Author: Amri Ahmad

What Are NFTs?: Explained
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are taking the art and gaming worlds by storm. Digital artists and gamers are seeing their lives change thanks to new communities and methods of earning and selling. Celebrities are joining in as well as they recognize a new opportunity to connect with fans.

From fine art and music to cats and rocks, these digital assets have exploded within blockchain news, some selling for millions of dollars. Some experts claim that NFTs are changing the landscape of investing forever, while others are convinced they’re a bubble poised to pop any day now.

NFTs have certainly been causing a splash and controversial debates – but what are they exactly?

What is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT)?

NFTs are tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. They let us tokenize things like art, collectibles, even real estate.

In economics, a fungible asset is something that can be readily interchanged – like money. They can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties. For example, you can swap a $100 note for five $20 notes and it will have the same value.

If something is non-fungible, it means it has unique properties so it can’t be interchanged with something else or divided into smaller units. It could be a house, or a painting such as the Mona Lisa, which is one of a kind. You can take a photo of the painting or buy a print, but there will only ever be one original painting.

In the same way, NFTs are scarce digital assets with distinctive characteristics, making them difficult to swap for another similar asset because it will likely not have the same value. Therefore, digital tokens can be thought of as certificates of ownership for virtual or physical assets.

How do NFTs Work?

NFTs exist on a blockchain, which is a distributed public ledger that records transactions and is maintained by thousands of interconnected computers around the world. The blockchain’s advanced encryption and peer-to-peer network secures the proof of ownership of NFTs, ensuring that no one can modify the record of ownership or copy and paste a new NFT into existence.

To create an NFT, it has to be “minted” from digital objects that can represent both tangible and intangible items, including:
- Art
- GIFs
- Videos
- Collectibles
- Music
- Virtual avatars and video game skins
- Designer sneakers
- Tickets to a real world event
- Deeds to a car
- Legal documents
Even tweets can be an NFT. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sold his first ever tweet as an NFT for more than $2.9 million.

Ownership is managed through the uniqueID and metadata that no other token can replicate. NFTs are minted through smart contracts that assign ownership and manage the transferability of the NFTs. When someone creates or mints an NFT, they execute code stored in smart contracts that conform to different standards from regular tokens.

The owner or creator can also store specific information inside them. For instance, artists can sign their artwork by including their signature in an NFT’s metadata. NFTs can also contain smart contracts that may give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.

Examples of NFTs

The NFT world is relatively new. In theory, the scope for NFTs could be anything that is unique or requires proof of ownership. Here are some examples of NFTs that exist today:
How and Where to Buy NFTs?

If you are keen to start your own NFT collection, you will need to acquire some key items. First, you will need to get a digital wallet that allows you to store NFTs and cryptocurrencies.

You will likely need to purchase some cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or Binance Coin (BNB), depending on what currencies your NFT provider accepts. You can buy crypto using exchange platforms and then you will be able to move the funds to your wallet of choice.

You will want to keep fees in mind as you research options. Most exchanges charge at least a percentage of your transaction when you buy crypto. Different NFT providers also have different gas fees which are fees you need to pay when you make an NFT purchase.

