Coin overview
HMSTRBG
Mapped
--
Last price (USDT)
825.52K
24h total (USDT)
2.05M
Total vol (USDT)
2024-06-21 08:00:00 ~ 2024-09-13 06:00:00
Trading time (UTC+0)
-
Delivery time (UTC+0)
Introduction
HMSTRBG is a HMSTR (Hamster Kombat) pre-market trading token certificate issued with a total amount of 10 billion.
Top 10 Funny News in the Crypto World 2024 | Annual Review
Author: Nianqing, ChainCatcher Happy New Year! How do you plan to spend the last moments of 2024? If you need some NetEase Cloud moments tonight, it might look like this: In April, you encountered rare heavy rain in the deserts of Dubai; In September, the A-shares broke through 3300 points, and you quickly cashed out to buy A-shares; In November, you were afraid of being robbed during Ethereum Devcon in Thailand, so you covered the logo on your T-shirt with white tape; In December, Bitcoin broke through $100,000, and the news you shared attracted likes from friends and family, who said you must have made a fortune by entering early. You choked back tears and replied: Not much, just a small profit. …… This year, your cognitive dimension has greatly improved, completing the transformation from a crypto novice to a crypto consumer. Here is your investment sentiment for 2024: Year after year, the flowers are similar, and I really want to break even in the crypto world. On this special occasion, ChainCatcher has summarized some events that highlight the festive atmosphere beyond "financial consumption"------ (This article only represents the author's personal humor. If you have darker, humorous, or satirical news, feel free to discuss with us on X platform and @ChainCatcher_) Vitalik Becomes the Adoptive Father of Internet Celebrity Hippo Moo Deng In September this year, a two-month-old pygmy hippo named Moo Deng (Jumping Pig) at the Chonburi Zoo in Thailand quickly became famous due to its playful interactions with its keepers, turning into a well-known internet meme with various meme images created. The hippo craze also swept through the crypto circle, with several chains launching their own memecoins named after it, including Ethereum and Solana. Interestingly, after receiving the MOODENG airdrop from the deployer, Vitalik sold off the tokens for several days, causing MOODENG to drop over 70% from its peak. However, in November, Vitalik visited the zoo to see little hippo Moo Deng, which led to the Ethereum chain's meme token MOODENG hitting an all-time high. Recently, Vitalik announced that he has become Moo Deng's adoptive father, stating that over the next two years, he will donate 10 million Thai Baht to help the little hippo grow up healthy and happy, and "maybe I will donate more because I have reserved 88 ETH for Moo Deng and her friends." Following this news, MOODENG surged nearly 70% in 24 hours. But to put it in perspective, Vitalik received a total of 61.7 billion MOODENG tokens, accounting for 14.68% of the total supply, worth several million dollars. Solana Officially Releases Breakpoint Advertisement, Satirizing the Current State of Crypto Conferences On August 1, Solana's official social media released a promotional video titled "Breakpoint: not your average crypto conference." This video satirizes the current state of crypto summits with sharp and incisive commentary. For instance, there are more speakers than attendees, participants collect "a ton" of project merchandise, listeners care more about airdrops and token launches than project innovation, guests often repeat similar viewpoints and force concepts, and discussions often lack coherence. This video was quickly translated into multiple languages, sparking discussions (or self-mockery) within the industry, and has garnered over a million views. Interestingly, Solana Breakpoint indeed delivered on its promise, as the Breakpoint summit held in September received high popularity and acclaim. Revisit: https://x.com/solana/status/1818718599579943075 On November 5, Solana also released a video titled "Build for users, not VCs," seemingly calling back to the satirical advertisement from August. This latest video lists a series of crypto industry jargon, such as discussing building infrastructure, improving scalability, bridging to mainnets, re-staking, establishing partnerships with well-known protocols, and quickly securing funding, but never inquiring about consumers, users, or specific use cases. Click here to view: https://x.com/solana/status/1853567281630150859 Bankless Founder and Synthetix Founder Engage in an Offline Real Fight There are many online brawlers in the crypto community, but few dare to actually fight. On October 11, Synthetix founder Kain Warwick and Bankless founder David Hoffman engaged in an offline real fight in Salt Lake City, Utah. This match was co-hosted by Permissionless and the fighting live-streaming platform Karate Combat, with Permissionless being a cryptocurrency-themed conference co-hosted by Bankless and Blockworks, offering free tickets to the fighting event for ticket holders. The reason for their fight stemmed from some disagreements during an online discussion about core issues in DeFi and the crypto industry. They had previously reached a $500,000 betting agreement regarding the sponsorship scale of Synthetix's infinex. This crypto fight attracted significant attention, with Polymarket opening a betting pool on their duel as early as September 24. The real fight lasted less than ten minutes, with the final result being that Bankless founder David beat Synthetix founder Kain, who was significantly larger than him. Related article: 《 Crypto Real Fight: Bankless Founder Beats Synthetix Founder 》 A Spa in New York Chooses to Mine Bitcoin to Heat Its Pools Due to High Electricity Costs On the surface, Bathhouse, located in Brooklyn, New York, is an ordinary public bath. However, behind these warm pools are dozens of Bitcoin mining machines running 24/7. In 2019, two young men who enjoyed soaking in baths after workouts established the first Bathhouse in Brooklyn, featuring three hot spring pools, two saunas, a steam room, and two Turkish baths. However, the temperature-controlled environment meant high energy consumption, with their monthly electricity bill reaching $20,000. In 2021, after seeing videos online of using Bitcoin mining machines to heat pools, the two decided it was the most meaningful thing in the world and decided to give it a try. By the end of 2021, they purchased 12 Bitcoin mining machines to power the two warm pools at the Williamsburg branch of Bathhouse, generating about 1,200 THz of computing power per second. This year, the Bathhouse branch in New York City's Flatiron District opened, with all four hot spring pools and three Turkish baths heated by 14 larger and better Bitcoin miners at a rate of 2,600 THz per second. Although the income from Bitcoin mining does offset some costs, the two founders stated they view mining merely as an engineering solution to effectively utilize energy and capital. Compared to the profits from Bitcoin mining itself, this concept and marketing approach have significantly increased their visibility. Thus, Bathhouse has never sold any Bitcoin and emphasizes that there are no plans to sell in the future; they will store the mined or customer-paid Bitcoin in the company's long-term savings. After Bitcoin Surpasses $100,000, Financial Times Issues an Apology On December 5, Bitcoin first broke through the $100,000 mark, and shortly after, the Financial Times published a meme-covered letter titled "Hodlers: an apology: A mea culpa to mark a BTC milestone." In this article, the Financial Times wrote: "Long-time readers of FT Alphaville may have formed the impression that the authors have been skeptical about cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, both in the past and present. This is correct…" Nevertheless, as Bitcoin's price surpassed $100,000, given our long-standing cynicism, many commentators seemed to think they should apologize, so here it is: If at any point in the past 14 years you chose not to buy this continuously rising asset based on our "evaluation," we sincerely apologize. It's great when your account balance rises. If you misunderstood our crypto cynicism as a declaration of support for tradfi, we apologize for that too, as we dislike it as well. Many in the crypto community likely began "venting" by sharing the title, but in reality, this article is a self-deprecating or sarcastic "apology," a typical example of British "dark humor." Related article: 《 Behind the Sarcastic "Apology" is a Cry from News Practitioners 》 Airdrop Competition Escalates, LayerZero Performs "Insulting" Airdrop The cross-chain interoperability protocol LayerZero officially issued an airdrop worth over $100 million in June this year. Prior to this, LayerZero underwent a month-long witch hunt, believing that the highest quality users should receive airdrop rewards, and these top users should be the most "persistent" ones. LayerZero has been dubbed the "witch killer" due to its introduction of a new "bounty reporting mechanism," which involves multiple stages of scrutiny, including self-reporting, official review, and bounty reporting, making it a "multi-angle, all-around" anti-witch approach. The large-scale cleansing movement provoked a backlash from many ++airdrop hunters++ ------"2.16 million witch addresses, the largest witch pool ever created, airdrop hunters are electronic beggars, holding bowls to ask for alms, zkSync passes by without even looking." However, more self-deprecating remarks emerged, such as "the military book has twelve volumes, each volume has a name," with many addresses innocently caught in the crossfire, having interacted honestly and spent real money but receiving nothing, leading to the emergence of a new term in the Chinese community: insulting airdrop. Related article: 《 ++Those++ Targeted by LayerZero's "Witch Hunt": We are the "Tools" Creating False Prosperity on the Blockchain 》 Interestingly, during the airdrop claiming process, LayerZero also invented an airdrop "donation mechanism" (Proof-of-Donation), which simply means "pay to claim airdrop," requiring a donation of $0.10 for each ZRO token. This donation mechanism can essentially be viewed as a kind of "airdrop tax." Related article: 《 Pay to Claim ZRO, This Airdrop Has Created a New Twist on Pay to Earn 》 Musk Gets His Wish, Finally Becomes Minister of D.O.G.E In this election year in the United States, Musk has become particularly active in politics. As early as August, Musk mentioned wanting to establish a government efficiency committee during an online discussion with Trump, stating, "I think we need a government efficiency committee to examine where it makes sense to spend money and where it doesn't." The government department was officially named the "Department of Government Efficiency," abbreviated as D.O.G.E, thanks to the special contribution of the DOGE community! On November 12, Trump officially announced that Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would lead the Department of Government Efficiency, making "D.O.G.E" a reality, and Musk completed his transformation from "Dog King" to "Minister of D.O.G.E." However, it should be noted that although D.O.G.E and Musk's related Dogecoin $DOGE only differ by a few separators, there is no direct conceptual connection between them. Sun Yuchen Eats the "Most Expensive Banana in History" Worth $6.2 Million On November 21, Sun Yuchen purchased Maurizio Cattelan's iconic work Comedian banana for $6.2 million, making it the "most expensive banana in history." On November 29, Sun Yuchen held a press conference at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong titled "Sun Yuchen Wins the World's Most Expensive Banana: Redefining the Boundaries of Art and Crypto Culture." At the conference, Sun Yuchen ate the $6.2 million banana he won at auction, stating that the banana, as a concept of decentralization, transcends borders and boundaries. He also revealed in an interview that he made the decision to eat the banana right after successfully winning it, wanting to become a part of its history. Reports indicate that the banana was purchased by a Sotheby's staff member from a fruit stand in Manhattan's Upper East Side that morning. The fruit stand owner, who is from Bangladesh, revealed that the banana was priced at 35 cents. This means the auction price was 14.85 million times the actual value of the banana. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's conceptual art piece "Comedian" aims to explore the value of art, the nature of consumerism, and the absurdity of the art market through an ordinary banana, satirizing market speculation. Before the auction, the BAN Meme coin launched by Sotheby's vice president also successfully generated buzz for this auction event in the crypto circle, with BAN's market cap reaching as high as $378 million. It was this Meme coin that caught Sun Yuchen's attention regarding the banana auction. Related article: 《 After Buying the Most Expensive Banana, We Spoke with Sun Yuchen 》 HBO Documentary Aims to Reveal Satoshi Nakamoto's True Identity, All Related Parties Deny Involvement No one wants to be Satoshi Nakamoto, as this identity is too dangerous. In October, HBO announced that its upcoming documentary "Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery" would reveal the true identity of Bitcoin's anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. The film is directed by Emmy-nominated Cullen Hoback, known for "Q: Into the Storm." Several well-known figures closely associated with Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry, including Craig Wright (who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto) and Hal Finney (an early Bitcoin developer), have publicly denied any connection to the HBO documentary. Craig Wright, despite publicly claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto since 2016, has failed to gain widespread acceptance for his claims over the past few years. He stated on social media recently: "There is still no conclusive evidence regarding Satoshi Nakamoto's identity. Anyone claiming to know the truth is merely speculating." This statement has sparked intense discussions on social media. On the other hand, the family of the late Hal Finney has also publicly stated that they were not involved in the production of this documentary and do not wish to associate Finney's name with any unverified theories or speculations. They emphasized that Hal Finney's contributions are more reflected in the development and promotion of Bitcoin technology, rather than in debates about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity. TON Ecosystem Mini Game Hamster Kombat Draws Attention from Iranian Military and Official Opposition This year, the trend of click-to-earn mini games has swept across the globe. On the streets of Iran, in subway stations, taxis, and buses, you can see people tirelessly clicking on their phone screens. Most of these seemingly leisurely Iranians are users of Hamster Kombat. According to local media reports on June 24, Iranian government officials and hardliners strongly oppose the blockchain game "Hamster Kombat," claiming it is a tool of Western soft power aimed at distracting the public from the upcoming presidential elections. Amid the deteriorating economic situation and rising inflation in Iran, millions of Iranians view Web3 games as a way to make money. Hamster Kombat is a click game on Telegram where users earn points by performing repetitive tasks and potentially receive airdrops. Hossein Delirian, spokesperson for the Iranian National Cyber Space Center, stated that using games for cryptocurrency mining has become a breeding ground for hacker crimes, and participants in these games should be cautious about protecting their information and accounts. This controversy has also drawn attention from the religious community, with prominent Shia scholar Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi describing cryptocurrencies as "the root of many evils" and urging people to avoid playing Bitcoin-related games like Hamster Kombat. Special Note In fact, many funny and interesting events in the crypto world this year occurred in the Meme circle, such as: 《 Girlfriend Hair Collection Battle: When Performance Art Meets Meme, Rapidly Reaching a Market Value of Tens of Millions in Two Days 》 《[++When Meme Coins Encounter Social Hotspots: LUIGI Performs "Crypto Version of Robin Hood" Plot](当 Meme 币遇到社会热点：LUIGI 上演\“加密版罗宾汉\”剧情)》 《 How a Kid Who Live-Streamed a Token Scam Became a New Internet Sensation 》 《 ++Meme Perspective Awards: About My Experience of Launching a Meme Coin with a Refrigerator… 》 Memecoins, as a typical example of "attention economy," have taken the combination of the crypto world and performance art to the extreme, with people finding themes, angles, and narratives, provoking people's nerves in absurd, bizarre, and even vulgar ways. However, I personally do not believe this has any direct relation to crypto; they are merely dressed in the guise of token issuance. Therefore, these interesting moments were not specifically considered part of the "crypto world" in this article, but I still believe they are an important part of Crypto culture.
Daily Report | The central bank released the "China Financial Stability Report," mentioning the compliance progress of cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong;
Organizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher Important News: Former U.S. President Carter has passed away, and the U.S. will hold a state funeral Malaysian regulators demand Bybit to shut down local operations and stop advertising Cryptocurrency venture capital in 2024 reaches $13.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28% Hong Kong Legislative Council member Wu Jiezhuang: Bitcoin can be tested as part of Hong Kong's foreign exchange fund assets The central bank releases the "China Financial Stability Report," mentioning the compliance progress of cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong Hamster Kombat will build an L2 blockchain on the TON chain The ETF Store president: All 8 top ETFs launched in 2024 are related to cryptocurrencies Bitcoin mining company Rhodium sells its Temple mine for $40.6 million, co-CEO has resigned "What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours" Former U.S. President Carter has passed away, and the U.S. will hold a state funeral According to China News Network, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter passed away on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100. CNN reported that President Biden stated on the same day that he would order a state funeral for Carter in Washington, D.C. Biden said in a statement, "To honor this great American, I will order a formal state funeral in Washington, D.C." Malaysian regulators demand Bybit to shut down local operations and stop advertising Bybit Technology Limited and its CEO Ben Zhou have been warned by the Malaysian Securities Commission (SC) for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) without registration. The Securities Commission stated that Bybit and Ben Zhou have been on the regulator's investor warning list since July 2021. The SC has instructed Bybit to shut down all its websites and applications in Malaysia and stop advertising to Malaysian investors within 14 working days starting from December 11, 2024. Additionally, Bybit must terminate its Telegram support group for Malaysian users. Cryptocurrency venture capital in 2024 reaches $13.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28% According to The Block Pro's funding dashboard, venture capitalists invested approximately $13.7 billion in cryptocurrency and blockchain startups in 2024, a 28% increase from $10.7 billion in 2023. However, this figure is still far below the peak levels of $33.3 billion in 2022 and $29 billion in 2021. Rob Hadick, a general partner at Dragonfly, stated that despite Bitcoin's rise of over 150% this year, venture capital funding has not accelerated, mainly due to the relatively calm market for limited partners (LPs), with many venture capital firms lacking sufficient confidence to deploy remaining funds before raising new funds. Early-stage financing dominated the market in 2024, with pre-seed deals reaching a record high of 1,180, up 68% year-on-year. Seed-stage financing totaled $3.4 billion, close to the $3.8 billion in 2021. Series A financing exceeded 175 deals, raising $2.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 46%. Late-stage financing saw a decline. Hong Kong Legislative Council member Wu Jiezhuang: Bitcoin can be tested as part of Hong Kong's foreign exchange fund assets According to Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, Hong Kong Legislative Council member and chairman of the Web3 Virtual Asset Development Committee Wu Jiezhuang stated in an interview that Hong Kong needs to study how to maintain national financial security amid U.S. interference with Bitcoin and its impact on traditional asset markets. He suggested that Hong Kong should leverage its "one country, two systems" advantage to test Bitcoin as part of the foreign exchange fund assets and explore ways to utilize Bitcoin for the country. Regarding whether holding Bitcoin would help the Hong Kong government combat fiscal deficits, Wu Jiezhuang believes that while the government can use Bitcoin as a tool for asset appreciation, significant holdings would be necessary for noticeable effects. Currently, the government's fiscal deficit has exceeded 100 billion, so holding a small amount would not significantly help; the preservation function of Bitcoin would outweigh its appreciation potential. The central bank releases the "China Financial Stability Report," mentioning the compliance progress of cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong The People's Bank of China recently released the "China Financial Stability Report (2024)," which mentioned global cryptocurrency regulatory dynamics, including compliance progress in Hong Kong. The report pointed out that due to the potential spillover risks of crypto assets on financial system stability, regulatory authorities in various countries are continuously increasing their regulatory efforts on crypto assets. Currently, 51 countries and regions worldwide have implemented prohibitions on crypto assets, and some economies have adjusted existing laws or re-legislated regulations. Among them, Hong Kong is actively exploring a licensing management system for crypto assets, categorizing virtual assets into two types for regulation: securitized financial assets and non-securitized financial assets. A "dual licensing" system is implemented for virtual asset trading platform operators, applicable to the Securities and Futures Ordinance and the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance. Institutions engaging in virtual asset business must apply for registration licenses from relevant regulatory authorities to operate. Additionally, Hong Kong requires large financial institutions such as HSBC and Standard Chartered to include cryptocurrency exchanges in their daily customer monitoring. Hamster Kombat will build an L2 blockchain on the TON chain Hamster Kombat announced on X that its DAO community has completed voting on the second proposal, deciding to build the Hamster L2 blockchain on the TON blockchain. Hamster Kombat stated that development work will commence immediately. The ETF Store president: All 8 top ETFs launched in 2024 are related to cryptocurrencies The ETF Store president Nate Geraci stated on X, "All 8 top ETFs launched in 2024 are now related to cryptocurrencies, including 4 spot BTC ETFs, 2 spot ETH ETFs, and 2 MSTR ETFs. Nearly 740 new ETFs have been launched this year." He also mentioned that a spot Solana ETF is expected to be approved in 2025. Bitcoin mining company Rhodium sells its Temple mine for $40.6 million, co-CEO has resigned Bitcoin mining company Rhodium Enterprises co-CEO Nathan Nichols has resigned, and the company has completed the sale of its Temple mine in Texas for $40.6 million in cash. Rhodium announced in an email to investors last week that Nichols has decided to resign, effective after the New Year. Just weeks ago, Rhodium's creditors filed a lawsuit against him and other co-founders, accusing them of fraud. Rhodium also informed investors that the company had previously received $15 million of a $30 million debtor-in-possession financing from Galaxy Digital. After completing the sale of the Temple mine on December 18, the company used $16 million of that to fully repay Galaxy's debt, including fees and interest. Musk: BlackRock's stake in xAI is less than 0.5%, one of many investors Musk stated on X that BlackRock's stake in xAI is less than 0.5%, making it one of many investors. Ripple CTO clarifies he is not a billionaire and states most of his personal wealth is tied to volatile assets Ripple CTO David Schwartz clarified that he is not a billionaire. Although in 2018, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen's net worth soared to $54 billion due to holding 9 billion XRP, Schwartz chose to hold 2% of Ripple's shares and a salary instead of XRP. In 2019, Forbes estimated Schwartz's wealth at about $90 million, and in 2021 he stated that his net worth was still far below $170 million. He also revealed that most of his personal wealth is tied to volatile assets, which, despite substantial returns, still carry risks. In addition to XRP, Schwartz also holds Bitcoin and several other altcoins. Trader Eugene: December faced the largest two drawdowns to date, has positioned in ETH and related Beta coins Trader Eugene posted a December trading summary on his social platform, stating, "This month, I executed 47 trades with a win rate of 72%. The performance this month can be attributed to two main points: position size control and reducing unnecessary errors. December faced the largest two drawdowns to date, with a loss of $3.3 million (-7.5%) on DOGE long positions and a loss of $6.5 million (-10.2%) on SOL long positions. The main profits this month came from short-term trading of ETH and BTC, as well as successful long positions in some small altcoins, including ENA, PEPE, and other meme coins. In unclear market conditions, it is necessary to reduce the position size for high-volatility short-term trades. In summary for 2024, I achieved profits in 11 months this year and maintained good stability at different times. I expect January to be a good trading opportunity for some quality altcoins, and I have already positioned in ETH and related beta coins." Korean media: Upbit's partner bank K Bank sees record high delinquency rate for cryptocurrency account credit loans Data shows that the delinquency rate for credit loans against cryptocurrency accounts at K Bank in South Korea has reached a record high. K Bank is the Korean won account affiliate bank of Upbit, the country's leading cryptocurrency exchange, which accounts for over 70% of the country's cryptocurrency trading volume. After two consecutive failed listings, K Bank is preparing for an IPO next year, with concerns that its over-reliance on Upbit and poor stability indicators may become obstacles to its listing. Data submitted by the office of National Assembly Political Committee member and People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop to the Financial Supervisory Service today shows that as of the third quarter of this year, the delinquency rate for personal credit loans utilizing cryptocurrency-related