SAND is the ERC-20 utility token of The Sandbox, a voxel-based virtual world owned by Animoca Brands. The token runs on Ethereum and Polygon, and its maximum supply is fixed at 3,000,000,000. On 21–22 August 2026 an attacker exploited SAND's cross-chain bridge on Base and BNB Smart Chain. The Sandbox DAO has been dormant since 1 April 2026. SAND staking pools closed in June 2025. The company is now rebuilding the platform around The Sandbox Studio, an AI-assisted game creation tool, with a public launch provisionally planned for October 2026.
Latest: the August 2026 bridge exploit
- What happened. According to The Sandbox's post-mortem as reported by Cointelegraph (28 August 2026), a configuration flaw in the SAND contracts on Base and BNB Smart Chain let an attacker make itself the sole verifier of incoming bridge messages. That let it mint unbacked SAND on those two chains. Reports give the date as 21 August or 22 August 2026.
- Scope. The Sandbox said SAND on Ethereum and Polygon was not affected and no user wallets were compromised (The Sandbox on X, August 2026). The company's first statement put the impact at less than 0.01% of total supply. Later coverage of the post-mortem reported about 14.74 million SAND drained from the Ethereum vault, roughly 0.5% of maximum supply (eGamers, 9 September 2026). Both figures come from the company.
- Fix. The Base and BNB Smart Chain contracts have been permanently retired, and any future bridges on those chains will use newly deployed contracts. Unbacked tokens on those chains cannot be bridged or redeemed (Cointelegraph, 28 August 2026).
- Compensation. Wallets that legitimately held bridged SAND on Base or BNB Smart Chain just before the attack are paid 1:1 in Ethereum SAND. The money comes from the treasury, and no new SAND is minted. Eligibility is set by an on-chain snapshot. The claim window ran from 8 September to 22 September 2026 (16:00 UTC). Later claims are reviewed case by case until the end of October 2026. Holders whose SAND sat on centralised exchanges are paid by those platforms (eGamers, 9 September 2026). The Sandbox warned that a genuine claim never asks for token approvals, off-chain signatures or payment.
What SAND is used for today
The official documentation (docs.sandbox.game) currently lists these uses:
- Medium of exchange. Players use SAND to buy avatars and equipment and to enter some Experiences. Creators use it to buy and sell assets on the Marketplace.
- Marketplace royalty. The Sandbox takes 2.5% of the sale price of each asset sold on its Marketplace. That revenue funds The Sandbox Foundation, which pays for the Game Maker Fund, rewards and user-generated content programmes. Older material describes a 5% fee on all SAND transaction volume, split equally between a staking pool and the Foundation. That figure appears in early Sandbox posts but not in the current docs.
- Play & Earn. Players earn Ethos Points in some Experiences, which can make them eligible for SAND rewards through contests and raffles.
- Governance. The docs still say SAND is required to take part in The Sandbox DAO, but the DAO is currently dormant (see below).
- Gas. Transactions pay network gas. According to the docs, account holders get 10 free transactions every 28 days on Polygon.
Staking has ended
The docs say "the staking pools have closed." SAND left in the pool after 26 June 2025, 15:30 UTC no longer earns yield, and staked tokens can still be withdrawn. The programme ran on Polygon. From February 2023, LAND owners could stake up to 2,000 SAND per LAND, with tier multipliers from x1.1 for one LAND to x1.6 for 1,000 LANDs.
Governance is paused
The DAO launched in May 2024. SAND and LAND holders voted on Sandbox Improvement Proposals (SIPs) through Snapshot, with a minimum of 5 SAND to vote (Decrypt, 2024). According to a Blockworks token-transparency filing dated 24 August 2026, SIP-39 passed on 25 February 2026 and paused the DAO. Operations moved to the company team by 31 March 2026, and the DAO "entered dormant mode on 1 April 2026 with no new SIP intake and no new funding decisions."