Once you’ve got your wallet set up and funded, there’s no shortage of NFT sites to shop. Currently, the largest NFT marketplaces are:
- OpenSea – the original peer-to-peer NFT marketplace, and the largest. Offers NFTs of everything from in-game items and collectibles, to artwork, music, GIFs, and more. To get started, all you need to do is create an account to browse NFT collections. You can also sort pieces by sales volume to discover new artists.
- Rarible – one of the leading NFT marketplaces on Ethereum, Rarible is a community-owned platform that showcases a wide range of digital art and collectibles. Similar to OpenSea, you can buy and sell all sorts of media. Sellers also have the option to create more than one NFT for a single image, selling it more than once.
- Axie Marketplace – NFT-powered video game Axie Infinity plays host to the second-largest NFT marketplace. It trades exclusively in Axies, which are cute, Pokémon-like digital pets which players can buy and trade on the Axie Marketplace. Unlike art NFTs, which are collected for collecting’s sake, Axie Infinity’s NFTs have a purpose: you can use them in-game to battle against monsters and other players, earning tokens that can be put towards breeding new creatures.
- CryptoPunks/Larva Labs – One of the most popular NFT collectibles on the Ethereum network, CryptoPunks is a series of 10,000 randomly generated characters with a pixel art aesthetic and unique attributes. CryptoPunks can be purchased at creator Larva Labs’ marketplace, where the majority of sales take place.
- BakerySwap – BakerySwap is one of the first to be launched on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). The NFT marketplace makes up one section of the platform, which also allows users to trade and swap liquidity assets directly with each other.
- Enjin Marketplace is the ideal choice for Enjin-based NFTs. The Enjin Wallet can help in listing and purchasing gaming collectibles and items easily. The marketplace offers game item collections, community-backed collectibles, and gamified reward programs.
- Foundation – Foundation bills itself as a “creative playground” for artists. It’s played host to a number of notable sales, including the NFT of iconic Internet meme Nyan Cat, Edward Snowden’s first NFT and an audiovisual digital collectible created by producer Richard D. James, better known as Aphex Twin. Foundation’s marketplace is simple to operate, letting you place bids on timed auctions just like you would with a regular auction site.
- KnownOrigin – KnownOrigin has a much smaller all-time trading volume because it aims to provide a more curated, gallery-like experience for the discerning NFT connoisseur. All of its artwork files are held on IPFS, which provides a measure of protection for the underlying assets. With a strong focus on digital art, this is a marketplace that shuns the crazier aspects of the NFT world, so you’ll find no wacky avatars or cute monsters here.
Gaming Potential of NFTs

NFTs have seen a lot of interest from game developers. NFTs can provide records of ownership for in-game items, fuel in-game economies, and bring a host of benefits to the players.

In a lot of regular games you can buy items for you to use in your game. But if that item was an NFT you could recoup your money by selling it on when you’re done with the game. You might even make a profit if that item becomes more desirable.

For game developers – as issuers of the NFT – they could earn a royalty every time an item is resold in the open marketplace. This creates a more mutually-beneficial business model where both players and developers earn from the secondary NFT market.

NFTs also make it possible so that if a game is no longer maintained by the developers, the items you’ve collected remain yours. In-game items can outlive the games themselves so even if a game is no longer maintained, your items will always be under your control. This means in-game items become digital memorabilia and have a value outside of the game.

Decentraland, a virtual reality game, even lets you buy NFTs representing virtual parcels of land that you can use as you see fit.

Is it Profitable to Invest in NFTs?

NFTs are speculative assets. Because they are new and have limited historical performance that you can use to judge them, they are a risky investment. However, you can’t dismiss them either because you can purchase them in small amounts.

Investing in NFT assets is purely a personal decision. One person might choose to buy NFTs because they have money to spare. Another one may buy a piece because it holds meaning for them. The value for NFT assets is not fixed or driven by technical, fundamental or economic indicators that usually influence the stock prices; instead, it is determined by what buyers are willing to pay for it. As a result, an NFT holder might be forced to resell it at a lower price than what they paid for it.

However, NFT assets also have the potential for mind-boggling gains depending on the traction and value the asset is able to obtain over time. When the collectible series CryptoPunks were initially released, you could obtain one for free. Today, one CryptoPunk can sell for millions of dollars.

NFTs also seem to be here to stay, as traditional industries are starting to appreciate the value of NFTs. For example, renowned auction house Sotheby’s has created their Sotheby’s Metaverse where NFT artwork is being auctioned- with bidding on some items exceeding 1 million USD for some works.

CryptoPunks, created by Larvalabs is also seen by many in the NFT space as a “sure win”. Top CryptoPunks NFTs have been sold for nearly US$8mil, and 1000s of CryptoPunks are still being offered for sale.

Top CryptoPunks NFTs sold (Image credit: Larvalabs)

Controversies Surrounding NFTs: Are NFTs Bad For The Environment?

While a lot of money is circulating in the NFT market, there is some controversy linked to these trendy digital collectibles especially pertaining to the environment – particularly in terms of contributing to climate change.

