Is 2023 A Revamping Year For Crypto Gaming?

  • Crypto gaming saw robust financing despite the significant decline in blockchain game token prices.
  • Venture capitalists – the ‘real OGs’ – continue to bet big on leading game studios, with experience and end product key factors.
  • The Web3 game industry is in the “build” stage as the hype cycle fades and only the best will make it.

The history of play-to-earn games has seen an affirmative change, especially in 2022. The marketplace is still reeling from the sudden rush of capital as well as users, which was followed by a significant decline in the pricing of blockchain game tokens and a fall in the number of players. 

And with the aftermath of the FTX debacle spreading to every part of the industry, the prospects for play-to-earn appear to be gloomy at first glance. But if you go under the bonnet, the data paint a different story: robust financing this year has laid the groundwork for significant “building” in 2023.

For a number of months, the market has been receiving cash thanks to a steady stream of significant fundraisers that have been conducted by Web3 gaming firms. UnCaged studios were able to raise $24 million in the month of August, contributing to the approximately $750 million that was collected by Web3 gaming developers in just that one month. 

The momentum carried on through September, when Revolving Games successfully raised $25 million, and into October, when Odyssey Interactive, Stardust, and SkyWeaver, respectively, raised $19 million, $30 million, and $40 million. In November, Thirdverse was successful in raising $15 million in funding for Web3 plus virtual reality (VR) games;

The plummeting asset prices and the player enthusiasm in the Web3 gaming area are completely contradicted by these numbers. Despite the fact that both players and tokens are struggling, venture investors continue to place large bets on the potential of blockchain gaming. Who of the studios will emerge victorious in the coming year? To what end?

Venture capitalists: the real OG has all the power 

It is important to note that the bulk of companies that have been granted money is required to hold seed or pre-seed offerings. This is a requirement that has been consistent across the bulk of the fundraisers that have gone place over the past few months. They are, on the other hand, holding the Series As.

Without a shadow of a doubt, there are a few significant departures from the standard. A number of studios have finished their seed or pre-seed stages with great success. Despite this, the founding teams of these companies have significant gaming experience. 

As an illustration, Ruckus Games is a video game development studio that was recently able to secure early funding in the amount of $5.5 million. 

This suggests that venture capitalists are shifting their attention to studios that already have experience in the game industry, which is a divergence from the initial periods of Web3 gaming.

During that early stage, a great number of Web3 gaming companies were given substantial money despite the fact that they lacked either a distinct plan for the launching of their goods or founding teams that have the demonstrated experience necessary to make it happen.

In point of fact, the YOLO times of late 2021, as well as early 2022, are a distant memory at this point. The game development studios that are currently receiving financing have already demonstrated some amount of success in the creation of Web3 games. 

These days, venture capitalists are looking even further into the future, anywhere from 5 to 10 years down the line.

Simultaneously, there are other AI-supporting trading bots like immediate edge which have widened the investing scope for venture capitalists alongwith giving investors a variety of investing options in terms of purchasing different digital currencies. 

Crypto gaming: the advances to witness 

When we consider these increases in conjunction with the longer-term tendencies shown in Web3 gaming, investors can begin to see that certain patterns are emerging to influence the future of the industry.

The question now is, what kind of an effect will all of the pay increases have in the coming years?

Mobile gaming is almost certain to receive a significant amount of attention. According to a report published by DappRadar in September, hyper-casual smartphone blockchain games successfully transitioned over 1.7 million gamers from Web2 gaming to Web3 gaming in just one week.

It does seem probable that Web3 gameplay will gain entry into the “mainstream” as a result of the changes that are currently taking place, and that over the next 5 years, the global score of the 100 best gaming studios will include studios that have powerful blockchain elements. 

This forecast is founded on the observation that the aforementioned transformations are taking place right now. 

In addition to that, there are a number of reliable trade assistance bots like immediate edge which are allowing traders to redeem their earned game points into crypto and utilize it for versatile usage. 

