The blockchain of TON continues to attract the attention of the crypto market thanks to the success of the numerous gaming projects developed on top of it.

Since the beginning of the year, the chain has recorded an increase in TVL of over 550 million dollars, driven by the appreciation of Toncoin and the expansion of the tap-to-earn narrative.

Let’s delve into this article on the best decentralized applications for locked capital and the most popular games of the moment.

TON blockchain: crypto gaming sets the rules

The narrative of crypto gaming continues to besiege the Ton blockchain, with numerous mini apps emerging every day on Telegram, attracting more and more on-chain activity.

The ease with which these games are developed, their relatively low weight, and the simplicity of access are among the factors that led to their popularity in 2024.

Think that until March of this year, the cryptographic activity on the Ton network was almost low, with few capitals settled and few exchanges between users.

In the last 6 months, however, the growth of the gaming meta on Telegram has led to a real boom on the blockchain.
At the peak of the chain’s success, the TVL exceeded 770 million dollars while the daily trading volumes in TON approached the threshold of 1.5 billion dollars.

Source: https://defillama.com/chain/TON?volume=false&developers=false&chainTokenVolume=true

The positive impact on the Ton blockchain caused by the mainstream spread of mini apps focused on gaming is also visible from the data regarding active users and transactions on the network.

In fact, if until February 2024 the 7-day average of active users on Ton was around 30,000 units, from May onwards we have not dropped below the level of 200,000.

The maximum of August 1st marks a value exceeding half a million users: a true success for a last-generation layer-1.

Even on the blockchain transactions front, the positive impact of the gaming sector is clearly noticeable. Until the end of 2023, the 7-day average of daily tx has almost never exceeded the limit of 200,000 requests.

With the advent of 2024, the numbers have increased dramatically: already from January, under the wake of the success of Notcoin, the Ton network experienced the first overload of activity.

On that occasion, the record of 7.7 million transactions was reached, with the metric remaining high up to the present day, with various bull and bear movements.

The hype phase for tap-to-earn crypto gaming continues

Among the myriad of mini gaming apps developed on the Ton blockchain, those connected to tap-to-earn practices with economic incentives draw particular attention.

The users in the crypto world are indeed constantly searching for opportunities to earn money, sometimes without wanting to invest resources to achieve the goal.

These projects allow participation in the distribution of an airdrop, simply by “clicking” on specific buttons and participating in free social tasks.

On one hand, the game gains users in record time, on the other hand, the user gains a share of the prize at stake, a true win-win for both parties.

In recent months, the engagement for this type of gaming application has reached very high levels on Ton, thanks especially to the popularity of the social media Telegram.

Ecosystem Spotlight: how @ton_blockchain is driving Web3 mass adoption and onboarded 1,000,000 users in a single day$TON is showing remarkable progress in the Web3 space, fueled by its integration with Telegram Mini App Games and impressive growth across the board.

Let’s look… pic.twitter.com/PC16MyNbgJ

— Lunar Strategy (@LunarStrategy) August 21, 2024

In particular, the tap-to-earn games that have received the most hype since February are Hamster Kombat, Notcoin, Catizen, Dejen Dog and Tapswap.

Among these, Hamster Kombat is the one that has absolutely brought the most numbers, boasting a top active user base of 200 million units.

Even Tapswap, with 56 million users, has achieved remarkable success, bringing the gaming narrative on Ton to high levels.

Catizen is currently one of the games with the most expectations, given the TGE around the corner and the 10 million users who have quickly taken the application by storm.

Honorable mention also for Dogs, which although not being a tap-to-earn, has all the characteristics of games with token incentives.

This one is about to launch its own token DOGS on all major exchanges, airdropping 73% of the supply to users who participated in the game on Telegram.

Among the exchanges preparing to list the cryptocurrency is also Binance, which for the occasion has launched a launchpool program for its customers.

The listing is scheduled for Monday, August 26.

https://twitter.com/binance/status/1825940220807618802

The best projects for TVL developed on TON

Within the Ton blockchain, we do not find only the meta of crypto gaming: the cryptographic ecosystem is continuously expanding and presents various use cases.

Not by chance, the 3 best decentralized applications of the chain for locked capital (TVL) belong to the DeFi sector and have nothing to do with Telegram games.

According to the data from DefilLama, the DEX STON.fi is currently the project that sees the most wealth in terms of value deposited on the platform.

