Official SAND staking has ended. The Sandbox closed its Polygon staking pools on June 26, 2025 at 15:30 UTC, and any SAND still staked after that time stopped earning rewards. Stakers can still withdraw their tokens at any time, but no official pool accepts new deposits for yield.
For three years, staking was one of the main reasons to hold SAND beyond speculation. This guide covers how the program worked, how to get leftover tokens out, and which ways of earning SAND still exist in 2026.
How SAND Staking Worked From 2022 to 2025
The Sandbox ran staking on Polygon so that deposits and claims cost cents instead of Ethereum gas. The program launched in February 2022, as DappRadar reported at the time, and paid weekly rewards from a fixed SAND distribution funded partly by marketplace fees.
| Pool | Who could join | Reward mechanics | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard SAND pool | Anyone with SAND on Polygon | Share of weekly SAND distribution; started at 500,000 SAND per week | Closed June 2025 |
| LAND owner pool | Wallets holding at least one LAND | Up to 2,000 SAND staked per LAND, multipliers from x1.1 (1 LAND) to x1.6 (1,000 LAND) | Closed June 2025 |
| SAND/ETH liquidity pool | Liquidity providers on Ethereum | Rewards for supplying SAND/ETH liquidity | Discontinued earlier |
The LAND owner pool linked the two assets directly: holding Sandbox LAND raised both the staking cap and the reward multiplier, which gave parcel owners a cash flow even when nothing was built on their land. Later in the program, The Sandbox added KYC verification, so only verified users could deposit new SAND and claim weekly rewards.
How to Withdraw Staked SAND
If you staked SAND and never withdrew, your tokens are still in the pool. According to The Sandbox's staking documentation, the closure does not affect your assets or your ability to withdraw them. The process:
- Go to the staking page on sandbox.game and connect the wallet you staked from.
- Make sure the wallet is on the Polygon network and holds a small amount of POL for gas.
- Select the pool you joined and choose to withdraw your full stake.
- Confirm the transaction. Withdrawing also claims any rewards earned before the June 2025 cutoff.
- Keep the SAND on Polygon, or bridge it back to Ethereum if you want to send it to an exchange that only supports Ethereum deposits.
Unverified accounts can still withdraw, so KYC is not a barrier to recovering your principal.
Why the Pools Closed
The Sandbox announced the closure without a detailed public rationale, but the economics are easy to read. Staking paid out SAND every week, adding sell pressure at a time when the token was already falling and the last vesting cliffs were landing. Ending the program cut one of the largest recurring emissions, a shift explained further in our SAND tokenomics breakdown.
The timing also matters. The closure came two months before Animoca Brands restructured The Sandbox, replaced its executive team and cut more than half its staff. Staking was one of several programs trimmed as the company moved toward a leaner model built around Seasons and SANDchain.
Ways to Earn SAND in 2026
With staking gone, earning SAND means doing something inside the ecosystem or taking on third-party risk outside it.
Season rewards
Each Alpha Season distributes a SAND pool to players based on points earned through quests. Season 6 split 250,000 SAND, and Season 7 in February 2026 opened the game to browser players without a wallet at the start.
Creating and building
Game Jams and creator challenges pay the largest individual sums. One creator earned more than 110,000 SAND in a 2025 Builders' Challenge, and the late-2025 Retro Game Jam gave each selected creator a LAND parcel and 10,000 SAND.
Third-party DeFi
Some lending markets and decentralized exchanges on Ethereum and Polygon accept SAND for lending or liquidity pools. Yields there come with smart contract risk, and liquidity pools add impermanent loss if SAND moves sharply. Check whether a protocol still supports SAND after the August 2026 bridge exploit, which disabled SAND bridges to Base and BNB Chain.
Holding SAND without any yield is also a choice, and for most holders it is the default now. Whether that makes sense depends on your view of the token's direction, covered in our SAND price prediction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still stake SAND in 2026?
No official SAND staking pool pays rewards in 2026. The Sandbox closed its pools on June 26, 2025, and only withdrawals are possible.
Is my staked SAND lost?
No. Staked SAND remains withdrawable from the official staking page, and withdrawing also claims any rewards earned before the cutoff. You need a small amount of POL in the wallet to pay Polygon gas.
Will SAND staking come back?
The Sandbox has not announced a return of staking. SANDchain, its planned Layer 2, gives SAND a gas role instead, and any future reward program would likely be tied to that chain.
SAND Without a Staking Yield
The end of staking turned SAND into a token you hold for its price or use inside the game, with Seasons and creator programs as the only official ways to earn more. If you still have tokens in the old pools, withdrawing them takes a few minutes and a few cents of gas.
Once your SAND is free, you can trade it on the LeveX SAND spot market, or skip holding the token altogether and take long or short exposure with SAND perpetuals. For more explainers like this one, browse Crypto in a Minute.