What’s coming next? 

There is a good chance that we haven’t seen the conclusion of the large-scale funding rounds that have been taking place in the Web3 gaming industry over the past few months. 

The hype cycle surrounding Web 3 gaming has finally come to an end, and the market is currently in the “build” period. This time around, investors are searching for companies that have a perspective on their operations that is more long-term focused. 

This shift in emphasis, when coupled with the enormous shifts that have been taking place in the blockchain technology industry as a whole, is going to produce new dynamics and chances for developers in the P2E market in the year 2023. 

The expectations of the players as well as the funders will need to be raised in order to sort the wheat from the chaff. 

When it comes to determining priorities after the year 2023, the quality of the work will be given more weight than the quantity. Those who are able to develop the most remarkable games will emerge victorious in the end. The real game has just begun NOW.

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Axie Infinity price shoots up 40% today: today’s top gainer

  • Axie Infinity (AXS) has hit a high of $13.83 today.
  • AXS is today’s top gainer followed by STEPN coin.
  • Here is a deep dive into what is causing today’s price surge.

After a calm weekend with most cryptocurrencies consolidating their previous gains, Axie Infinity has started the week with a bang after climbing to a four-month high of $13.83.

AXS has traded below $12 since mid-September and dropped to as low as $6 towards the end of 2022. The token has however turned the tables and staged a steady recovery since the start of 2023 with today being one of the greatest days for the token in recent history. 

At press time, the token was trading at $12.86 after a slight pullback from a high of $13.83.

But what is pushing the price of AXS up and how far will it go? Here are the forces behind today’s AXS rally.

What is pushing Axie Infinity price up?

Although the crypto winter brought the price of the Axie Infinity token down from its all-time high (ATH) of $165.37 to trading below $10, the increased gaming activity on the Axie Infinity blockchain is largely behind the ongoing bullish price action.

Axie Infinity is branded as a blockchain-based battling game owned and operated by players around the world. Inspired by such games as Tamagotchi and Pokémon, and the ability of players to collect, breed, raise, battle, and trade token-based creatures the Axie Infinity ecosystem has seen increased growth since the start of 2023.

Axie Infinity currently ranks as the most successful play-to-earn (P2E) game within the blockchain industry and the booming sentiment among gaming tokens has also boosted AXS performance with many investors now anxious to see what the future holds for the token. 

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Bitcoin hits 5-month high as bulls push BTC above $23K

  • Bitcoin hit highs of $23,342 on Binance, with a breakout above $22k extending year-to-date gains.
  • BTC price is up 30% in a month and has recovered 47% since the decline to $15,500 lows.
  • Short liquidations were around $376 million in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin price roared to highs above $23,000 on Saturday morning, rising to $23,342 on Binance as the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap hit levels last seen in mid-August 2022.

BTC was changing hands around $22,900 at the time of writing, about 9% up in the past 24 hours after shedding some of the gains. 

The price of Bitcoin was, however, still 35% up in the past 30 days, and as crypto trader and analyst Rekt Capital pointed out earlier this morning, BTC had rallied over 47% since falling to lows of $15,500 amid the FTX dump.

Bitcoin price chart showing BTC rally to $23,000 on 21 January, 2023. Source: TradingView

 On-chain data platform Santiment noted just before today’s break above $23k that Bitcoin’s price rally has come amid a bullish outlook from large BTC investors. As the firm highlights in the chart below, whale addresses with 1,000 to 10,000 BTC have in the past two weeks accumulated over 64,638 bitcoins worth more than $1.46 billion.

Over $376 million in shorts liquidated

As Bitcoin raced to highs near $23,350, liquidation data showed that in the past 24 hours, about 80,497 traders had been liquidated.

According to Coinglass, the largest short liquidation was on Bitmex where an order worth $4.53million was rekt. The total liquidations as of 06:10 am ET on 21 January were $376.61 million. 