The exchange, which allows the exchange between TON and other cryptocurrencies, has a TVL of a whopping 238 million dollars.

In second place we find another DEX, DeDust, which is close to the top seed with 219 million dollars. 

Both dapps have seen a downsizing of over 30% in the last month, reflecting the recent bear of the Toncoin currency.

Despite this, they maintain a good share of daily volumes and still present various growth opportunities. Especially in a context of infrastructural development for the Ton blockchain.

Closing the podium of the best dapps in the crypto ecosystem is Tonstakers, a liquid staking platform that offers a yield on the TON deposited by users.

In this case the TVL is 214 million dollars, decreasing by 7.7% compared to the last month of trading.  The decline is not due to user withdrawals but rather to the retracement of TON which in the same period saw a drop of more or less the same percentage points.

Among the other interesting projects to mention, we find Bemo, Cygnus Ginance, EVAA Proocol, Stakee, Storm Trade, Hipo, and Megaton Finance.

To highlight the positive momentum of Cygnus Finance and EVAA Protocol, which have brought a lot of activity to the blockchain.

Source: https://defillama.com/chain/TON?volume=false&developers=false&chainTokenVolume=true

From the latest news on the crypto gaming front, the recent collaboration between the Elympics protocol and TON Foundation stands out to support the development of web3 games.

Thanks to the support of the Telegram home grants, the interesting campaign “GameCamp Arena 2024” has been launched, in which 40 cryptographic games will participate.

A prize pool of 15,000 dollars is up for grabs. 

Let’s see all the details below.

Gaming and crypto: Elympics and TON launch the Web3 campaign “GameCamp Arena” 

The crypto protocol web3 Elympics has announced the debut of the campaign “GameCamp Arena 2024” in cooperation with TON, focused on the gaming sector.

This is a six-week online competition where participants will compete in creating web3 games integrated with Telegram and TON blockchain.

From July 29 to September 8, 2024, users will be able to take advantage of the Elympics SDK to develop new and interesting gaming solutions.

The “GameCamp” is open to game developers experienced in Unity, game designers, and graphic artists. Participants can join individually or as part of a team of up to six people. 

The various teams will be provided with informational material and technical libraries, offering guidelines and support to sustain the competition.

Elympics GameCamp Arena is going live in 9 days!

Quick recap: build competitive games on TON (using Elympics SDK). The winners will share a $15k grant pool!

Join a closed Telegram group not to miss the updates: https://t.co/sl6zIKhNtr pic.twitter.com/nEgCYvg5Hr

— Elympics (@elympics_ai) July 20, 2024

In total, the participants will have to create up to 40 different web3 games, and they will compete to share a prize pool of 15,000 dollars (plus category prizes).

It is important to emphasize that this campaign has been funded by the TON Foundation, which in addition to money will be committed to onboarding new users.

GameCamp Arena represents a great opportunity that allows developers to showcase themselves and create competitive games quickly and economically.

This initiative highlights TON’s commitment to supporting the gaming industry and underscores the great growth potential found in the world of web3 entertainment.

Regarding the upcoming launch of the campaign, Tom Kopera, COO of Elympics, stated the following:

“The social distribution power of the TON community is unmatched and tapping into this audience through our Elympics SDK, which allows default Telegram integration, offers powerful opportunities for game developers.

We want to make the creation of Web3 games as simple and accessible as possible, and therefore our GameCamp is designed to support developers in creating fantastic games using our range of tools, templates, and expert guidance to help ensure the mass adoption of Web3 through gaming.

What is the crypto web3 Elympics protocol

For those who are not familiar with this partner of the TON Foundation, we would like to point out that Elympics represents a decentralized web3 gaming protocol.

Thanks to its infrastructure, it offers a decentralized social gaming experience globally that puts the player first.

The web3 protocol was one of the first to introduce the narrative of “compete-to-earn”, fostering a culture of development over that of economic incentive.

Opens the doors to an open economy where talent and meritocracy prevail, allowing transparent earnings through zero-sum economies in games.

Elympics thanks to its efficient infrastructure and integration with TON, eliminates the barriers to entry typical of the crypto and blockchain world.

Through innovative solutions such as wallet-less onboarding, gas-free transactions, and a player profile, it manages to offer a flexible and scalable experience.

