The term "metaverse" was one of the top trends in 2021 with companies and cryptocurrencies related to the term seeing soaring valuations. While interest in the metaverse has fallen off in recent years, two cryptocurrencies with ties to the metaverse were among the top gainers of the past week.

What Happened: The Sandbox (CRYPTO: SAND) and Decentraland (CRYPTO: MANA) cryptocurrencies are among the biggest movers of the last week, gaining 107% and 57%, respectively, over the last seven days, which comes as interest in the metaverse could be growing once again.

The two coins are connected to virtual worlds and were high performers in 2021 and 2022 as interest in virtual land and metaverse-related companies and cryptocurrencies soared.

While the prices of the coins are down sharply from all-time highs set in November 2021, the recent gains have the coins hitting new levels not seen in some time.

The Sandbox coin is up 27% over the last day to $0.7294, making it one of the top gainers in the last 24 hours. The coin has traded between $0.2098 and $0.8493 over the last year, with the yearly high recently hit in the past week. The all-time high for the coin is $8.44, set on Nov. 25, 2021.

The Decentraland coin is up 11% over the last day to $0.6532, making it one of the top gainers in the last 24 hours. The coin has traded between $0.2181 and $0.8185 over the last year. Over the past week, it hit new monthly highs of $0.7731. The all-time high for the coin is $5.90, set on Nov. 25, 2021.

Investors who bought the metaverse-related coins in 2021 could have generated a nice profit throughout the year and into 2022. Here's a look at their stake if they held.

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Investing $1,000 in SAND, MANA: The Sandbox coin traded at a high of $0.0379 on Jan. 1, 2021. A $1,000 investment in SAND on the first day of the year could have bought 26,385.22 SAND coins.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $19,245.38 today based on a current price of $0.7294, up 1,824.5% since the start of 2021.

The Decentraland coin traded at a high of $0.0839 on Jan. 1, 2021. A $1,000 investment in MANA on the first day of the year could have bought 11,918.95 MANA coins.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $7,785.46 today based on a current price of $0.6532, up 678.5% since the start of 2021.

What's Next: The metaverse was a big topic in 2021 with the launch of virtual land from several companies, the launch of the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF and the announced rebrand of Facebook to Meta Platforms.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk called the metaverse a "marketing buzzword" previously.

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood took the other side and said the metaverse was in the early stages of development at the time.

"It's a big idea that will probably infiltrate – just like technology is, anyway – every sector in ways that we cannot even imagine right now," Wood said.

She said the metaverse could be a multitrillion-dollar opportunity, a stark contrast from Musk saying the metaverse is a marketing buzzword.

Fast-forward to today, and skepticism around the metaverse has grown, with some use cases losing their luster and excitement waning in recent years. Yet, metaverse and gaming tokens have recently surged as top crypto gainers, sparking renewed investor interest in the sector’s potential revival.

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This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.

Photo: Koshiro K/Shutterstock.com