accounts at K Bank is 1.28%, with a delinquent balance of 47.4 billion won. Since the bank launched cryptocurrency-linked accounts in June 2020, both the delinquency rate and delinquent balance have continuously reached record highs. It is reported that K Bank will restart its listing next month. The effectiveness of the listing preparatory review obtained in August this year will be valid until February next year, so the industry believes that K Bank may attempt to list again before then. Some analysts believe that the recent activity in the cryptocurrency market is beneficial for K Bank, as it can generate additional income by managing investor assets deposited on Upbit. Binance to launch PHAUSDT and DFUSDT 1-75x USDT perpetual contracts According to an official announcement, Binance's contract platform will launch perpetual contracts at the following times, with a maximum leverage of up to 75x: · December 30, 2024, 19:30 (UTC+8): PHAUSDT perpetual contract · December 30, 2024, 19:45 (UTC+8): DFUSDT perpetual contract Grayscale updates the list of top 20 assets in the cryptocurrency industry for Q1 2025, adding HYPE, ENA, VIRTUAL, JUP, JTO, and GRASS Grayscale Research stated that in Q1 2025, Grayscale will focus on tokens that involve at least one of the following three core market themes: the U.S. elections and their impact on industry regulation, particularly in decentralized finance (DeFi) and staking; ongoing breakthroughs in decentralized AI technology and the use of AI agents in blockchain; and the growth of the Solana ecosystem. Based on these themes, Grayscale has added six assets to the Top 20 list for Q1 2025: HYPE, ENA, VIRTUAL, JUP, JTO, and GRASS. Galaxy Research: Predicts Bitcoin's market cap will reach 20% of gold According to Bitcoin.com, Galaxy Research predicts that Bitcoin (BTC) will exceed $150,000 in the first half of 2025 and may even reach $185,000 in the last quarter of the same year. The research institution believes that adoption at the institutional, corporate, and national levels is the main factor driving this top cryptocurrency to these high points. Galaxy Research also stated that it foresees BTC continuing to outperform other asset classes (including the S&P 500). Regarding gold, the Galaxy team expects BTC's total market cap to reach 20% of the total market cap of precious metals. As of the writing of this article (December 29, 2024), BTC's market cap is approximately $1.85 trillion, while gold's market cap is estimated to be close to $18 trillion. Binance Megadrop launches Solv Protocol (SOLV) According to an official announcement, Binance has announced the launch of Solv Protocol (SOLV) on the Megadrop platform, which focuses on a financial ecosystem for Bitcoin. The total supply of SOLV is 9,660,000,000, with Megadrop rewards of 588,000,000. Specific trading times will be announced later. "What are the exciting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours" DeepBrainChain DBC: The exploration path of a decentralized AI public chain, supporting millions of AI Agents to run permanently With the continuous development of various technological fields, blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies are jointly driving an unprecedented technological revolution. In this transformation, DeepBrainChain (DBC), as a pioneer of decentralized AI public chains, is leading the future development of the AI industry with its unique charm and infinite potential. Since its establishment in 2017, DBC has been committed to building a decentralized AI infrastructure, gradually constructing a stable, efficient, and secure decentralized AI public chain network through continuous technological innovation and ecological expansion. In the process of gaining a deeper understanding of DBC, we had the privilege of interviewing DBC's founder, Feng. Feng shared DBC's ecological vision and planning, filling us with anticipation for DBC's future. Interview with Virtuals co-founder Wee Kee: How do AI Agents make money and generate sustainable cash flow? Virtuals is an AI agent asset issuance platform launched on the Base network, currently valued at nearly $2.5 billion, with over 100,000 agents issued on its platform. Its ecosystem has birthed several standout AI agents, including the virtual person Luna who does live streaming and tweeting, the crypto "KOL" AIXBT who provides project suggestions, and G.A.M.E, which offers a development framework for agents. Virtuals was originally established in 2021, evolving from the gaming guild PathDAO. However, as Axie Infinity fell from grace, operating a gaming guild became increasingly difficult. During this period, the team attempted multiple transformations and developed various platforms, including a dating app, an AI music project, and lending services for gamers. It wasn't until 2023, with the release of GPT, that the team recognized the importance of AI, and Virtuals officially made AI its primary focus. The rise of GOAT has sparked a wave of AI agents in the Web3 space, but beyond memes, what other possibilities do AI agents hold? ChainCatcher interviewed Virtuals co-founder Wee Kee, who believes that AI agents can autonomously create sustainable cash flow assets. Tokenizing them can provide quality returns for investors while incentivizing more developers to create better AI agents. He used the well-known Luna and G.A.M.E on Virtuals as examples to illustrate the profit-making mechanism and tokenization process of AI agents. In the future, Wee Kee hopes to build a community composed of both AI agents and humans, where true economic cycles can form between AI and AI, as well as between AI and humans, greatly liberating human productivity. In this conversation, we discussed the profit-making mechanisms of AI agents on Virtuals, the development ecosystem, and his vision of an AI society. Envious of Tether's billions in profits, banks are rushing to issue stablecoins The stablecoin USDT, the "anchor" of the crypto world, is quietly disrupting the traditional financial industry. More and more banks are entering the stablecoin market. According to Bloomberg, banks such as Société Générale, Germany's Oddo BHF, the UK's Revolut, and even the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are all starting to lay out their strategies in the stablecoin market, hoping to get a piece of the pie. Previously, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, Tether Holdings Ltd., predicted that its net profit would exceed $10 billion in 2024. CEO Paolo Ardoino stated in an interview that the company has already invested more than half of its net profit this year. Naveen Mallela, co-head of JPMorgan's digital asset division Kinexys, stated that stablecoins issued by banks are expected to accelerate development and become mainstream products within the next three years. With the improvement of policy frameworks and technological advancements, stablecoins are expected to become an important component of future financial markets. 2024 AI Agent popular project review: Transformation from Meme to infrastructure tokens In the bull market of the second half of 2024, in addition to the pure meme projects sweeping the market, the AI Agent sector has shown strong discussion heat and astonishing "wealth creation effects" due to its unique technological innovations and practical applications. As a pioneering field deeply integrating Crypto and AI, the rise of AI Agents has not only attracted widespread attention within the industry but also drawn a significant influx of on-chain capital. In the Web3 world, security and transparency are always core principles, while AI relies on efficient parallel computing and faces many challenges due to its "black box" nature. The emergence of AI Agents not only solves these integration challenges but also provides new possibilities for the combination of the two. It is foreseeable that AI Agents are destined to become one of the most promising and noteworthy sectors in 2025. Before looking forward to 2025, Odaily Planet Daily will take you to review the representative top projects of the AI Agent sector's rapid development in the second half of 2024. Understanding MSTR MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy in one article Compared to BTC ETFs or other Spot Bitcoin ETPs launched by companies like BlackRock, MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy is more aggressive. It purchases Bitcoin through company idle funds, issuing convertible bonds, and stock issuance, allowing the company to gain potential profits from Bitcoin's rise while bearing the potential risks of Bitcoin's decline, whereas ETFs/ETPs focus more on price tracking. One article interpreting the current development status of ai16z and Virtuals: occupying over half of the AI Agent market share, both face challenges of ecological centralization With the gradual improvement of infrastructure and the gradual landing of application scenarios, the crypto AI Agent ecosystem is becoming increasingly prosperous, presenting a new market development trajectory, with liquidity and user participation continuously rising. In this wave of AI Agents, ai16z and Virtuals Protocol are undoubtedly the two most prominent representative projects, attracting various capital eager to capitalize on their ecosystems. Meme Popularity Rankings According to the meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN , as of December 30, 19:30: The top five popular Ethereum tokens in the past 24 hours are: RAI, SEN, KEKIUS, ULTI, MYSTERY The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: VIRTUAL, LOCKIN, CLO, Artpump.fa, BRETT The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: COPE, SKICAT, MOEW, CLANKER, BRETT
The Future Challenges and Opportunities of GameFi in 2025
Author: cointelegraph According to a survey by the Blockchain Game Alliance, 42% of respondents believe that player reward models are the biggest advantage in attracting new users. However, as the GameFi industry evolves, blockchain games will face multiple challenges by 2025. Tobin Kuo, CEO of Seraph, stated in an interview with Cointelegraph that maintaining player engagement, adopting new technologies, and building a sustainable in-game economy are obstacles that GameFi must overcome to remain competitive. Tobin pointed out that over 60% of players quit Web3 games within 30 days. He believes that the lack of long-term incentives and poor game mechanics are the main reasons Web3 games struggle to sustain growth. He told Cointelegraph: "With the accelerated development of the attention economy, projects must prioritize player-centric design, focusing on immersive storytelling, skill-based rewards, and game mechanics that go beyond 'profit-first' models, rather than relying on trends to attract attention." In 2025, developing better blockchain games will also require the integration of emerging technologies, such as generative AI, to enhance player experience. Tobin noted that GameFi projects that fail to adopt new technologies in a timely manner typically see a 30%-40% drop in player retention. According to a survey of the Web3 gaming industry, these issues are considered the biggest challenges facing the GameFi sector in 2024. Source: Blockchain Game Alliance Building a Sustainable In-Game Economy Tobin emphasized, "An unstable in-game economy is a major reason for project failures." He believes that building a sustainable token model for Web3 games that controls inflation and is based on data-driven player rewards is key to maintaining player retention. He further explained, "Dynamic loot distribution, staking-based rewards, and economic strategies that enable player control through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) could become best practices in GameFi development." Taking Hamster Kombat as an example, this clicker game made headlines in July, surpassing 300 million users in less than five months. However, after what is considered the largest token airdrop in cryptocurrency history, the game's active user count plummeted by 86%. As of November, the game's player count was down to 41 million, a significant drop from the summer peak of 300 million. Current State of the Blockchain Gaming Industry in 2024 The Blockchain Game Alliance recently released the "2024 Industry Status Report," surveying 623 professionals in the Web3 gaming industry. The report shows that about 53% of respondents believe that poor user experience and complex user interfaces are the biggest challenges preventing new players from entering Web3 games. Industry insiders outlined the main issues facing the GameFi sector. Source: Blockchain Game Alliance An early report from BGA indicated that 10% of users abandon entering Web3 games due to the complexity of setting up crypto wallets. At the Blockchain Futurist Conference held in August, Long Do, CEO of Anomaly Games, stated that abstracting blockchain functionality and allowing players to interact with the chain unconsciously is key to driving adoption. Additionally, BGA's 2024 report showed that 33% of respondents believe that poor gaming experience is one of the top three challenges currently facing the industry. According to a survey conducted by OnePoll earlier in 2024, among over 2,000 adults, most surveyed players lack understanding of blockchain games. The survey revealed that 52% of respondents did not know what blockchain games are, while another 32% reported having heard of blockchain games but never played them. Conclusion As the GameFi industry rapidly evolves, changes in player demand and market competition drive developers to continuously innovate and optimize. In 2025, how to maintain player stickiness, introduce new technologies, and establish sustainable economic models will be key factors determining the success or failure of GameFi projects.
