Polarity.  Volatility.  Even Mass Hysteria.  A wide array of terms can be used to explain the phenomenon of cryptocurrencies in 2021.  Whatever the term, it’s most certainly the type of phenomenon capable of creating new millionaires, which the market most certainly did in 2021.  Of course, celebrity tweets played a role in promoting the popularity of the market, but what a year it’s been for those with an iron stomach. 

Wall Street has always been fond of saying that “volatility works both ways” and you can ask the investors who bought into altcoins like AXS, SAND, or FTM back in January if truer words were ever spoken.

Though rocky at times with a couple of monumental dips, it was a fine year for the cryptocurrency market as it made huge strides towards mainstream adoption and gained $30 billion in new investments.  Those are remarkable achievements for a market that hasn’t yet adopted a regulatory framework and was all but outlawed by a global superpower (China). Still the popularity of digital assets continues to grow _no matter what_ the world seems to throw at investors. 

## A Look Back at 2021

A look back at the top-performing digital coins of 2021 reveals one thing about the future – get to know **[metaverses](/news/category/metaverse-news/)**.  Facebook's recent re-branding as “Meta” ignited a _powder keg_ that thrust every coin that was metaverse related into the stratosphere.  Essentially, a metaverse is a virtual world where people socialise, go to virtual shopping malls, buy virtual real estate, and do pretty much anything they would do in the _real_ world.  Most of the top-performing coins of 2021 are playing an increasingly crucial role in these metaverses:

### Gala (Symbol: GALA) – Revenue from the global gaming market is expected to reach $200 billion in 2024. At the center of it is a blockchain-gaming platform, GALA – a digital currency that shot up an absurd _51,000%_ in value in 2021.

### Axie Infinity (Symbol: AXS)– Another metaverse-related cryptocurrency that took early investors on a Nantucket sleighride in 2021.  Axie Infinity posted a gain of nearly 19,000% this year. 

### The Sandbox (Symbol: SAND) – Rage on, metaverse coins!  Sandbox has locked arms with mega-boosters, like Snoop Dogg who incidentally built his very own virtual mansion in the Sandbox platform.  Tallying a 14,530% pump in value since the start of the year, SAND enjoys its rightful place as one of our top performers of 2021.

### Fantom (Symbol: FTM)– Best described as a provider of ledger services to global businesses, Fantom has posted a surge of almost 9000% in 2021 and, with its very strong fundamentals, there could be more room to grow in 2022. 

### Decentraland (Symbol: MANA) – [Decentraland](https://decentraland.org/) is a wildly popular virtual world with 300,000 monthly participants (and growing).  Many of them wanting to purchase land or trade their digital wares in the platform.  To do it, they’re using Decentraland's official digital currency, MANA.  The surge in popularity was able to boost the value of MANA by almost 4000% in 2021.

As we march into the new year, we all aspire to discover the next coin best-positioned for a 50,000% gain.  Be prudent about your research, and understand this market is still young, extremely volatile, and oh-so exciting.

Momentum Behind 2021’s Crypto Gaming Coins

Step aside NFTs, the metaverse and GameFi token craze is real. In what has been a dismal week for major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Cardano, largely due to the signing of the US Infrastructure Bill, the rejection of a US spot Bitcoin ETF, crazy Bitcoin profit bookings, further Chinese crypto sanctions and news of the possibility of crypto being banned in India, many metaverse and gaming tokens have experienced considerable growth.

MANA, SAND and GALA in particular have witnessed substantial growth. Public sentiment is so bullish at the moment that a Decentraland patch of real estate [sold for nearly $2.43 million](https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/virtual-real-estate-plot-sells-record-24-million-2021-11-23/) on 23rd November! Following Facebook's rebranding to Meta last month, the world is looking at such projects with keen interest. GALA is a gaming asset worth looking at closely.

