Blockchain Games Thrive as Crypto Markets Dive
Blockchain games continue to thrive despite cryptocurrency prices crashing over the past week. More than 1.3 million active wallets connected to a blockchain game as markets went red, showing a clear appetite for play-to-earn games and testament to the utility now offered to blockchain and Web3 users.
Splinterlands barely reacted to the crash and withheld its impressive weekly number of almost half a million wallets connected, even increasing slightly. Alien Worlds has seen a 14% surge in activity, while Wax blockchain farming game Farmers World saw more than 166,000 active wallets in the previous seven days.
Upland and Mobox saw slight dips in activity, but nothing to be concerned about, and overall, all games maintained good performances while BTC and ETH lost almost 50% of their value from November highs.
What about DeFi activity?
Two DeFi dapps stand out in the list, but this is where the nuance of understanding dapp categories matters most. DeFi dapps are where most of the value of investors was locked up or stored when markets turned red. A rising number of wallets connecting around the same time as prices started tumbling can indicate a few things. Firstly, all those wallets headed to the platform to withdraw their funds from various positions and try to save as much value as possible. Alternatively, they could swap their holdings to a stablecoin such as USDC.
On the flip side, investors with an eye for risky trades amidst turbulent times could jump in to make the most of arbitrage and broader opportunities. However, it’s safe to say that opportunists would be the minority, and people trying to save value would be the majority. Therefore, it’s best to let the dust settle before analyzing DeFi dapps more closely to assess the money flow better.
Gaming thrives on low-fee blockchains
It is also interesting to see which blockchains the most used dapps are running on. A look down the list reveals that Ethereum is nowhere to be found. Instead, Wax, BNB Chain, and Solana dominate when it comes to users. All these blockchains are cheaper and faster than Ethereum and have become home to some of the most used dapp games in the industry. Now, as we enter the bear market, those same dapps continue to drive blockchain usage and keep the outlook for decentralized applications positive.
The latest April DappRadar Industry Report indicates that blockchain games drive more than 50% of blockchain application usage. Amidst the recent price slump, it had been expected that dapp usage might also falter. Instead, we see the opposite. As token holders hunker down and prepare for the crypto winter ahead, they have a raft of games, and social and fitness applications to explore. There is arguably more utility than ever for token holders. Unlike in 2018, users are now more prepared, more educated, more resilient, and, more importantly, more confident than ever that blockchain and cryptocurrencies are here to stay.