TEMA Price Prediction: TEMA Plummets 16% As This Slap-To-Earn Meme Coin Surpasses 20K Holders – Next Hamster Kombat?
The TEMA price has plummeted 16% in the last 24 hours to trade at $0.05343 as of 8:04 a.m. EST on a 7% jump in trading volume to $90 million. TEMA Price Spikes Along A Parabolic Curve The TEMA/USD chart on the 4-hour timeframe shows a strong parabolic uptrend, with the current price at $0.05344 , reflecting a 1.79% increase. Key support levels are visible, with Support Level 1 at $0.0134 representing the initial consolidation zone that fueled the rally, and Support Level 2 at $0.0349 aligning closely with the 50-period Moving Average (MA). The price has been following a parabolic curve, suggesting strong bullish momentum, though such patterns often lead to sharp corrections once momentum weakens. TEMAUSD Analysis Source: Dextools.io The MAs further emphasize the uptrend, with the 50-period MA at $0.03497 and the 200-period MA at $0.01342. The price trading significantly above both MAs confirms the strength of the bullish trend. However, a breakdown below the 50-period MA could signal a loss of momentum and a potential reversal. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator supports the bullish outlook, with the MACD line at 0.0054 above the signal line at 0.0051 and a positive histogram reading of 0.0003. While this indicates upward momentum, the narrowing histogram suggests that momentum may be slowing, increasing the risk of a bearish crossover. Similarly, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 65.81, approaching the overbought zone (above 70). This indicates bullish conditions but warns of potential price exhaustion if the RSI continues to rise. Tema Price Bulls Aim For $0.07 High If the price holds above Support Level 2 at $0.0349, the bullish trajectory is likely to continue, with the potential to surpass $0.07 in the coming sessions. Conversely, a breakdown below the parabolic curve or Support Level 2 could trigger a correction toward $0.0349 or, in extreme cases, $0.0134. Traders should watch for pullbacks near the parabolic curve or support levels as entry points for long positions, with targets set above $0.07. Alternatively, short positions could be considered if the price breaks below $0.0349, targeting lower levels. Catslap Viral Meme Coin Poised For Explosive Growth As Tema price shows signs of a potential pullback, investors are increasingly looking to the cat-themed meme coin Catslap (SLAP) , with the growing hype around the crypto potentially triggering a significant price surge in the short term. According to influencer Jacob Crypto Bury, who has more than 45K YouTube subscribers, SLAP has the potential to become the next 100X meme coin. Catslap has become hugely popular thanks to its viral slapping game, where players can slap characters like Pepe the Frog, Chris Rock, Kamala Harris, and Michael Jackson. So far, the game has racked up over 1.8 billion slaps worldwide. The project has gained even more traction with the introduction of a slap-to-earn feature, allowing players to earn cryptocurrency rewards with each slap. SLAP Set For Major Growth With Strategic Listings The addition of the new feature has sparked speculation that Catslap could mirror the success of the viral clicker game Hamster Kombat, which has a market cap of over $155 million. With Catslap’s current market cap at $28.3 million, there’s potential for investors to see at least a 5X return if it achieves the same level of success as Hamster Kombat. Unlike most traditional meme coins that rely on presales, SLAP took a different approach by launching directly on the open market, avoiding the risk of post-presale dumps. It’s already available on a decentralized exchange and recently secured a listing on MEXC, one of the top centralized exchanges by daily trading volume. This listing boosts SLAP’s visibility and gives it access to a wide pool of traders. On top of that, Catslap has partnered with Best Wallet , one of the fastest-growing crypto wallets, which gives SLAP access to over 100,000 users and makes it easier for investors to purchase the token. With its innovative strategy, viral gaming appeal, and increasing accessibility, SLAP is positioning itself as a strong contender in the meme coin market. The upcoming token burn and other strategic developments could further accelerate its growth, making it an attractive investment opportunity. Purchase SLAP here. Related Articles: “Buy The Dip” Mentions Soars To 8-Month High Amid Crypto Crash Top 5 Meme Coins to Watch for Massive Gains in 2025 Prison Sentence For Former FTX Executive Ryan Salame Reduced By 1 Year
Challenges for GameFi in 2025
Blockchain gaming faces several challenges in 2025. Tobin Kuo, CEO of blockchain gaming company Seraph, told Cointelegraph that sustaining player engagement, adopting new technologies, and building sustainable in-game economies were the hurdles GameFi must overcome to remain viable. According to Kuo, over 60% of players disengage from Web3 games after only 30 days. The CEO said a lack of long-term incentives and poor gameplay mechanics were behind the Web3 gaming sustainability problem . Kuo told Cointelegraph: "As the attention economy accelerates, projects must prioritize player-centric design, focusing on immersive storytelling, skill-based rewards, and game mechanics that go beyond 'earn-first' models instead of relying on trend-based attention." Building better blockchain games in 2025 also requires integrating new technologies such as generative AI to enhance player experiences. The Seraph CEO said that GameFi projects failing to integrate nascent tech typically record 30%-40% reductions in player retention compared to projects embracing new technologies. A poll of Web3 gaming professionals shows the biggest negative impact on the GameFi sector in 2024. Source: Blockchain Game Alliance Related: Executives flood blockchain gaming firms ahead of 2025’s AAA launches Building sustainable in-game economies “Unstable in-game economies are a leading cause of project insolvency,” Kuo said. Building sustainable token models for Web3 games that control inflation and feature data-driven player rewards was key to maintaining player retention. The CEO explained: "Strategies such as dynamic loot distribution, staking-based rewards, and player-controlled economies via decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are likely to emerge as best practices for sustainable GameFi development." Clicker games like Hamster Kombat are a prime example. Hamster Kombat captured headlines in July after the game surpassed 300 million users in less than five months. However, the game experienced an 86% reduction in active users following a token airdrop, which was considered the largest in crypto history. As of November, the game only had 41 million players compared to the 300 million peak levels recorded during the summer. State of the blockchain gaming industry in 2024 The Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) recently released its 2024 State of the Industry Report, which polled 623 professionals from the Web3 gaming industry. According to the report, approximately 53% of respondents indicated poor user experience (UX) and complex user interfaces (UI) present the biggest challenges to onboarding new players to Web3 games. Industry professionals outline the main problems facing the GameFi sector. Source: Blockchain game Alliance An earlier report from the BGA revealed that 10% of users were deterred from Web3 gaming due to complexities in setting up a crypto wallet. During a panel at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in August, Long Do, CEO of Anomaly Games, said abstracting away blockchain features so players did not know they were interacting onchain was key to driving adoption. The BGA’s 2024 report also showed that 33% of respondents said poor gameplay experiences were one of the top three challenges currently facing the industry. A OnePoll survey conducted earlier in 2024, polling over 2,000 adults, found that the majority of gamers polled were unaware of blockchain gaming . According to the survey, 52% of respondents did not know what blockchain games are, and another 32% indicated they heard of blockchain games but never played one. Magazine: How to pick a crypto gaming token winner this bull run: Web3 Gamer
GameFi faces major challenges in 2025 due to player engagement issues
Blockchain gaming is expected to encounter significant challenges in 2025, particularly around player engagement, technology adoption, and sustainable economies. Tobin Kuo, CEO of blockchain gaming company Seraph, shared insights highlighting that over 60% of players disengage from Web3 games within the first 30 days. Kuo attributed this to poor gameplay mechanics and a lack of long-term incentives. “As the attention economy accelerates, projects must prioritise player-centric design, focusing on immersive storytelling, skill-based rewards, and game mechanics that go beyond ‘earn-first’ models instead of relying on trend-based attention,” he stated. In addition to improving gameplay, integrating new technologies, such as generative AI, is essential for maintaining player retention. Kuo noted that projects that fail to adopt such technologies see a 30%-40% reduction in player retention compared to those that do. The need for sustainable in-game economies is also a critical challenge. Kuo explained that unstable in-game economies are a leading cause of insolvency for many projects. He suggested that best practices for sustainability may include dynamic loot distribution, staking-based rewards, and player-controlled economies through decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs). The case of Hamster Kombat (CRYPTO:HMSTR), a game that gained 300 million users in less than five months, underscores these challenges. After a token airdrop, the game saw an 86% drop in active users, with just 41 million remaining by November. The Blockchain Game Alliance’s 2024 State of the Industry Report also revealed that 53% of Web3 gaming professionals cited poor user experience and complex interfaces as significant barriers to onboarding new players. Meanwhile, 33% identified poor gameplay experiences as a major obstacle.
HamsterVerse upgrades double surprise: DAO governance goes online, three new games are about to start
Recently, Hamster Kombat announced a major update and launched Hamster DAO. HMSTR holders can now directly participate in project governance, including proposals, voting, and key decisions, and contribute their voice to the future development direction of the project. The official stated that this is an important step for empowering the community, aiming to achieve true decentralized governance. In addition, Hamster Kombat has released its upcoming Season 2 content plan. The second season will not be limited to a single game, but will launch three new games based on the HamsterVerse worldview. These games will become the core pillars of the ecosystem, providing players with immersive experiences through characters and narratives. The HamsterVerse ecosystem focuses on entertainment and innovation, and the $HMSTR token will run through all game scenarios, becoming the key to user interaction and rewards. In order to ensure high-quality content launch, the official has launched a closed beta recruitment activity, inviting community members to participate deeply in testing and jointly shape the future game ecology. The Hamster Kombat team stated that the scale and influence of the second season will far exceed expectations, and the community is welcome to actively participate.
Hamster Kombat: Season 2 will build the foundation of the HamsterVerse with three games and is launching closed beta
On December 23rd, Hamster Kombat announced that Season 2 will begin with three games instead of one, and they will form the foundation of HamsterVerse. Season 2 will not just be one game, it will be much bigger and stronger than originally expected. HamsterVerse is an entertainment ecosystem built around the characters and storyline of Hamster Kombat. All HamsterVerse games will regularly use the HMSTR token. The team is launching a closed beta test and welcomes community participation.
