Bitcoin broke its all-time high (ATH) and finally cut through $100,000 like a hot knife through butter as Trump appointed Paul Atkins to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC).
TL;DR
- Bitcoin smashes $100K as new head of SEC is seen as pro-crypto
- GameFi is on a moon mission
- Dino season is underway with The Sandbox and Gala performing well
- Off The Grid joins Xbox Game Preview
- Illuvium and G-SHOCK launch an NFT collection
Introduction
Bitcoin broke its all-time high (ATH) and finally cut through $100,000 like a hot knife through butter as Trump appointed Paul Atkins to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a nomination viewed favorably by the crypto industry. What a time to be alive!
We should not forget, however, that Gary Gensler used to be pro-crypto as well—he even taught blockchain classes. So let’s not get too optimistic too soon.
Some heavyweights are back in Web3 gaming news this week, like Illuvium and G-SHOCK, and Off The Grid joining Xbox. Slowly, then all at once!
Market Overview
GameFi is on fire as the overall Web3 gaming market cap soared by 22%, from just under $26 billion to almost $32 billion over the last seven days.
Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call an up-only chart.
The yearly ATH is not that far away. We are so back!
Source: CMC
According to DeFiLlama’s Narrative Tracker, GameFi was only ranked eighth this week but still outperformed the crypto majors, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana. This could be as investors start to look further up the risk curve. High risk, high reward.
Top Coin Movements
Web3 gaming OG dino coins like The Sandbox, Decentraland, Immutable and Gala continue to shine as dino season is underway across the crypto market. All of the top 20 Gamefi tokens, except WEMIX, are up in the last seven days.
Source: CMC
Top Gainers:
- Kadena (KDA): +61.53
- The Sandbox (SAND): +60.68%
- Gala (GALA): +58.88%
- ApeCoin (APE): +57.97%
- MultiversX (EGLI): +51.23%
Top Decliners:
- WEMIX (WEMIX): -0.68%
Blockchain Gaming Activity This Week
It’s not only Web3 games that struggle to survive; even AAA traditional games get rekt.
- Age of Dino’s UAW soars 41.32% as the Dinosaur Squad emerges as Earth's last hope for survival.
- World or Dypians surges by 32.35 while they reach 600,000 subscribers on YouTube.
- SERAPH: In The Darkness is up 26.79% as the world's first high-quality Web3 dark ARPG loot game.
- Wild Forest rises 17.59% on the way to their Token Generation Event (TGE).
- The Treasure Ship game does well with 7.75%. It’s a play-to-earn game where strategy meets rewards.
- Pixels is up 0.72% as they partner with Kaidro. Now you'll be able to use your Kaidro Pilot NFTs as skins in @pixels_online.
Latest Blockchain Gaming News
Ubisoft’s Captain Laserhawk
The G.A.M.E. is a Web3-powered interactive experience on the Arbitrum blockchain. Inspired by the Netflix series, it blends Ubisoft franchises like Rayman and Assassin’s Creed.
A free mint for 10,000 dynamic Niji Warrior ID NFTs launches on Dec. 11, 2024, offering perks like voting power, exclusive content, customizable NFTs, and VIP rewards.
Source: ME
Hosted on Magic Eden, the mint aims to enhance community-driven gaming while making blockchain gaming accessible. NFTs will reveal their traits between Dec. 16 and 20.
Illuvium and G-Shock
Illuvium has partnered with G-SHOCK to launch a collection of Illuvitars with G-SHOCK-inspired designs. From Dec. 9-22, fans can buy D1SK NFTs, and purchasing 20+ earns a physical Illuvium-themed G-SHOCK watch.
This collaboration bridges Illuvium’s NFT universe with real-world collectibles, while G-SHOCK explores blockchain tech. Meanwhile, Illuvium’s Arena and Overworld received gameplay updates and balance tweaks in recent patches.
Xai Unveils Tiny Sentry Keys
The XAI Foundation has introduced Tiny Sentry Keys, a new addition to its Sentry Key ecosystem for blockchain gaming. These keys offer access to rewards, perks and community engagement across XAI's 12 active games and 2,000+ projects in development.
With over 9 million connected wallets and 1 billion transactions, XAI is solidifying its role as a major player in Web3 gaming.
Additionally, a 3-million Sentry Key airdrop for current holders reflects XAI’s commitment to rewarding its community.
Portal Launches Hub and Wallet
Portal made the headlines with its PORTAL token launch earlier this year and is now launching its Portal Wallet and Portal Hub. The wallet supports 20 EVM chains, aiming to address interoperability challenges in Web3 gaming.
The Portal Hub plans to curate over 200 games. While the token peaked with a $561.6M market cap, it has since declined to $70M.
Open Season Burns
OpenSeason, a Fortnite-style crypto game, hosted a 12-hour competition promising $350K in Ethereum-based tokens but burned the rewards instead, calling it a stunt to mock expectations for free money and flawed tokenomics.
Developers plan to burn 82% of their FU Money tokens, aiming to fix over-allocation issues and boost the token's appeal. Chaos erupted in their Discord, but the devs found the reactions "funny" and were unapologetic about alienating community members.
A consolation NFT ("Shitty Bean") will be issued to participants, with more huge token burns coming soon.
What You Can Do Now
- Focus on quality over hype: look out for games people play for fun rather than just to earn.
- Check for real utility and in-game integration: projects where tokens and NFTs have multiple use cases within the game such as staking, upgrades, and crafting, tend to be more sustainable.
- Evaluate team experience and transparency: teams with a proven track record in gaming or blockchain are more likely to deliver.
- Assess community activity and growth: high player retention and active communities (Discord, Twitter, Reddit) show that a game can attract and keep players.
- Check out the games and studios VCs are investing in to catch 2025’s gaming trends early.
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