Crypto Gaming Gets $1B Investments 🕹️
Gaming strikes big with investors in April. Best game tokens launched in 2024. Notcoin: Viral Telegram game to token launch. $3B Genesis payback. $3B Arbitrum DAO’s shopping bag. Nigeria denies bail.
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Blockchain gaming is booming in 2024.
New gaming tokens launching left and right.
The industry is attracting nearly $1 billion investments in April.
The highest since early 2021.
Also, a record 2.9 million daily active users in the blockchain gaming space.
Why things are heating up?
Play-to-Earn is Hot: Gamers are flocking to blockchain games for the chance to earn rewards and own in-game assets. "Airdrops" of crypto tokens are a major draw.
New Gaming Tokens Proliferate: The rise of Web3 is fuelling the creation of new in-game tokens.
Deets from DappRadar report
Investment Surge: Web3 gaming investments hit a record $988 million in April, surpassing Q2 2023's $973 million.
Top Chains: Ronin (Pixels) leads, followed by Polygon (Matr1x, QORPO WORLD) and Klaytn (Another World). Solana (Mirror World) and Flow are also active.
Top Games: Pixels (20 million monthly UAW) dominates, followed by Sweat Economy (5.4 million) and StarryNift (5 million).
Metaverse Revival: Mocaverse (Animoca Brands) leads metaverse NFT trade, followed by Otherside (Yuga Labs) and The Sandbox.
VC Interest: a16z launched a $600 million games fund, and Bitkraft Ventures raised $275 million for gaming and media investments.
Investment Breakdown: 89% went to venture capital firms, 7% to infrastructure, and 5% to Web3 games.
Biggest Crypto Gaming Tokens launched in 2024
1. Notcoin (NOT): Launched on The Open Network (TON) in May, NOT quickly skyrocketed with a massive airdrop. While the price has dropped since, it remains the top gaming token of 2024 so far.
2. Pixels (PIXEL): The hottest game on Ethereum scaler Ronin, PIXEL is a chill farming game with its own token. PIXEL generated over $1 billion in trading volume in less than a day.
3. Saga (SAGA): While not exclusively for gaming, the Saga layer-1 network focuses heavily on games, with play-to-airdrop campaigns and an in-house game publisher. The SAGA token saw a huge surge after a record-breaking Binance Launchpool campaign.
4. Portal (PORTAL): Launched with a massive airdrop farming push, Portal is an Ethereum-based token for an upcoming cross-chain gaming platform. The price has dipped since launch, but can it regain its hype?
5. Xai (XAI): The Xai layer-3 gaming network on Arbitrum had a hot start in 2024 with its XAI token launch and airdrop for early supporters. Games are starting to roll out, potentially driving the token even higher.
6. Heroes of Mavia (MAVIA): This Clash of Clans-inspired mobile game has millions of downloads and a thriving token economy. MAVIA saw a big price surge but has since corrected.
7. Gaimin (GMRX): Gaimin lets users contribute computing power to earn rewards via its GMRX token. While the individual token price is low, the large circulating supply pushes its market cap high.
8. Apeiron (APRS): Apeiron is a buzzy Ronin strategy game with a play-to-airdrop campaign and a recently launched APRS token. The token's market cap approached $200 million but has fallen since.
9. My Pet Hooligan (KARRAT): KARRAT is a new token tied to the NFT-based battle royale game My Pet Hooligan. Distributed to NFT holders, KARRAT's market cap reached nearly $117 million but has since dipped.
Block That Quote 🎙️
Telegram founder Pavel Durov.
“Half a million Notcoin users gifted me $6.8 million worth of Notcoin! Thank you. I will hold these coins until they turn to $680 million, at which point I will use them to buy more servers for Telegram.”
Durov recently received over 1 billion Notcoin tokens (NOT) from the project's community.
Durov says he'll HODL these tokens until they reach $680 million - a 100x gain. If he's right, that windfall would be used to upgrade Telegram's servers.