## What is GALA and should you buy it?

I am not giving you investment advice but wow, GALA sure is a fascinating investment prospect. In the past year, GALA has surged 200,000+% and reached an all-time high of nearly $0.06 on 25th November. GALA powers the Gala Games ecosystem, an Ethereum-based gaming network.

Gala Games currently offers 2 blockchain-based games and is developing 3 more. The decentralized ecosystem is controlled by its users – all decisions are taken by node holders and players, be it related to the development of a new game or what should be funded by the ecosystem.

Node holders can run nodes (Gala Nodes) via their computer systems and earn rewards such as GALA, limited edition NFTs and much more. You can purchase a Gala Node license for the same. All items that you win in-game are yours and are verifiable assets on the blockchain. GALA represents a long-term investment option, so explore its underlying project at your convenience.



Metaverse tokens and GameFi – a new trend

The adoption of blockchain technology continues apace with new and exciting avenues, presenting themselves on a weekly basis.

There is no more exciting environment than virtual reality and the metaverse right now. It seems as if these two worlds are the perfect fit for blockchain technology.

## GameFI Eco-System Fund

With this in mind, cryptocurrency trading giant FTX released details today of a brand new investment fund targeting [Gamefi](https://hub.gamefi.org/#/), the Metaverse and Web 3.0 companies. As a joint venture between FTX, Solana Ventures and LightSpeed Venture Partners, the ‘GameFi Eco-System Fund’ is allocating $100 million to invest in gaming studios, technology companies and ‘other projects’.

## Web 3.0

Web 3.0 can be thought of as the next evolutionary step of the internet. Through the use of artificial intelligence, decentralised networks and blockchain technology, the internet is set to undergo a revolutionary transformation. With many people viewing the evolution of Web 3.0 as less than 2 years away, the launch of the ‘GameFi Eco-System Fund’ is evidence that large investors are taking this space seriously.

This new version of the internet will be faster, fairer and have less need for central points of control and authority. Now, artificial intelligence and machine learning take the leg work out of administering and authenticating internet content.

## Play to Earn

Amy Wu of LightSpeed Venture Partners said gaming was a massive opportunity to ‘bring the next billion users to Web 3.0’. The global gaming market is currently estimated to be worth around $100 billion. Many analysts are expecting those figures to double in the next two years due to new concepts, which appeal to a much wider audience.

Mobile games like Axie Afinity and HeroFi have shown how blockchain technology and NFTs can be successfully incorporated into the gaming universe. Play to Earn gaming concepts have become huge hits in the Far East. Users can generate, trade and earn cryptocurrency by simply playing games on their mobile phones.

For more GameFi news, see [here](/news/category/gamefi).


‘GameFi Eco-System’ Fund $100m launch

It's time to talk crypto gaming.

Elon Musk once famously said, “Paper money is going away.”

Alluding to cryptocurrency, Musk suggested that “Crypto is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper, that’s for sure.” Musk’s prediction seems to be coming true, as crypto is becoming a very popular currency form to not only invest in but also to use in a variety of things.

It’s known that includes a wide range from the famous bitcoin pizza all the way to purchased real estate... and fund a player’s online gaming wallet?

No, not video games. Gaming, as in casino games that offer various options to WAGER in.

Yes, Crypto has made its way into Gambling.

## Gambling and Crypto

In 2020, many businesses including land-based casinos saw a temporary halt to their operations due to COVID-19. During that time, online gaming and cryptocurrencies rose in popularity. The global online gaming revenue hit approximately $66 billion in 2020—an increase of $8 billion when compared to 2019. 

But this isn't a new thing- gambling and crypto have a history together.

Cloudbet Casino is a well-known crypto casino site, which has been running since 2013. They offer a nice crypto welcome promotion for new players that consists of a 100% match deposit of up to 5 BTC/BHC/ETH/PAXG, depending on the cryptocurrency in use.