New Meme Coin Flockerz Raises $7M in Presale as Trader Tips FLOCK as a Top Meme Coin to Buy Now
Flockerz (FLOCK) has reached a major milestone by raising $7 million in its presale, making a strong case for being a top meme coin as December heats up. This marks a big change for the project, which started slower but is now gaining momentum as the market prepares for a possible meme coin supercycle. The market isn’t just focused on one or two meme coins gaining – it could lead to a trillion-dollar meme coin supercycle, boosting meme coins by 8X to 10X on average. Flockerz is well-positioned to take advantage of this trend, thanks to its innovative approach and strong community support. Flockerz presale raises $7 million The Flockerz presale has become a major event, raising over $7 million so far. Interested investors can buy $FLOCK tokens for just $0.0064523 each. To join the strong bullish trend, visit the Flockerz website, connect a wallet like Best Wallet, and purchase $FLOCK using ETH, BNB, USDT, or a bank card. Potential investors can visit our guide on how to buy $FLOCK token here. The Best Wallet app gives instant access to the latest Flockerz updates and project news. Download it from Google Play or the Apple App Store. Investors can also stake their tokens right away and earn estimated APYs of 385%. These high returns are attracting attention but will decrease as more people stake their $FLOCK. Flockerz’s team has prioritized security, with Coinsult and SolidProof auditing the $FLOCK token’s code and finding no issues. Getting audited this early is rare for a new meme coin. Investors are paying attention, and many Telegram members believe Flockerz could list on top exchanges like Binance or Coinbase after its presale. These exchanges have recently started listing more meme coins, which could work in Flockerz’s favor. The presale currently has no end date. Experts predict a meme coin supercycle, with the market cap possibly reaching a trillion dollars. This would be a huge jump from the current $130 billion market cap, and meme coins could see average gains of 8X to 10X, with some experiencing 50X to 100X increases. Flockerz could be a top meme coin with Vote-to-Earn feature Flockerz stands out from typical meme coins with its FlockTopia DAO. While other projects like Shiba Inu and Hamster Kombat have talked about launching DAOs, none have fully succeeded—until now. The Flockerz team is actually making it happen. The key innovation is that FLOCK holders can earn more tokens simply by voting on important decisions. Here’s how it works: when someone acquires $FLOCK, they automatically join FlockTopia. They can vote on things like marketing strategies and token burns, and the smart contracts reward participants with extra tokens. This setup creates a cycle where active community members can earn crypto income by helping shape the project’s future. It seems unique in the market right now, and the “Vote-to-Earn” model is starting to attract attention. With its rising popularity, strong staking rewards, and distinctive governance model, Flockerz is poised to benefit from the growing meme coin trend. The ongoing presale activity—nearly a million dollars daily—shows the project’s positive momentum. As the meme coin market heats up, Flockerz is becoming a strong contender in the space. To take part in the $FLOCK token presale visit flockerz.com. Related Vote-To-Earn Meme Coin Flockerz Raises Over $7M In ICO – The Top Play For A Santa Claus Crypto Rally Analysts Predict Flockerz Could Follow Pepe Unchained’s Post-Launch Surge Flockerz Soars Past $5.6M In Presale, Innovative New V2E Mechanism Combats Hawk Tuah-Like Scams
Gamers Adopt Play-to-Earn in Web3, but Questions About Enjoyment Persist
Key Takeaways Incentives and rewards are the “top benefit” offered by Web3 games. Mainstream adoption from Sony, Konami, Square Enix, Atari, and others continues to drive Web3 gaming innovation. Industry experts remain concerned that boring games with poor gameplay remain a top issue for the Web3 gaming sector. Blockchain gaming has come a long way and continues to draw in players worldwide, but players aren’t really enjoying the games. Web3’s promising play-to-earn (P2E) model may still be a long way from ever being sustainable, yet it may be the primary reason anyone’s playing in the first place. You May Also Like AI March of the Web3 AI Agents: An Undead Internet Theory Technology Hitachi Solutions Unveils Web3 Development Support, Joining Sony in Blockchain Push Technology Sony’s Soneium Minato Testnet Joins Optimism’s Superchain ADVERTISMENT P2E Model, Overplayed? In its 2024 State of the Industry Report , the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) has found an interesting divide between gamers who play for fun and those who play for incentives. According to 42.4% of respondents, earning rewards from P2E titles is the main draw. Contrastingly, 46.2% identified the games as not fun, which is a main misconception around Web3. This is somewhat understandable, as wildly popular and overtly simplistic mobile titles such as Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) and Catizen (CATI) lack the prestigious gameplay seen with other blockchain titles such as Off the Grid, which is available on PlayStation 5 and desktop. For some time, the question of whether the P2E model could be sustained has been a point of contention. But Telegram’s ongoing efforts suggest that rewarding players will continue to be a mainstay of the most popular Web3 gaming offerings. It’s certainly come a long way since the early days of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which facilitated early blockchain-based P2E experiences in titles such as Axie Infinity. Now, there are many free-to-play titles with few barriers to entry, which sometimes makes earning/NFTs an optional part of the experience. It’s worth noting that these views come from industry professionals who work at major blockchain and gaming firms such as Square Enix, Ubisoft, The Sandbox, Immutable, Accenture, and others. Overcoming Challenges Beyond the complicated interplay of P2E mechanics and making fun games, 53.9% of respondents cited onboarding and poor user experience (UX) as the main challenges facing Web3 gaming. It’s an improvement from 2023’s 79.5% result, which reflects Web3 gaming’s shift toward developing free-to-play titles and gasless transactions. For quite some time, layer-2 scaling solutions such as Ronin were absolutely necessary to keep Web3 games accessible and affordable, as network fees would act as a sizeable barrier to mainstream adoption. The need to hold crypto and NFTs has been largely eliminated in favor of creating a “seamless entry point” for gamers of all shapes and sizes. The survey notes that “poor gameplay” has dropped from second to third place as a key challenge for Web3 gaming. According to the report, 33.2% of respondents still believe that Web3 games lack rich gameplay options.
Floki and Mastercard Launch Cryptocurrency Debit Card in Europe
Cryptocurrency project Floki is releasing a debit card within the Mastercard payment network. The Floki Card will be available in 31 European countries. Floki introduced a prepaid crypto card that enables users to pay for daily goods and services using digital assets anywhere Visa and Mastercard are accepted. Both virtual and physical versions of the Floki Card will be available. This new financial product will be accessible across most European countries. Users can top up their Floki Card directly from crypto wallets, supporting assets from eight blockchain networks, including BTC, ETH, BNB, TON, SOL, and NOT, as well as meme coins DOGS and FLOKI, the HMSTR token from the popular Hamster Kombat app, and stablecoins like USDC, USDT, EURT, and XAUT. The top-up fee is 2%, while transaction and asset conversion fees are waived. There’s a one-time card issuance fee, and the daily spending limit is set at 5,000 USDT. Floki cautioned that Mastercard or issuing banks may restrict services in certain countries, regions, or for specific merchants at their discretion. Additionally, some merchants and payment service providers (PSP) may choose not to accept prepaid virtual debit cards. The Floki project began as the FLOKI meme coin and since evolved into a broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Its offerings include platforms for asset tokenization, staking, decentralized finance, NFT issuance and trading, among others. The ecosystem is also preparing to launch a Metaverse play-to-earn (P2E) project. In March 2024, investment giant Franklin Templeton highlighted in a note to investors that, despite lacking utility, meme coins could offer short-term investment advantages.
Hamster Kombat to launch DAO ecosystem
According to Hamster Kombat's official tweet: Hamster Kombat will launch a DAO, allowing HMSTR token holders to make decisions, vote and determine the future of the ecosystem.
Floki, Mastercard launch 13-crypto debit card in Europe
Floki and Mastercard have introduced a debit card that will be available in physical and virtual form in 31 European countries. The card supports eight blockchains and can be funded with FLOKI and other cryptocurrencies. A card to spend 13 cryptocurrencies The Floki Debit Card can be issued in 31 countries that correspond to the European Union and European Free Trade Association member states. Virtual gift cards are available worldwide. The cards are issued in conjunction with Mastercard and can be used wherever Visa and Mastercard are accepted. There are no transaction fees, but the top-up charge is 2%. There are also one-time setup fees. It has a 5,000 Tether ( USDT ) daily limit. The card can be funded with Floki Inu ( FLOKI ), Bitcoin ( BTC ), Ether ( ETH ), Tether coins (USDT, EURT, XAUT), Circle ( USDC ), BNB ( BNB ), Solana ( SOL ), DOGS (DOGS), Hamster Kombat (HMSTR), The Open Network ( TON ) and Notcoin ( NOT ). Floki announced its intention to issue a debit card in March as one of the first elements on its roadmap. The cryptocurrency is named after Elon Musk’s dog and has an active community of supporters who call themselves Vikings . It has a $2.63 billion market cap and total supply of 9.67 trillion coins. Floki’s flagship Valhalla gaming metaverse mainnet is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2025, after delays. Its ecosystem is based on the Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain networks. Related: Visa and Mastercard: A boon for wallet holders, a threat to crypto exchanges? Visa, Mastercard and the cryptoverse The Floki Debit Card joins a growing group of crypto-powered payment cards supported by the so-called Visa-Mastercard “duopoly.” Mastercard teamed up with exchange Crypto.com to issue a debit card in the Gulf Cooperation Council region earlier in December and rolled out credit cards with Bulgarian decentralized lending platform Nexo in Europe in August 2023. Source: Floki In April, Mastercard, Baanx and decentralized finance firm 1inch Network introduced a cryptocurrency debit card in Europe as well. Decentralized finance wallet MetaMask also issues a payment card in Europe with Baanx and Mastercard. Visa has recent deals with the Puerto Rico-based FV Bank fintech and the Avalanche Foundation to issue debit cards. Magazine: Edgelord version of 3AC’s big fat bet on memecoin supercycle: Asia Express
Animoca Brands Research: How has the win-win situation between Telegram and TON formed over the past year?