Unlike the traditional gaming sector, however, it integrates web3 technology to ensure the fairness of reward distribution for players and on-chain security.

On the developers’ front, however, they can effortlessly create a wide range of web3 games, adding “token competition” features for a more interactive gaming future.

According to what was stated by the Elympics team, the protocol will support the next wave of dapps focused on gaming, adding value and enhancing the participatory possibilities of the stakeholders.

Source: https://www.elympics.ai/

The current trends in the gaming sector and the evolution in the last 10 years

The latest initiative “GameCamp Arena 2024” advanced by TON and the crypto protocol web3 Elympics reflects the latest stage of the evolution of gaming on blockchain.

As described in a blog post of the cryptographic project, the gaming industry is highly dynamic and has observed the succession of various trends in the last 10 years.

In 2011 there was the rise of indie solutions like Minecraft and Terraria that opened the doors to substantial marketing campaigns. These games, often distributed through platforms like Steam, highlighted the role of independent developers.

More or less around the same period, the era of popularity for online multiplayer games such as League of Legends (2009) and Dota 2 (2013) began, promoting a culture of competitive spirit. From here on, the gaming sector started to attract millions of online viewers and to provide prize pools that exceed the million-dollar threshold.

The next trend was the explosion of the battle royale genre: after the initial success of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) in 2017 there was an explosion of attention for Fortnite in the same year. By 2020, Fortnite had over 350 million registered users, reaching 500 million in 2023.

Finally, we had the phase of life simulation games with solutions like The Sims 4 (2014), New Horizons (2020), and Stardew Valley (2016) which still enjoy a fair amount of success today.

Today the meta has shifted towards play-to-earn dynamics connected with web3 infrastructures, where the player is promised an economic incentive. The power of the blockchain combined with the popularity of Telegram is supporting a rapid development of the gaming industry, attracting hundreds of millions of users to TON.

Mocaverse, a metaverse funded by Animoca Brands, MOCA Foundation, and Ton Foundation, have just closed an important strategic partnership.

The alliance between the parties is driven by the goal of creating new connections and facilitating the adoption and growth of their respective cryptographic ecosystems.

At the center of this collaboration, we see exchanges of technological infrastructures, mutual purchases of tokens, and social initiatives.

All the details below.

Mocaverse: the metaverse of Animoca Brands joins forces with TON 

One of the main crypto news of today features the metaverse Mocaverse, MOCA Foundation, and TON Foundation.

These 3 projects have formed a strategic partnership to enhance their ecosystems, by combining their resources and committing to mutual expansion.

In detail, Mocaverse, an on-chain consumer network sponsored by the group Animoca Brands, will provide support for the development of a network based on decentralized identity.

By doing so, Ton Foundation and Moca Foundation will use the Mocaverse identifier (DID) Moca ID to promote a cohesive network focused on on-chain reputation.

In the midst of this collaboration, the TON Society ID resource will also be central, improving interoperability between the parties and pushing for a “cross-pollination” of users.

Moca ID and TON Society ID therefore aim to provide users with a means to express their identity and values on-chain within their respective ecosystems.

Furthermore, as part of the partnership, the metaverse Mocaberse and the two foundations TON and MOCA commit to integrating their technological infrastructures.

In fact, the flagship interoperable product SDK of Mocaverse Real Network, and the Telegram Mini App Platform are becoming accessible products for all 3 communities.

In accordance with the long-term strategic objectives of the respective foundations, the agreement provides for the integration of social gaming products and IP experiences.

To support the onboarding of new users, the projects also plan to launch a hackathon co-branded and a community accelerator for talented developers.

The three parties agree to use their reasonable efforts to present new decentralized novelties to investors within their respective networks for investments.

Token exchange and growth opportunity for all 3 communities

The collaboration between the metaverse Mocaverse, MOCA Foundation, and TON Foundation also includes a strategic exchange of tokens.

According to the agreement, 20 million dollars worth of MOCA and TON cryptocurrencies are made available by the respective ecosystems.

In this way, cross-pollination of users is encouraged, including joint airdrop through The Open League of TON and the PointFi platform of Moca Network.

Thanks especially to this type of economic incentives, the platforms manage to secure a customer base and can aim to expand their stages. 

Cryptographic developers will also have a special opportunity for cohesion, where they can brainstorm ideas and collaborate on new common projects.

