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5 Top Coins That May Gain from Play to Earn

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By , Updated On January 11, 2022

Price discovery for digital assets is a mixed bag. The factors that boost the price of Bitcoin (BTC) or another digital coin or token are specific to both groups of assets and some individual tickers. 

The price movements in the past year saw a new crop of coins and tokens arise, while older assets were either forgotten or tried to reinvent their business model. The rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) opened a new source of price discovery. The creation of games with blockchain features and tokenized collectibles also meant some networks had an advantage. 

The model where a game would create a reward token, such as Smooth Love Potion (SLP) required an accessible wallet, low fees, and reliable transactions that will not get stuck for a lack of funds.

We chose the top 5 networks and tokens that could benefit from the play-to-earn trend in the coming year. 

 

Coins That May Gain from Play to Earn

 

  • Terra (LUNA) Benefits from the Financial Side of Play to Earn

The biggest advantage of LUNA is that its market price gets supported as more of the tokens are locked in for staking. Terra USD (UST) now has a market cap of $10.6B, as token issuance accelerated and went vertical in the last quarter of the year. 

Terra Money got some of its first play-to-earn games such as XYZ just at the end of 2021. The Terra network, however, has been used longer to create and distribute NFT collections, which can easily become the basis for playable characters.

 

  • Binance Coin (BNB) Supporting Binance Smart Chain

BNB is the native asset of Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain. The token helps the growth of the BSC ecosystem, one of the most active in terms of new token mints, NFT creation, and the building of decentralized projects. 

BNB is yet to recover its peak price above $670. There are expectations in a long bull market, BNB may attempt to break the $1,000 barrier. Toward the end of 2021, BNB easily held its gains above $530, performing a 10X growth over the previous 12 months. 

BNB is valuable, as holding the asset can give access to early buying for new projects. There are almost daily offerings of new play-to-earn games on the blockchain. But Binance Launchpad often offers special lucky boxes and early access to hand-picked projects and games. The Sandbox and Alien Worlds were among the top offerings on Binance Launchpad.

 

  • Avalanche (AVAX): Faster Network for Game Speeds

Avalanche is the network chosen to rebuild versions of DeFi projects or gamified finance. Avalanche offers greater speed and lower fees, making it ideal for play-to-earn uses. 

AVAX also has the makings of a cyclical coin, which gained prominence alongside Solana (SOL). AVAX is a novelty that reached close to the top of assets in terms of market capitalization. 

Avalanche is one of the chosen networks for CryptoBlades, one of the better-known play-to-earn games. The network already carries multiple NFT collections and small-scale games. 

The Avalanche network also holds more than $11.6B in value, which can further prop up the earning potential of games. The staking of AVAX and the locked-up liquidity pairs mean new games can find valuations for their items and their native tokens. 

AVAX is a well-traded asset with wide exchange representation and social media mentions. Adding the play-to-earn trend may help the asset stay above $100, regain its previous peak above $130 and even re-enter price discovery to new highs.

 

  • Polygon (MATIC): The Hub to Limit ETH Costs

The Polygon network was the first to invite bridging over Ethereum tokens. Bridges are specific smart contracts that allow the two-direction transfer of tokens between networks. Once on the new network, those tokens and NFTs could exist and move with much lower fees. MATIC fees would be significantly lower, as even listing a CryptoKittie would require ETH fees above $100. 

MATIC has a relatively low per-unit price of $2.48, after peaking at $2.87 toward the end of 2021. The asset has not reached the high valuations of AVAX or SOL, despite expectations of going above $10 during the latest bull run. 

Just like with Avalanche, CryptoBlades now has a version of Polygon. Using MATIC directly, it is possible to start playing to earn games with a smaller initial investment. The Polygon network has seen a 1,000 times increase in active addresses in the past 12 months, signaling its approach continues to attract users and the price of MATIC may benefit in the coming months.

 

  • Fantom (FTM): A New Contender to Make it Big?

FTM managed a rally of its own in 2021, starting off at $0.013 at the start of the year, and peaking above $3.60. FTM has roughly more than 10 times the supply of SOL and may not rely on scarcity for its rallies. 

But this network seems to be following a similar trajectory of adding value, while potentially attracting new projects to build open finance applications and play-to-earn games.

The Fantom ecosystem holds about 200 projects toward the end of the year, of which a dozen are dedicated to metaverse and gaming. With a relatively low per-unit price, FTM is also suitable for an easier launch of NFT collections. FTM is out of the spotlight compared to larger projects but has shown similar factors of expanding locked-in value and project building. 

The value locked on Fantom is still about $5.3B equivalent, still not catching up with bigger networks. That value may vary based on market conditions, but the past year saw a trend of mostly keeping the balance of staked or locked coins.

Choosing digital assets for their potential is risky. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Game reviews are not investment advice. To avoid technical errors or scams, do your due diligence and only invest funds you can afford to lose.