Original Title: TON Part 2: A win-win outcome from one year of partnership Author: Animoca Brands Research Compiled by: Mensh, Chaincatcher Key Questions: How is TON progressing towards its goal of bringing 500 million users into cryptocurrency? What strategies is the TON Foundation adopting to elevate the ecosystem to a higher level? What benefits has Telegram gained from its partnership with TON? Table of Contents Introduction Three-Step Strategy Step One: Promote "Click-to-Earn" social games to bring users into Telegram Mini Apps Step Two: Convert Mini-App players into cryptocurrency holders through token airdrops Step Three: Retain cryptocurrency users through DeFi applications Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen Growth of the TON Blockchain Activity Total Value Locked (TVL) Comparison with other Layer 1s Summary of TON's Section** Success of Telegram Features related to the partnership with TON Growth in the popularity of the Telegram platform Impact on Telegram's profitability Conclusion TL;DR In September 2023, the TON Foundation and Telegram announced a strategic partnership aimed at bringing 30% of Telegram's active users into the TON ecosystem by 2028. As an infrastructure layer, TON leverages Telegram Mini-Apps to reach and attract Telegram's vast user base. The success of Notcoin paved the way for activating Mini-App users through social games. Subsequently, users gradually encountered cryptocurrency through airdrops of game tokens and meme coins. To support this growth, the foundation utilized TON Grants, The Open League, and offline events to achieve its goals. By July 2024, the monthly active users (MAU) of Telegram Mini Apps reached 500 million, driving Telegram's overall MAU to a new high of 950 million. As of October, 30 million users had successfully entered the cryptocurrency space. The high interaction rate of Telegram Mini Apps not only enhanced user engagement on the Telegram platform but also significantly increased platform revenue, particularly through premium account subscriptions and the exclusive use of Toncoin in the advertising platform. Telegram is expected to achieve its first profitable year in 2024, with annual revenue potentially reaching $1 billion. To further accelerate ecosystem growth, the TON Foundation is transitioning from a centralized governance model to a community-driven funding allocation model through the "Society DAO." This shift aims to foster more development and innovation within the ecosystem. Introduction In September 2023, the TON Foundation deepened its collaboration with Telegram, aiming to bring 30% of Telegram's active users into the TON blockchain ecosystem by 2028. Since the announcement, the TON Foundation has been dedicated to nurturing the Telegram Mini-App (TMA) ecosystem, positioning Mini-Apps as the gateway for existing Telegram users to enter the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This collaboration allows TON to reach over 900 million Telegram users. For Telegram, the TON Foundation and its organized community activities have become the core market expansion force for the Mini-App ecosystem, filling the market gap left by the company's streamlined operations. This article will explore the journey of both parties since the partnership began and its impact to date. Three-Step Strategy The partnership announcement proposed that Mini Apps serve as an intermediary layer connecting TON's infrastructure with Telegram's Web2 user base. Successfully implementing this strategy requires addressing the following three key questions: How to attract Telegram users into Mini Apps? How to convert Mini-App users into cryptocurrency users? How to retain these cryptocurrency users in the long term? Jack Booth, former Head of Market Development at the TON Foundation and co-founder of TON Society, shared insights on this strategy during a podcast interview in August 2023: "We engage everyone through 'Click-to-Earn', and then some users can easily conduct global cryptocurrency transactions via DM. Subsequently, a portion of these users will start using more complex DeFi products on TON. That's the logic of the whole plan." In summary, the foundation's answers to the above questions are: Promote "Click-to-Earn" social games to attract users into Telegram Mini Apps. Convert Mini-App players into cryptocurrency users through token airdrops. Retain cryptocurrency users through DeFi applications. In fact, this three-step strategy is more like a retrospective summary of a community-driven innovation development process rather than a top-down execution plan. Next, we will explore these three components in detail. Step One: Promote "Click-to-Earn" social games to attract users into Telegram Mini Apps After launching the partnership with Telegram, the TON Foundation actively promoted the development of Mini-Apps through its community interaction channels. In Q3 2024, GameFi projects began to appear among the funded projects of TON Grants, alongside traditional on-chain functional projects. This change indicates that the foundation has recognized the significant potential of game development in driving the popularity of Mini-Apps. In January 2024, the first phenomenon-level Mini-App game Notcoin was launched. This "Click-to-Earn" social game quickly became a hotspot on Telegram, attracting 35 million users even before its TGE. Interestingly, Notcoin originated entirely from community innovation and was not initially included in the foundation's plans. However, its success prompted the foundation to include social games as a key funding area. In the first half of 2024, the number of funded GameFi projects continued to increase. For example, Hamster Kombat and Catizen were launched in March 2024, attracting 300 million and 39 million users respectively before their TGEs. By the end of May 2024, the monthly active users (MAU) of Telegram Mini Apps reached 400 million, increasing to 500 million in July. Considering that Telegram's total MAU during the same period was approximately 950 million, this means that over half of Telegram users interact with Mini Apps monthly. Achieving this milestone in less than 10 months is undoubtedly a significant success for the TON Foundation. Step Two: Convert Mini-App players into cryptocurrency users through token airdrops The launch of tokens and airdrops became a key step in converting Web2 players into cryptocurrency users. Points earned through the "Click-to-Earn" mechanism were converted into on-chain tokens with actual market value, incentivizing users to explore and participate in cryptocurrency trading. The infrastructure supporting this conversion was already in place on Telegram. By November 2023, the Telegram wallet and non-custodial TON Space wallet had been integrated into Telegram, allowing users outside the U.S. to receive Jettons (the fungible token standard on the TON blockchain). The launch and airdrop of Notcoin was the first significant initiative in this conversion process. In the first week of the Notcoin token airdrop on May 16, 2024, 2.7 million of the 35 million users claimed Notcoin tokens, and by August, this number reached 11 million. This impact was reflected in key metrics of the TON ecosystem: the number of active wallets doubled from 4.2 million to 8.5 million in the first month after the token launch, while the number of wallets with non-zero balances increased from 3 million to 6 million during the same period. This success was replicated by subsequent social games such as Hamster Kombat (TGE on September 26, 2024) and Catizen (TGE on September 20, 2024). They brought in 3.2 million and 1.8 million on-chain token claims respectively, further driving the increase in the number of wallets with non-zero balances in October. The GameFi-driven wallet proliferation laid the foundation for broader cryptocurrency applications on TON. For example, the meme coin DOGS became the first popular meme coin on the TON network, with its launch at the end of August 2024 triggering a new wave of wallet activations, paving the way for subsequent game token releases. This success was entirely driven by the TON community, being unexpected yet impactful. By November 1, 2024, the registered users of TON Space (Telegram's non-custodial wallet) had reached 100 million, while the total number of activated wallets on the TON blockchain (including TON Space and third-party on-chain wallets) reached 34 million. Step Three: Retain cryptocurrency users through DeFi applications After attracting Telegram users into Mini-Apps and exposing them to cryptocurrency, the primary task for the projects and the foundation became how to retain these users within the ecosystem. The challenges of user retention can be illustrated by the performance of GameFi projects on the TON chain. Measured by daily active unique wallets (UAW), the best-performing projects managed to maintain about 60% of their daily activity even after their peak. However, for mid-tier and lower-tier projects, retention rates dropped sharply: projects in the second tier could only retain 37%, while those in the third tier retained only 25% of their activity. Measures to Address User Churn To tackle this issue, the TON Foundation and project teams strengthened user retention through the following methods: Integration of DeFi tools: Introducing decentralized exchanges (DEX), staking, and liquidity mining tools to provide users with more opportunities for managing and earning on their crypto assets. Optimization of reward mechanisms: Incentivizing users to participate in on-chain activities long-term through airdrops and in-game economic designs. User education and support: Helping users familiarize themselves with more complex DeFi applications through embedded tutorials in Mini-Apps and interactive communities, lowering the learning curve. Ecosystem interlinking: Introducing GameFi users to other application scenarios, such as NFT markets, DAO participation, and on-chain payments, further expanding the value network of the TON ecosystem. Although there is still room for improvement in retention rates, the foundation's initiatives are gradually solidifying long-term user engagement, laying the groundwork for the sustainable development of the TON ecosystem. While the TON Grant program primarily focuses on supporting the initial development of applications within the ecosystem, The Open League (TOL) has emerged as a more effective alternative for promoting user retention. Launched by TON Society in January 2024, TOL is an incentive program designed to reward the best-performing projects over a specific period. Unlike funding that emphasizes project potential, TOL focuses on rewarding actual outcomes. The program is divided into four competition categories: App, DeFi, Token, and NFT. Each category uses specific metrics to assess the performance of DApps or tokens. Seasons typically last from two weeks to two months, allowing the foundation to adjust incentives based on rapidly changing dynamics. Particularly in the application category, the evaluation of Telegram Mini Apps is based on a range of on-chain interaction metrics (such as unique active wallets and transaction volume per user), as well as online metrics, including the number of Telegram users and the stickiness of Mini-App users. While all four categories play important roles in strengthening the ecosystem, the shifting emphasis among them reflects the evolving priorities of the TON Foundation. The token and application categories have consistently been significant reward categories. However, DeFi ceased to receive rewards after the first two seasons but regained attention in the fifth season. The TON Foundation made significant adjustments to the TOL model in the sixth season. Instead of providing Toncoin rewards to projects that could attract user interest, it now directly rewards users who can bring more activity to projects. This new approach includes two main initiatives: Normie Airdrop: Encouraging users to explore DApps by granting them "Normie Scores," which can be exchanged for Toncoin tokens or project airdrop rewards. Degen Airdrop: Targeting traders, rewarding them based on their trading activity and liquidity provision assessed through "Degen Scores." Shifting from funding developers to incentivizing on-chain users, especially those driving more transactions and liquidity, reflects the TON Foundation's belief that broadly promoting user engagement between Telegram Mini Apps and DApps is more impactful than focusing on a few top-performing projects. Additionally, in October, the TON Foundation supported the launch of Memelandia, a community-supported organization aimed at promoting the growth of the meme coin ecosystem within the TON ecosystem. This indicates the foundation's recognition of the important role meme coins play in driving community engagement and on-chain activity. Early success stories include DOGS, which has 17 million holders and peaked at 14.4 million daily transactions. Although Jack's comments in August regarded DeFi as the primary tool for user retention, the actual development trajectory shows a trend toward greater diversification. GameFi, meme coins, and DeFi are becoming significant contributors to maintaining an active and engaged TON-Mini App community. At the same time, the TON Foundation is gradually transitioning to a more decentralized governance structure, particularly in promoting community-driven initiatives. This shift is reflected in the independent operation of TON Society achieved in August and the introduction of Society DAO in December. Through this decentralized decision-making framework, community members can autonomously explore and leverage emerging opportunities across different domains within the TON ecosystem, further accelerating its growth. Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen As one of the most successful categories of this collaboration, it is worth analyzing the three highlight projects: Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen. In the previously mentioned user conversion pathway, the clear support from TON Grants and the results of TOL indicate that GameFi projects, particularly those adopting the "tap-to-earn" model, are the "engine" of the entire conversion pathway. These three mini-games engage users through simple gameplay (such as clicking) to earn points. Users can also earn additional points by participating in social referral programs to invite friends to join the game, rapidly expanding the user base. After the token generation event (TGE), points can be redeemed for airdrop rewards, thereby activating users' wallets. After undergoing a Sybil detection process used to identify and prevent fake players, it was found that approximately 40% of players in Hamster Kombat and Catizen were eligible for airdrops. Nevertheless, the actual number of players in these games still exceeded 10 million, with Hamster Kombat users even surpassing 100 million. This level of engagement is comparable to mainstream mobile games. On-chain activity demonstrates the effectiveness of attracting users' interest in cryptocurrency. As of November 16, 2024, the number of holders for Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen reached 2.9 million, 1.3 million, and 1.6 million respectively, surpassing the number of holders for mainstream GameFi tokens. From one month after the TGE to November 8, 2024, the proportion of non-zero addresses (defined as addresses holding Jetton balances) among all addresses that once held Jettons were: Notcoin: approximately 40% Hamster Kombat: approximately 80% Catizen: approximately 70% These differences indicate that users of Hamster Kombat and Catizen exhibit higher loyalty as holders, likely due to the implementation of the Sybil detection process. Growth of the TON Blockchain With the successful attraction and conversion of Telegram users, the TON blockchain has experienced significant growth. Activity Data Wallets: As of October 2024, the number of activated wallets increased from 800,000 in September 2023 to 32 million, a growth of 39 times. Additionally, the number of Jetton wallets with non-zero balances also grew to 22 million, indicating that a large number of activated wallets are being actively used. User Engagement: Monthly active wallets (MAWs) reached 10 million in October, with daily active wallets (DAWs) averaging 800,000. Compared to 14 months ago, both metrics have grown by over 90 times. Cryptocurrency Usage On-chain Transaction Volume: Monthly on-chain transaction volume (measured by transaction count) reached 200 million in October 2024, a growth of 30 times compared to September 2023, with approximately 60% of transactions involving Toncoin transfers. Transaction Fees: Monthly on-chain transaction fees increased to $5.1 million, demonstrating the high activity level of the TON ecosystem. Total Value Locked (TVL) Total TVL: As of October 2024, the total value locked (TVL), including liquid staking, reached $726 million. This growth is primarily attributed to the expansion of decentralized exchanges (DEX) and liquidity staking protocols. With the support of TON Grants and the early seasons of TOL, liquidity staking protocols and DEX reached TVLs of $335 million and $342 million respectively. STON.fi and DeDust.io have emerged as the two leading DEXs on the platform. Comparison with Other Layer 1s To better understand these figures, we can compare TON's activity metrics and TVL with other major Layer 1s. While TON still has room for growth in terms of absolute scale of on-chain usage, its development trajectory is noteworthy. In terms of the time taken for monthly transaction volume to grow from 5 million to 30 million, Ethereum took 52 months, Avalanche took 28 months, while TON only took 5 months. Regarding the speed of TVL growth, TON is comparable to other Layer 1s. In terms of recent scale-related metrics, TON's transaction fees and native token transfer volumes are still lower than Ethereum. However, compared to infrastructure projects with similar market capitalizations (such as Avalanche), TON is leading in both transaction fees and native token transfer volumes. The volume of Toncoin transactions on-chain has reached 20% of Ethereum's, highlighting the widespread use of Toncoin as a digital currency within the TON ecosystem. Summary: Challenges Remain for TON The partnership between TON and Telegram has greatly enhanced TON's ability to attract developers and energize the community. The early success of the social game Notcoin catalyzed exponential growth in the usage of Telegram Mini Apps, while subsequent initiatives such as airdrops and the introduction of meme coins like DOGS successfully brought a large number of Telegram Mini App users into the Web3 ecosystem. This rapid expansion is an achievement that other major Layer 1 protocols cannot match. However, challenges remain. Whether TON and Telegram Mini Apps can maintain user stickiness after the initial surge is yet to be validated. Games, meme coins, and DeFi all have the potential to cultivate a sustainable Web3 user base, but to achieve the key goal of attracting 500 million users by 2028, a twenty-fold increase from the current baseline of approximately 30 million activated wallets is still required. To address these challenges, the foundation has shifted from a top-down governance model to a more community-driven resource allocation approach. This transition aims to empower the TON community to better explore and seize growth opportunities. It is expected that new TON initiatives from communities around the world will continue to thrive. Ultimately, a prosperous ecosystem is built on the foundations of diversity and adaptability. Success of Telegram Telegram is a messaging platform with 950 million monthly active users, operated by an extremely lean team of only 30 engineers and 50 staff members. This streamlined structure ensures that the company can focus on scalable technology development, such as core messaging features and developer SDKs, or high-impact partnerships, such as integrating wallets and stablecoins into the platform. However, for labor-intensive activities like developer engagement or advertising operations, Telegram needs to rely on outsourcing or handing these opportunities over to external parties. This operational philosophy is reflected in Telegram's collaboration with Mini Apps. Mini Apps were initially launched as "Web applications" with the release of Telegram Bot API v6.0 in April 2022, allowing developers to initiate rich web experiences (such as games and media) directly through Telegram bots. In June 2023, with the release of API v6.7, Web Apps were officially renamed Telegram Mini Apps. Despite the upgraded functionality, Mini Apps did not attract much attention in the first 18 months. It was during this period that the TON Foundation became the ideal partner for Telegram in promoting Mini Apps. Leveraging its established global developer community and the ability to issue incentive programs using Toncoin reserves, the foundation played a key role in driving the adoption of Mini Apps. The success of Telegram Mini Apps not only strengthened the platform's user base but also provided Telegram with opportunities to monetize by increasing user engagement. Existing revenue sources, such as premium accounts, digital collectibles, and advertising, are directly linked to the growing ecosystem. As Telegram plans to go public by 2026, achieving profitability through this wave of platform growth is crucial for Telegram. Features Related to the TON Partnership Since the partnership began, Telegram has been rolling out features related to TON and Mini Apps. These features either lay the groundwork for integrating cryptocurrency into the Telegram ecosystem or support the growth and adoption of Mini Apps. TON Wallet: In November 2023, Telegram launched its native wallet in collaboration with third-party developer The Open Platform (TOP). This wallet operates in a custodial format, meaning cryptocurrency transaction records are stored on a central server, similar to centralized exchanges. It also includes a non-custodial wallet option, TON Space, integrated into the wallet interface, providing direct on-chain transactions similar to MetaMask. USDT on TON: In April 2024, Tether USD (USDT) — the largest stablecoin by market capitalization — launched its TON version. Through this initiative, Telegram users can conduct cryptocurrency dollar transactions directly via the native wallet or third-party wallets. While this feature appears to be a natural move by the TON Foundation, it was actually ensured by the Telegram team. Telegram Stars: Launched in June 2024, Stars is Telegram's online points system that allows users to purchase digital goods and services. Users can buy Stars with fiat currency through Apple and Google stores or purchase them with Toncoin through Fragment. For Telegram's businesses and channel owners, Stars can serve as an additional feature to help them derive value from users. For example: Setting up paywalls using Stars as a payment method. Receiving donations directly from users. Purchasing advertising at approximately a 35% discount (for example, Stars worth $0.013 can buy $0.02 worth of advertising). Although Stars are non-refundable, accounts holding more than 1,000 Stars can withdraw Toncoin funds through Fragment. Purchases or refunds will not be tied to any fiat currency value. Mini-App Store: In August 2024, Telegram introduced "Apps" as a new category in its search box, simplifying the discovery process for Mini Apps. Although this feature acts more like a search tool within an app store rather than a standalone app store, it provides users with a high-level entry point for accessing Mini Apps. Regardless of the naming differences, this update complements the Telegram Apps Center (a Mini-App style Mini Apps store) previously launched by the TON Foundation. Telegram Mini-App 2.0: On November 17, 2024, Telegram released a significant update to the Mini-App functionality. New features such as full-screen mode, location access, and activity tracking aim to enhance user experience. These additions provide developers with more tools and inspire new use cases for Mini Apps, driving further adoption and innovation. Growth of the Telegram Platform Telegram set a record of 950 million monthly active users (MAUs) in July 2024. Telegram and Pavel Durov had previously reported that the platform reached milestones of 700 million, 800 million, and 900 million MAUs by the end of 2022, the first half of 2023, and April 2024, respectively. Meanwhile, Mini Apps also achieved significant growth, with monthly active users reaching 400 million in April 2024 and 500 million in June. This means that approximately half of Telegram users actively engage with Mini Apps. Another rapidly growing metric is the number of Telegram Premium subscribers. Telegram Premium enhances the user experience with features such as ad-free browsing, real-time translation, and unlimited cloud storage, reaching 1 million subscribers in December 2022. Since the start of the partnership, growth has significantly accelerated, reaching 5 million in January 2024 and doubling to 10 million by September 2024. These observations, along with the fact that 70% of the top 50 Telegram channels focus on TON projects (all of which include Telegram Mini Apps), indicate that the partnership with TON has significantly enhanced user engagement on Telegram. The increasing popularity of Telegram Mini Apps has transformed Telegram from an occasionally used tool into an indispensable application for users, prompting many to subscribe to premium features for an enriched experience. Impact on Telegram's Profitability Enhanced user engagement has significantly improved Telegram's ability to generate revenue from its platform operations. Existing revenue sources, such as Telegram advertising, collectibles sales, and premium account subscriptions, have all experienced substantial growth. Additionally, the newly launched Telegram Stars provide an extra revenue source for the platform. Telegram Advertising: The Telegram advertising platform transitioned to on-chain tracking for ad sales in April 2024, improving the transparency of its performance monitoring. Furthermore, the platform expanded its advertising reach, allowing channels with fewer subscribers to display ads, enabling new advertisers to participate. According to Telegram's reported financial results for the first half of 2024, Telegram advertising generated $120 million in revenue over six months, nearly double the $70 million revenue for the entire year of 2023. We expect this advertising momentum to continue, with annual advertising revenue projected to reach $240 million. Collectibles: Collectibles trading is conducted entirely on-chain through Telegram's Fragment marketplace. Revenue includes Telegram's platform commission on primary and secondary sales. While revenue surged in March and April, it has since stabilized. We estimate that collectibles revenue will reach $36 million in 2024, an increase of $18 million from the previous year, representing over 100% year-on-year growth. Premium Account Subscriptions: As mentioned, premium account subscriptions experienced significant growth in 2024. In the reported financial results for the first half of 2024, premium account subscription revenue was $119 million. Based on the growth trend in subscription numbers, we expect annual revenue to reach $285 million, representing over 200% year-on-year growth, making premium accounts the largest revenue source in Telegram's business. Telegram Stars: As a digital goods sales platform, Telegram Stars brings new revenue sources to the platform. Although we lack comprehensive insight into fiat purchases made through Apple and Google, the on-chain sales of Stars through the Fragment marketplace provide a conservative estimate. Based on results from the first four months, we expect on-chain Stars revenue to reach $55 million in 2024. Overall Stars revenue should be higher, but we use this figure as a conservative estimate. Direct Revenue from TON: According to the Financial Times, Telegram generated $225 million in revenue by allowing Toncoin to be the exclusive means for small businesses to purchase ads. We believe this revenue source effectively replaces the "premium access to the advertising platform" from 2023, which allowed Mini-Apps to purchase ads on Telegram with restrictions. Additionally, due to the exclusive partnership with TON, fees charged by Telegram from its "integrated wallet" are expected to continue. While there may also be user-generated fees related to transactions and withdrawals from the integrated wallet, we expect these contributions to remain small this year. Based on collected information and estimates, we predict that Telegram's total revenue for 2024 will reach at least $971 million and may exceed the $1 billion mark. The reported financial results for the first half of 2024 already show revenue of $525 million, including $225 million from Toncoin advertising access. In terms of expenses, Pavel Durov revealed in a 2024 interview that "the annual expenditure per user is less than 70 cents." Based on the current growth trend of monthly active users (MAUs), we expect total expenses for the year to be $667 million. This would result in an annual operating profit of over $300 million, marking a significant leap in the company's profitability. This will be an important step in Telegram's IPO plans. Telegram raised $2 billion through convertible debt before 2024 and another $330 million this year. These debts are expected to mature in 2026, putting time pressure on Telegram's listing plans. The year-end profitability results will undoubtedly help strengthen its preparations for the IPO. Conclusion The first year of collaboration between TON and Telegram has proven to be a win-win situation for both parties. TON has achieved significant growth in popularity, and its governance model is continuously evolving to meet the needs of an active community eager to drive further expansion. Riding this wave of user engagement, Telegram has successfully leveraged its active user base to drive additional revenue, particularly through premium account subscriptions and exclusive rights. Under this mutually beneficial partnership, it is expected that the collaboration will continue to thrive in the coming years.