Token facts
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | ERC-20, on Ethereum and Polygon | docs.sandbox.game |
| Ethereum contract | 0x3845badAde8e6dFF049820680d1F14bD3903a5d0 | Etherscan |
| Maximum supply | 3,000,000,000 SAND, all minted at genesis; no mining | Etherscan; Blockworks filing |
| Vesting | All schedules completed in 2025, per the filing | Blockworks filing |
| Circulating supply | 2.937 billion SAND on 27 July 2026, per the filing | Blockworks filing |
| Company reserve | 774,722,223 SAND (25.82%), held by TSB Gaming | Blockworks filing |
| Ethereum holders | 207,229 on 25 October 2026 | Etherscan |
Because the whole supply was minted at genesis, SAND cannot be mined. The year 2011 often attached to the token is the company's founding year, not the token's creation date.
Does the SAND bridge compensation apply to you?
Answer where your SAND was during the August 2026 bridge exploit to see what The Sandbox says applies to you.
Where was your SAND when the bridge was exploited on 21–22 August 2026?
- On Ethereum or Polygon → Not affected, per the company
- Bridged to Base or BNB Smart Chain, in my own wallet → next question
- Held on a centralised exchange → Your exchange handles it
Did you file a claim during the window from 8 September to 22 September 2026 (16:00 UTC)?
- Yes, I claimed in the window → Paid 1:1 in Ethereum SAND if the snapshot confirms you
- No, I have not claimed yet → Late claims: case by case until end of October 2026
The Sandbox said SAND on Ethereum and Polygon was not affected and no user wallets were compromised. The compensation scheme covers bridged SAND on Base and BNB Smart Chain.
The Sandbox said holders whose SAND sat on centralised exchanges are paid by those platforms, not through its own claim process.
Wallets that legitimately held bridged SAND on Base or BNB Smart Chain just before the attack are paid 1:1 in Ethereum SAND from the treasury, with no new SAND minted. Eligibility is set by an on-chain snapshot.
The main window closed on 22 September 2026 at 16:00 UTC. The Sandbox reviews later claims case by case until the end of October 2026. It warned that a genuine claim never asks for token approvals, off-chain signatures or payment.
This only sorts the cases The Sandbox described; it cannot check your wallet against the on-chain snapshot, confirm a payout, or say what an exchange will do for its users.
Other tokens in the ecosystem
- LAND: plots in the virtual world, issued as ERC-721 NFTs. Under a roadmap reported by BlockchainGamer.biz (August 2026), games published on owned LAND will get extra catalogue placement and better monetisation terms when Studio launches. Owners may later host and curate other developers' games. The revenue split has not been disclosed.
- ASSETS: user-made items, issued under ERC-1155 (docs.sandbox.game).
Who runs The Sandbox
- Origins. Arthur Madrid, Sébastien Borget and Adrien Duermaël founded Pixowl in May 2011. The company released the mobile game The Sandbox in 2012 and The Sandbox Evolution in June 2016. Animoca Brands acquired Pixowl in August 2018 for $4.875 million in cash and stock (Wikipedia, citing contemporary reports).
- Leadership since August 2025. Robby Yung is CEO, Arthur Madrid is non-executive chairman and Sébastien Borget is global ambassador (Blockworks filing). The same restructuring cut more than half of roughly 250 staff. The company disputed parts of the early press reports about these changes.
What comes next: The Sandbox Studio
The Sandbox announced Studio on 9 June 2026 as an AI-assisted engine that turns a written description into a playable multiplayer game in the browser (Crypto Briefing, 9 June 2026). Yung's description: "AI tools generate code. The Sandbox Studio generates games." In a September 2026 interview he said the public launch was "provisionally planned" for October. He also said: "The goal here is not to automate game creation. Because that's how you get AI slop" (BlockchainGamer.biz, 7 September 2026). About 30 community creators took part in the first alpha game jam.
Risks to weigh
- Bridge and contract risk. The August 2026 exploit hit token contracts that also served as bridge integrations, so every new chain deployment adds contract risk.
- Execution risk. Usage now depends on Studio, whose public launch was only provisionally scheduled for October 2026. Yung said in September 2026: "Nobody is going to make a living in The Sandbox today."
- Concentrated control. With the DAO dormant, decisions sit with the company. The company reserve holds about a quarter of total supply.