Notcoin's Rise To Prominence
Launched as a tap-to-earn game on Telegram, Notcoin quickly gained traction with over 35 million players.
This viral success caught Durov's eye, who praised Telegram and TON Blockchain's ability to empower app developers.
The Notcoin community, including both game participants and token holders, rallied behind Durov with their generous donation.
From Viral Telegram Game to Token Launch
The biggest gaming token launch of 2024 goes to Notcoin
What you need to know
Explosive Debut: Notcoin launched its NOT token on the TON blockchain, racking up over $1 billion in trading volume in its first day.
Massive Player Base: Over 35 million players got in on the action, claiming their share of the 102.7 billion NOT tokens minted.
Early Rewards: These players were able to mine in-game coins earlier this year, which were converted to NOT tokens at a 1,000:1 ratio.
Staking & Trading: Major exchanges like Binance and OKX are offering staking rewards for NOT, while players can also trade their tokens freely.
The token hit a high of $0.014 at the launch but has since seen a dip as players cash out their earnings.
The Game
Simple clicker game: Tap the coin to earn in-game Notcoin currency.
Climb the leaderboard and complete quests for bonus tokens.
Use boosts to increase earnings and personalise your experience.
Jack Booth, the director of marketing at Tom foundation on WuBlockchain Podcast.
In the Numbers 🔢
$3 Billion
That’s Genesis Global’s creditor payout 👇
Big win for Genesis customers who have been waiting months to access their funds. A court approved their plan to repay creditors.
This means frozen customer assets will finally be unlocked and returned.
Who Gets Paid? Creditors will receive the full $3 billion, prioritizing claims over ownership stake.
DCG Shut Out: Genesis' parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), won't see any recovery from the bankruptcy. Their argument that Genesis should only repay based on January 2023 crypto prices (when Bitcoin was much lower) was rejected.
Why? The judge ruled DCG lacks legal standing and their equity stake is essentially worthless due to the massive creditor claims.
$3 Billion
Arbitrum DAO’s shopping budget.
The second-largest treasury in DeFi approved an eight-week M&A (mergers and acquisitions) pilot program, taking a page straight out of the Big Tech playbook.
What does this mean? They're looking to acquire other DeFi projects, potentially consolidating power and shaping the future of the space.
Nigeria Denies Bail
Binance's head of financial crime compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, remains behind bars in Nigeria after being denied bail.
Gambaryan faces a $35 million money laundering charge alongside tax evasion accusations.
A Nigerian court ruled him a flight risk, rejecting his bail request on Friday.
Binance maintains Gambaryan's innocence and calls for his release.
Gambaryan, held for over 100 days, isn't just facing money laundering charges. Nigerian authorities accuse Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, of weakening their national currency, the naira.
The Backstory: Nigeria's Crypto Crime Thriller 🇳🇬
Nigeria's SEC claims Binance's peer-to-peer platform became a shadow foreign exchange market, hurting the naira's official rate.
This accusation comes alongside money laundering and tax evasion charges against Binance and its executives.
Gambaryan's bail request was denied, and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla escaped to Kenya.
Binance argues Gambaryan is a mid-level employee and shouldn't have been detained during collaborative policy meetings.
What's Next? The trial continues on May 23rd with Gambaryan facing charges on behalf of Binance.
The Surfer 🏄
zkSync announced their v24 upgrade, aiming to decentralize the protocol by summer. This fueled rumors of an airdrop as early as June, something traders have anticipated since March. The upgrade is the final step before handing over governance to the community.
Kraken might delist Tether (USDT) in Europe due to upcoming regulations (MiCA). This is still under review, but an executive hinted they're planning for all possibilities. Much similar to OKX which stopped USDT trading in Europe earlier this year.
Ghana and Singapore successfully tested a new system for international trade between small businesses. The project, DESFT, uses a special type of digital token that combines verifiable credentials (like licenses and certifications) with a stablecoin and a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
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gaming will always lead the adoption curve for the new technology. no surprises that the investments are pouring in.