We are excited to announce our strategic partnership with @ton_blockchain to grow the interoperable consumer network. Together, we are driving true consumer crypto adoption!

900M + 700M = 1.6 Billion+ Addressable Users
With Moca Network’s 700m+ addressable users, this… pic.twitter.com/gIGugmlxwF

— Mocaverse (@Moca_Network) July 22, 2024

The partnership sees Mocaverse play a central role, as the executive arm to meet the strategic objectives of the MOCA and TON foundations.

More closely we can state how the metaverse portfolio of Animoca Brands, which consists of over 450 companies, will be integrated with the TON blockchain.

Thus, this broad ecosystem will provide the consumer level of content focused on culture and entertainment to the TON ecosystem.

On the other hand, this latter guarantees a base of over 900 million active users through the official Web3 infrastructure of Telegram Messenger.

To address the various challenges and common objectives of Mocaverse, MOCA Foundation and TON Foundation will establish a steering committee. The task will be to guide partnership initiatives and develop further areas of collaboration for combined growth.

The comments of the Mocaverse, MOCA, and TON representatives

There is certainly no shortage of comments from members of the MOCA, TON groups, as well as those from the president of Animoca Brands who supports the Mocaberse metaverse.

Starting from the latter, we report the words of the visionary Yat Siu, who has been managing the gaming software company and the affiliated venture company since 2014.

“The collaboration between Mocaverse, TON Foundation, and MOCA Foundation is an exciting milestone in our shared mission of mass adoption of Web3 and the advancement of digital property rights. The unique partnership between Telegram and TON Foundation and the collaboration unveiled today offer an opportunity to bring Moca ID and Realm Network SDK to Telegram’s 900 million users, which we believe could exponentially amplify all our respective network effects”.

At home, TON instead took the floor Steve Yun, president of the board of the Toncoin Foundation, who commented as follows:

“The vision of freedom of interaction of TON strategically aligns with Animoca Brands’ focus on digital property rights. This partnership validates that TON has become the platform of choice for games and social apps. The reputation system we co-create will become a powerful opt-in platform through which users can express their identity and values on-chain. We are excited to take a bull leap with Animoca Brands towards the widespread adoption of blockchain applications”.

It is clear that everyone agrees that the collaboration will offer important connections and new opportunities across different horizons, creating a positive impact for all 3 crypto ecosystems.

Very important in this regard is also the comment by Manuel Stotz, member of the TON Foundation board and founder and managing partner of Kingsway Capital, which reads:

“The partnership between Animoca Brands and the TON Foundation brings together the two main players in Web3 content, community, and distribution that, in this combination, will drive unparalleled scalability and value creation opportunities in blockchain gaming and beyond”.

Airdrop of the Mocaverse metaverse: analysis of the MOCA token

As mentioned, the partnership between the Mocaverse metaverse, and the MOCA and TON foundations, will also feature the upcoming crypto airdrops that will be released by the respective ecosystems.

Speaking of airdrop, we cannot fail to mention the one from MOCA (Mocaverse token) that arrived on the market on July 11, 2024.

The project offered an amount equal to 10% of the total supply of MOCA to the holders of Moca NFT as a form of contribution for support in the initial phases of the platform.

Those who received the airdrop can claim their prize until August 10, with ⅓ of the allocation unlocked at the TGE. The remaining portion of the reward will be unlocked in a linear vesting over 52 weeks, with a 3-month cliff (second claim date October 11).

Also for the possessori di Moca ID, an element of decentralized identity of Mocaverse, a share of the airdrop is planned.

On the day of the TGE of MOCA and the listing on major exchanges, the crypto reached a maximum price of 12.5 dollars. The following day it briefly continued the bull phase, growing up to 13.2 dollars, before starting a retracement phase.

From the top to the prices of Saturday, July 20, MOCA has lost 43% of its value with a price dynamic typical of airdrop launches.

After an initial phase of FOMO, the selling pressure started to be felt, pushing the quotations downwards.

After today’s partnership announcement, however, MOCA recorded a 25% pump in just a few minutes, only to retrace slightly. The agreement with the TON ecosystem and the expansion possibilities with Telegram have led investors to appreciate the cryptocurrency more.
We will see in the coming days how it reacts to the news and if it manages to reach new highs. At the moment, MOCA’s market capitalization is just 80 million dollars.