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments) without paying any fees. You can then buy Sandbox (SAND) directly with GBP – and you won’t pay more than 0.26% in fees.
2. CoinJar
Founded in 2013, CoinJar is an Australian company (but that has a London office) that is now registered with the FCA as a cryptoasset business.
Compared to cryptocurrency exchanges (like Kraken, Coinbase, or Binance), CoinJar has a much higher Trustpilot rating (4.2-star rating, 1900+ reviews).
CoinJar has begun to support more and more cryptocurrencies in the last year – which apart from Sandbox (SAND), includes Fantom (FTM), Loopring (LRC), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
You can deposit GBP into CoinJar using a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments), and then use that cash to buy Sandbox (SAND). If you do this, you’ll pay a 1% fee.
Alternatively, you can buy Sandbox (SAND) with a credit or debit card. While this is instant, you’ll be charged a 2% fee.
3. Gemini
Established in 2014, Gemini is a cryptocurrency platform that’s headquartered in New York City (but has offices in Chicago, Portland, and London too). Like CoinJar, Gemini is registered with the FCA as a cryptoasset business.
And in the most recent CryptoCompare Exchange Benchmark, it was rated as the #2 cryptocurrency exchange (with a AA rating).
Gemini supports about as many cryptocurrencies as CoinJar, but charges higher fees. If you purchase at least £150 worth of Sandbox (SAND) – or something else – then you’ll be charged about 1.99% fees in total.
But if you purchase less? You can end up paying a lot more. (Check out this page for more details.)
And if you want to use a credit or debit card to buy Sandbox (SAND) on Gemini, you’ll pay an additional 3.49% in fees.
What is The Sandbox (SAND)?
The Sandbox (SAND) is a utility and governance token that powers The Sandbox, a decentralised virtual gaming platform and ecosystem. Technically, the game itself is called ‘The Sandbox’ and the token is simply called SAND, but most people use the terms interchangeably.
The first version of The Sandbox game was launched in 2011. It was initially created by the Hong Kong-based gaming company Pixowl, which was founded by Sébastien Borget and Arthur Madrid. In 2018, Pixowl was acquired by the game developer Animoca, who further developed The Sandbox into the 3D game that exists today.
Animoca held an initial coin offering (ICO) for SAND tokens in 2020. SAND tokens are ERC-20 tokens that are now tradable on major exchanges. There is a fixed supply of 3 billion SAND tokens, less than 25% of which was released to the public. The rest of the supply was set aside for company reserves, founder’s shares, staking rewards, and Binance Launchpad sales.
Here’s a quick video that shows how The Sandbox (SAND) works:
To understand the benefits of holding The Sandbox (SAND) tokens, you need a good idea of how The Sandbox ecosystem works.
Within The Sandbox ecosystem, gamers can use their SAND tokens to buy and sell digital plots of land, which are aptly called LAND. SAND tokens can also be used to purchase ASSET tokens. These ASSET tokens are user-generated NFTs that can benefit players in the game.
The whole idea of the platform is that it lets players build, own, trade, and monetize their entire gaming experience by creating desirable plots of land within The Sandbox metaverse.
There’s a limited number of LAND plots (166,464 plots, to be exact), so some players believe this scarcity will eventually drive up the price of LAND. Players can then sell LAND for SAND tokens, which can be traded on exchanges for fiat or other cryptocurrencies.
Therefore, the potential value of SAND tokens comes from the three key roles that SAND plays in The Sandbox ecosystem, namely:
- In-Game Purchases. SAND tokens facilitate the purchase of LAND, ASSETS, and other in-game commodities within The Sandbox ecosystem. If these commodities become more valuable, some investors think that this will drive up the price of SAND.
- Staking Rewards. Since SAND also serves as a utility token, holders of SAND can stake their tokens to passively earn rewards. Staking SAND can also earn GEMS and CATALYSTS, which are two additional in-game features that can increase the value of ASSETS.
- Governance Votes. Anyone that holds SAND gets governance voting rights whenever changes are proposed to The Sandbox ecosystem. If The Sandbox’s popularity grows, some gamers think that the desire for governance voting rights could drive up the price of SAND.
Best The Sandbox (SAND) Wallets
Since The Sandbox (SAND) is an ERC-20 token, it’s easy to store in most popular hardware and software wallets.
There’s no official SAND wallet, but if staking SAND is your goal, you want to be sure that you use a wallet that’s compatible with The Sandbox staking platform. Currently, the staking platform supports a direct integration with MetaMask, which is a popular mobile app and browser extension-based crypto wallet.
You can also use WalletConnect to link other supported wallets to the staking platform. There are more than 75 wallets supported by WalletConnect. Some of the most popular SAND-compatible wallets that integrate with WalletConnect include:
- Trust Wallet. A non-custodial wallet designed by Binance, Trust Wallet supports all ERC-20 tokens, including SAND. It also supports most major coins, plus all BEP-2 and BEP-20 tokens. Trust Wallet can also be used to store NFTS and it has a built-in function where you can buy crypto using a credit card.
- Atomic Wallet. One of my favourite multi-currency wallets, Atomic Wallet is a mobile app that can store the keys to all ERC-20 tokens and dozens of coins. Atomic Wallet also includes support for in-wallet crypto purchases and it has a sleek, user-friendly interface.
If you prefer to store your SAND keys on a hardware wallet, you have plenty of options to choose from. Popular ERC-20-compatible hardware wallets that can store the private keys to your SAND include:
All of these hardware wallets are compatible with WalletConnect, too. As a result, you can stake your SAND directly from your hardware wallet with minimal hassle.
That said, neither Ledger Live nor Trezor Suite (the wallet interfaces for Ledger and Trezor devices) currently support SAND. Therefore, while you can store the keys to your SAND on these wallets, you need to use MetaMask, MyEtherWallet, or another similar platform to manage your tokens.
Thanks for Reading
Thanks for checking out this list of places where you can buy Sandbox (SAND) in the UK!
Comment below if you have a question.