Tap-to-Earn Games See User Counts Plunge Despite Crypto Boom
Telegram-based tap-to-earn crypto games are losing users rapidly, even as the broader cryptocurrency market enjoys a bullish phase. Data from Google Trends reveals that search interest in “tap-to-earn” has plummeted by 80% between June and December 2024. This significant decline suggests that players and investors may be shifting their focus to other areas in the thriving crypto market. Decline in Tap-to-Earn Games User Interest and Engagement Leading Telegram-based games such as Hamster Kombat, Notcoin, and Catizen have seen massive drops in users despite a booming crypto market. According to TGStats, Hamster Kombat alone lost over 3 million users in just one month, while Notcoin and Catizen shed 428,000 and 407,000 users, respectively. On-chain activity data paints a similar picture. The Ton blockchain, which powers these games, recorded more than 1 million daily active wallets in September. According to TonStats, this number had fallen below 500,000 by December. TON Blockchain Falling Daily Active Wallets. Source: TONStats A Chainplay survey of 957 players supports these findings. While 17.8% of users quit after their first airdrop, a notable 50.6% reduced their activity, suggesting declining interest after initial rewards. Moreover, developers continue to struggle with user retention, as many players leave after claiming free tokens. Animoca Brands reports that top-performing projects manage to retain only 60% of their peak daily active users, with less successful projects retaining as little as 25%. Why Tap-to-Earn Games Are Losing Players Repetitive gameplay remains a primary issue. Chainplay reported that over 51% of surveyed players cited monotonous tasks as a key reason for quitting. Despite efforts to improve user experience, many tap-to-earn games rely on simple mechanics, causing player fatigue. Additionally, larger player bases dilute airdrop rewards, leaving participants feeling undervalued. More than half of surveyed users expressed dissatisfaction with smaller allocations. Why Players Stop Playing Tap-to-Earn Games. Source: Chainplay Fraud and security concerns also contribute to user attrition. Games like Hamster Kombat have banned millions of accounts for exploiting reward systems. Security risks such as hacking and cheating further discourage participation, with 21.8% of respondents highlighting these issues. Lastly, difficulties in withdrawing rewards have frustrated players, with 35.9% citing cash-out challenges. As retention problems persist, the future of tap-to-earn crypto games will depend on developers addressing these core issues and delivering engaging, secure experiences that appeal to a broader audience.
Captain Tsubasa: Rivals Gives 5 Million Free Balls Daily
Every day at 8 a.m. ET, the game releases a special “daily combo,” allowing players to grab 5 million free balls, which are the game’s version of in-game coins. This gives players a chance to build up their resources and get ready for a future token launch on The Open Network (TON) . Captain Tsubasa: Rivals Offers a Fun Spin on Tap-to-Earn Games The game , which is based on the beloved Captain Tsubasa anime and manga series, lets you tap the screen to earn coins and upgrade your team, tactics, and stadium. It’s an easy-to-play game that’s starting to gain a lot of attention. But don’t be fooled—there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes. Players are upgrading their squads to get ready for the upcoming token launch, where they might be able to cash in on their hard work. Captain Tsubasa just announced their partnership with Blum! They are the first official Japanese IP Web3 project in the world (licensed from the Captain Tsubasa Manga IP), with the web2 game revenue exceeding $500M+ and 80M+ manga copies sold. Now it’s time for a web3 twist… https://t.co/A8KCldDQsG pic.twitter.com/agRWGGM4Re — CryptoMaMa♟️ (@1CryptoMama) November 27, 2024 Each day, players can take advantage of the daily combo by collecting three specific cards, which they need to either buy or upgrade in the game. Once they have all the right cards, they earn 5 million balls for free. However, it’s not all smooth sailing. How to Claim Your Daily 5 Million Free Balls in Captain Tsubasa Some days, players might not have enough balls to purchase the cards they need, and some cards are locked until you invite friends to play, which could slow down your progress. But with a reward as big as 5 million balls, it’s worth putting in the effort. Captain Tsubasa is coming to Web3! ⚽ The legendary manga is making its debut with @TsubasaRVonTG and HUGE support from @okx , @animocabrands , @official_kddi & @docomo ! The team behind the game secured it access to Most Valuable Builder (MVB) program of @BinanceLabs ! How?? By… pic.twitter.com/s3c3dgA2lD — GemsScope (@GemsScope) November 27, 2024 Captain Tsubasa: Rivals is mixing things up with this tap-to-earn approach. It’s a fresh spin on the classic Hamster Kombat formula but with an anime twist. Players are getting a head start on the game’s eventual airdrop, which could turn their daily efforts into real rewards. Disclaimer The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational, entertainment, and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies are thoughts and opinions relevant to the accepted risk tolerance levels of the writer/reviewers and their risk tolerance may be different than yours. We are not responsible for any losses you may incur due to any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments so please do your due diligence. Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd.
⚡️Hamster News | November 21⚡️
⚡️Hamster News | November 21⚡️ • Trump team considers creating first-ever White House crypto role • MicroStrategy breaks into top 100 US publicly traded companies • FTX co-founder Gary Wang avoids prison time • Arkham Intelligence to launch a spot trading platform in the US… https://t.co/nghyf103fD https://t.co/C8ePkzxfGZ
Hamster Kombat Aims for Comeback Amid Decline, Eyeing New Growth Opportunities
Hamster Kombat, a Web3-based game, is working to reignite interest among its players after seeing a decline in monthly active users (MAUs). The game, which initially gained massive attention, reached 300 million users in August but has since seen a drop, now retaining around 30 million MAUs. Despite the cooling off, a representative from the team expressed that the decline aligns with their expectations, as the game experiences natural fluctuations in interest. Hamster Kombat’s spokesperson explained that the drop is expected during the transition between seasons, noting that the team is currently preparing for the launch of the second season. Even in this interim period, the game’s MAU number remains strong at over 30 million, indicating sustained engagement. The team aims to reconnect with season one players while also attracting new users. Additionally, the game reported a $1.3 billion daily trading volume and $4 billion in perpetual trading volume for its HMSTR token, alongside 11 million tokenholders. READ MORE: Expert Trader Shares Secrets to Transforming Your Crypto Portfolio The spokesperson emphasized that the game’s large and active player base positions it to compete with other top blockchain projects and to expand into new markets in the future. While Hamster Kombat works to expand its audience, other Telegram Mini Apps are also gaining momentum. Paws, another popular Telegram game, has seen rapid growth, currently boasting 40.7 million MAUs. Blum, a hybrid exchange app offering both centralized and decentralized exchange features, and Major, a task-based app that rewards users with cryptocurrency, are also rising in popularity, further intensifying the competition in the Telegram Mini App space. Source
Hamster Kombat’s Token Struggles Despite Record Trading Volume and Season 2 Hype
Hamster Kombat's token, HMSTR, has faced significant challenges despite attracting 300 million active users at its peak. After hitting an all-time high (ATH) of $0.01004 two months ago, the token is now trading at $0.003897, a 61% drop. Although it briefly recovered following Bitcoin’s rally, the price didn’t hold. However, there’s some optimism as trading volume has surged, signaling renewed interest. The game’s popularity took off after its January launch, attracting millions of users and culminating in the launch of the HMSTR token in late September. Unfortunately, issues like airdrop distribution delays and the controversial anti-cheat system led to a sharp price decline after its listing. The game’s active user base also fell dramatically, from 300 million to just 41 million in a matter of months, contributing to the token’s poor performance. Despite recent price declines, HMSTR’s trading volume is on the rise, with a notable increase in the past week, reaching $118.5 million. This surge indicates that user interest may be returning. The token had even seen a brief spike in both spot and perpetual trading volume earlier this month, reaching $1.3 billion in spot and $4 billion in perpetual trades, pushing its price to $0.005938 before it dipped again. READ MORE: Miner Selling Pressure Mounts as Bitcoin Approaches $100K The excitement surrounding Season 2, announced in early November, has fueled renewed hope. The new season promises enhanced features, such as virtual studio management, custom game spaces, and community-driven challenges, which has stirred player enthusiasm. As a result, trading volume spiked following the announcement, and sentiment indicators show that 73% of voters are bullish on the token, while only 23% remain bearish. Additionally, HMSTR has become the second-largest on-chain holder, surpassing even Aptos. With Bitcoin’s broader market rally and positive sentiment, Hamster Kombat’s token may have potential for recovery in the near future.
Hamster Kombat user drop ‘expected’ but team plans to ‘re-engage’
Web3 game Hamster Kombat plans to “re-engage” with its season one participants and attract new users despite a recent drop in monthly active users (MAU). While the popular Telegram clicker game broke records and reached 300 million users in August, the hype has since cooled , leaving the game with about 30 million MAUs. Still, a spokesperson for Hamster Kombat told Cointelegraph that the drop aligns with their expectations. The Hamster Kombat team said interest rises and falls but will grow again with any project. “Since our project has seasons, this is expected. We’re currently in the interlude period, preparing to launch the second season,” the spokesperson said. “Even during this mid-season phase, our MAU metric remains above 30 million, showing sustained interest.” The spokesperson added that the team is “planning to re-engage” with season one participants while trying to attract new players. Retaining the “core group” of players On Nov. 14, Hamster Kombat reported a $1.3 billion daily spot volume and $4 billion perpetual trading volume for its Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) token. It also reported 11 million tokenholders. The spokesperson told Cointelegraph: “We now have over 11 million tokenholders, allowing us to compete with the top blockchains. We plan to increase the number of holders and enter new markets.” The team said it has retained a “core group” of players of about 30 million, who are actively engaged even after the first airdrop. “That’s more than the entire community of many other projects even before their airdrops,” the spokesperson said. Hamster Kombat expects its audience to grow further as new activities are planned for the future. Related: Hamster Kombat Season 2 lets players become CEOs, build game studios Paws, Blum Telegram games surge While Hamster Kombat works on a comeback, other Telegram Mini Apps are gaining traction. This includes Paws, which has surged in popularity and become one of the fastest-growing Mini Apps on Telegram. At the time of writing, Paws had 40.7 million MAUs, according to Telegram. Highest-ranked Web3 apps on Telegram. Source: Telegram In addition, Blum, a hybrid exchange offering features of both centralized and decentralized exchanges, is emerging as a leading Mini App. Blum also includes a clicker game allowing users to earn points convertible into an airdrop token. Another app, Major, has risen to the top of the Telegram Mini App rankings with 34.9 million MAUs. Major allows users to complete tasks and earn cryptocurrencies. Magazine: Will gaming token ‘enthusiasm’ return this crypto bull run? Web3 Gamer
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