Notably, total liquidations are not at the levels seen when BTC/USD broke above $20,000 last week towards erasing all post-FTX losses. Nonetheless, it still shows some traders are convinced this could be a gigantic bull trap. 

But as it is, further upside momentum could see bulls target $25,000 or possibly higher if sentiment across risk markets helps bouy buy pressure.

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Nexo to pay $45 million to settle SEC charges

  • Nexo reached a $45 million settlement with US regulators, including the SEC.
  • The crypto lender allegedly offered unregistered securities via its Earn Interest Product.
  • Nexo will pay $22.5 to state regulators and the rest to the SEC, with this expected in the next 12 months.

Nexo, a Cayman Islands corporation founded in 2018 and a leading crypto lender, will pay $45 million as settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).

NASAA announced the settlement late Thursday, noting Nexo had agreed to pay the penalties following the outcome of a comprehensive investigation into an interest product the crypto platform allegedly offered to US customers.

Nexo settlement closes multi-year investigation

According to the press release announcing the settlement, the charges related to Nexo’s offering and sale of alleged unregistered securities via its Earned Interest Product (EIP). The regulatory watchdog noted 17 US state securities regulators had agreed to the reported settlement, with more set to accept it.

This settlement recognises the important work of state securities regulators and the SEC in making sure that those who are investing their hard-earned money have all the information necessary to understand the risks and rewards of their decisions,” said Charlie Clark, Director, Washington Department of Financial Institutions Agency.

Nexo commented on the landmark settlement via a blog release, confirming it had been reached on a “no-admit-no-deny basis.” This closes a multi-year probe into Nexo’s offerings, particularly its interest bearing accounts.

According to Nexo, the regulators’ inquiries over the past year or so showed the company had not engaged in any fraud. 

We are content with this unified resolution which unequivocally puts an end to all speculations around Nexo’s relations to the United States. We can now focus on what we do best – build seamless financial solutions for our worldwide audience,” said Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev.

The crypto lender will pay $22.5 million to state securities regulators and the rest to the SEC, with the payments made over the next 12 months. Notably. Nexo was in the process of a phased out exit from the United States market. 

Nexo’s native token NEXO rose in the aftermath of the announcement, and was changing hands around $0.84 on Friday afternoon. The NEXO price was up by more than 17% in the past 24 hours as at 12:10 pm ET

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Fantom launches on-chain funding system Ecosystem Vault

  • Fantom Foundation, the platform behind the Fantom (FTM) blockchain announced the launch of Ecosystem Vault on Friday.
  • Vault is a decentralised funding mechanism that will be financed by 10% of FTM transaction fees.
  • The funds in the vault are available to projects that get 55% approval in community-driven governance vote.

Fantom, a scalable Layer-1 blockchain platform, has officially launched Ecosystem Vault, a decentralised funding pool that will empower and help builders deploy new community-driven projects on the blockchain.

Vault to boost Fantom’s dApps ecosystem

Announcing that Vault was officially live, Fantom noted in a blog post that the funding mechanism will encompass governance proposals from the community.

The project represents Fantom’s continuing evolution as the community eyes further decentralisation, the Fantom Foundation team wrote.

Vault’s on-chain mechanism allows for a funding profile where projects and developers seeking to build decentralised apps (dApps) in the ecosystem can secure financing. As noted above, the funding pool also gives the Fantom community a chance to contribute to the growth of the blockchain via their funding decisions.

Per the Fantom Foundation, the Ecosystem Vault will get funds from 10% of transaction fees. The community controls these funds, which are a result of a reduction in the burn rate of native token FTM.  

Anyone can apply for the funds in the Vault, a process that requires applicants to create a Fantom Governance proposal (has 100 FTM fee). Afterwards, the proposal will need approval from 55% of the community based on 55% quorum. The Foundation tweeted:

As of Friday, 20 January, 2023 at 11:06 am ET, the vault held roughly 69,247 FTM tokens valued at just over $21,000.

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