MBit Casino is an online gambling venue that went live in 2014. It's a strictly crypto-only casino that supports [BTC](/coins/btc), BCH, ETH, DOGE, USDT, and LTC. So far, crypto gamers can enjoy over 900 bitcoin games, spread in multiple game categories.

## Keeping Up With Demand

Keeping up with new technology and consumer demands, cryptocurrencies offer a variety of benefits to players and operators.

It’s a lot cheaper for gaming operators to process cryptocurrency payments compared to processing payments made with fiat currencies, resulting in operators offering better bonuses and promotions on crypto gaming platforms which leads to player acquisition and retention.

Another important aspect of cryptocurrency is transparency. Eliminating fraud and ensuring fairness is a top priority for gaming operators. A safe and secure gaming platform is a very attractive component for players looking to join online casinos- and trust them.

Also, players using certain cryptocurrencies can benefit from a high level of anonymity. Cryptos such as Monero are highly preferred due to their private and anonymous nature. According to TKEY, “Crypto players using XMR \[Monero\] can be sure that no third party will get access to their personal data and know about their gains and losses.”

## Personal Data Issues

Recently the protection of personal data has become an extremely important part of many industries. So when gaming operators include cryptos such as Monero, it helps build trust between the player and operator—resulting in more business.

The crypto-gaming space still faces many hurdles such as transaction speeds, regulations, and value fluctuation. These obstacles will take time to tackle as crypto and blockchain are a new and evolving technology.

Many payment processing companies have started adding pay-in and payout support for cryptocurrencies—indicating a growing interest in digital currency in the retail, travel, and software space. Will cryptocurrencies stay pertinent for the online gaming industry?

Only time will tell. Please place your bets.

Place Your Crypto Bets!

So you’re into all things Crypto and you no doubt know about DeFi, but have you heard about GameFi?

Don’t feel left out if you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is all fairly new even to longtime HODL’ers.

Crypto games are video games that run on a cryptocurrency network and include a completely or partially distributed ledger architecture, providing players verifiable ownership over the virtual products contained in the games.

But where do the roots of this movement come from?

2003 is considered the year that in-app purchases entered online games in a really big way, from obscure role-playing games about medieval knights to virtual world Second Life, and even corporate-backed entries like Disney’s ToonTown Online.

Eventually, there had to be a huge moving force that would change the world forever- three letters that kickstart this story and lay the foundation for what we will likely be experiencing now and in the future in regards to virtual currency: WoW.

Released in 2004, World of Warcraft is arguably the most successful, massively multiplayer online role-playing game of all time, at its peak, it had upwards of ten million users in the game. The in-game currency of WoW, simply titled “Gold,” can be used for anything imaginable, from items to services with increasingly esoteric means, like food that makes your character spit fireballs.

A Side-effect of this? The line between digital and real currency begin to blur.

By the late 2000s, that line between virtual currency and fiat was one that individuals and enterprises alike were bouncing back and forth over for profit. Value could be digital. Value could be anything. And this was no longer just limited to nerdy kids. Farmville, popular with kids and parents alike, posted revenues of $235 million in the first quarter in 2010, most of which was from in-game purchases for digital goods.

Fast forward to 2021 and almost all mobile and console games including Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite have in-app purchases. Welcome to the age of GameFi.

This is no doubt moulding the youth into a generation that feels incredibly comfortable with digital currency transactions.

Axie Infinity is among the biggest—and most polarizing—of these new games, which allow players to accumulate tradeable crypto coins. To investors like billionaire Mark Cuban and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who were part of a $7.5 million funding round for Vietnamese game-maker Sky Mavis in May, it’s a gateway to crypto for people playing around the world.

Those players are banking on the success of Bitcoin and others in hopes of turning them into high-value tokens.

Other projects that include some of the most popular coins in the GameFi space: Uniswap, Chainlink, Dai, ZRX, Maker, Aave, and PancakeSwap.

This, along with the recent NFT craze will absolutely contribute to massive growth in cryptocurrency adoption.

Game on.

Latest Moni

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