Making NFTs requires a significant amount of energy, and protesters are extremely worried about the huge effects of this craze on the environment. The creation of some of these NFTs is consuming as high as 192 kWh.

While artists have promised to make carbon-neutral artwork, the cryptocurrency systems will not allow the verification of such promises. For instance, Bitcoin, Ethereum and others are founded on a proof-of-work system that makes the users’ financial records secure, which still consumes a lot of energy as well.

The impact on the climate is actually what is holding back many brands from joining the NFT bandwagon. However, companies and individuals are expanding their revenue streams, so these NFT controversies will not last forever. Also, the art and design community is hungry for NFTs that are changing hands at astronomical amounts of money. The initial intent for creating NFTs was to give artists the opportunity to assert digital ownership of their art; however, the fact they are becoming more elitist is creating tension.

The buy-in fees for NFTs are prohibitive for many people, and the price of a single art piece is extremely high, causing the public to rate the marketplace as a playground for the superrich investors. It also makes the majority of the artists feel disadvantaged, yet this sphere was created for them to have more control of their work.

Conclusion

It’s difficult for some to wrap their minds around the concept of NFTs, but that’s understandable. Why would someone spend millions of dollars on something they can’t even touch? Well, think of it this way: The same way art collectors wouldn’t mind giving up an arm and a leg for a one-of-a-kind Picasso painting, there are virtual art lovers who see the true value in owning the original source of a scarce, culturally-relevant digital asset.

Whether or not NFTs are here to stay, they have certainly become a new plaything for art and crypto enthusiasts alike, and there is real money to be made if you can make it happen. NFTs gives new meaning to digital art and blockchain adoption, and the prices seen at sale indicate it is a real part of the future of art, and collectibles in general.

That said, approach NFTs just like you would any investment: Do your research, understand the risks—including that you might lose all of your investing dollars—and if you decide to take the plunge, proceed with a healthy dose of caution.

Sources:

https://ethereum.org/en/nft/

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56371912

https://www.creativebloq.com/features/what-are-nfts

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/nft-non-fungible-token/

https://decrypt.co/80595/best-nft-marketplaces

https://www.one37pm.com/nft/finance/best-nft-marketplace

https://www.laptopmag.com/features/what-are-nfts

https://startup.info/everything-you-need-to-know-about-nft-assets/
November 7, 2021
Top NFT Games in 2021: Ranked

The introduction of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) has continued to prove time and time again that they have the ability to transform the gaming industry as we know it. The emergence of NFTs brings about a new and exciting era in which gamers take on even more critical roles in the gaming economy and receive lucrative rewards in the process.

This gaming paradigm is beginning to take shape as game developers are progressively adopting blockchain technology to produce more immersive gaming experiences. In this guide, we will go through some of the top NFT games introduced this year.

But before diving in, let’s first discuss the basics of an NFT-based game.

What Are NFT Games?

NFT games combine conventional gaming features with novel gameplay mechanisms to provide players more control over in-game assets such as skins, characters, weapons, virtual lands, and much more. This is made possible by launching games on blockchains and anchoring them in economies powered by digital assets. These digital assets are often NFTs so that they are distinctive and tamper-proof.

The adoption of NFT token standards have allowed game developers to preserve the rarity and uniqueness of some of these in-game items. This is why some blockchain game assets are considered more expensive than others.

With the NFT system in place, the players can claim ownership of game assets through 3 main strategies. They can create or breed new characters, purchase digital items on native or third-party marketplaces, or unlock and earn new items. Regardless of how the player chooses to access these game assets, they have exclusive ownership rights over them. The player may then distribute or sell these assets and keep all the profits.

What Are the Top NFT Games in 2021?

Like all emerging and established sectors, certain platforms have positioned themselves at the top of the NFT gaming world. These games are at the forefront of the current NFT craze because they have successfully integrated NFTs with popular game themes. As a result, players get to enjoy some of their favourite game genres and at the same time engage with a profitable NFT market.

Without further ado, here are some of the top NFT games in 2021.

1. Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity takes inspiration from the Pokemon game franchise and adds a blockchain twist to make the final product even more interesting. Players breed and gather NFT-based digital creatures called Axies in this Ethereum-based game with the primary goal of combating other players.

Each Axie has its own unique genetic fingerprint. As a result, the strengths and shortcomings of Axies are handed down to their descendants. These digital creatures can be traded on Ethereum NFT markets, with prices varying depending on their rarity and distinctive characteristics. To begin playing the game, players have to purchase 3 Axies.

Smooth Love Potion ($SLP) — the platform’s native ERC-20 utility token – is awarded for each mission, player-versus-player (PvP) fight, and adventure mode that the player completes. Players pay a certain amount of $SLP for each attempt to breed a new Axie. $SLP can also be bought through exchanges.

Another ERC-20 token native to Axie Infinity is Axis Infinity Shard ($AXS), which functions as the platform’s governance token. It will anchor the game’s staking service scheduled to go live at some point in 2021.

2. MetaWars

MetaWars is a futuristic sci-fi multiplayer strategy and roleplaying game in space that allows players to monetize and earn from the game’s war economy. Players can immerse themselves in realistic space exploration through the vast MetaWars galaxy that is constantly evolving and shifting from the collective actions of every player.

MetaWars enables cooperation with other players to discover and revolutionize different galaxies through missions while earning NFTs and collecting limited edition robots through various auctions. Players can stake and complete challenges to earn $WARS tokens, the in-game and governance token.

The gameplay also allows players to widen their army with unique ships, classes, and various optimization options. Players can combine modules, weapons, devices and equip perks, helping their characters level up their strength, rank up and receive amazing rewards across the metaverse.

Learn more about MetaWars in our article MetaWars ($WARS, $GAM): NFT Gaming in Space.

3. Splinterlands

Splinterlands is a tradable card game that lets users earn as they play, similar to Gods Unchained. Players can earn rewards when they win card matches.

To begin playing Splinterlands, you must first purchase a starting pack of cards, create a Steem account, and then reveal the purchased cards in the game.

You could be lucky and get rare cards in your first set of bought cards in some situations. You could also come across multiples of the same sort of card. If that’s the case, you can combine identical cards to increase their strength or sell one of them in exchange for cryptocurrency.

After you’ve become comfortable with the cards, you may go on to combat other players or take part in missions. The outcome of these actions will influence whether or not you earn more cards.

4. The Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms is a strategic third-generation NFT game that is based on the historical characters of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. The play-to-earn game is the first to incorporate the idea of battling and besieging cities through staking, complete with a deep and engaging storyline, providing a breath of fresh air to the blockchain gaming landscape.

The team behind The Three Kingdoms set out to build an NFT game that features multiple methods never seen before in the blockchain gaming market to earn tokens. $TTK is the game’s native token, used to purchase new characters in the NFT marketplace, upgrade armies, and invest in land. It can also be staked to farm more valuable NFTs.

$TTK will also be needed to acquire $CHI, the secondary in-game token. Inspired by the actual use of Chi in Chinese history as the energy that runs through all living things, players will be able to convert $TTK to $CHI through the mastering of energy. Some future uses of $CHI include the ability to besiege cities, battle other players and even fuse new heroes.

Read more about it in our article The Three Kingdoms: The New Era of GameFi.

5. Gods Unchained

Gods Unchained is a free-to-play game designed to infuse elements of NFT into a familiar card trading gaming genre. Players accumulate cards by purchasing them from other players or winning PvP matchups where the quality of cards and the gaming skill of players often determine the winner. Notably, more emphasis is being placed on skills and strategy. This is because the game utilizes a ranked game mode where players with the same ratings are matched.

You win matches when your gameplay causes your opponent’s life to drop to zero before yours. For every win, you receive experience points. As soon as the experience bar is filled up, you will move to the next rating or level and receive a new pack of cards to add to your collection.

Note that each card is backed by an ERC-721 token. Therefore, you can trade them on the platform’s native marketplace or the open market. Those opting to sell cards within the game ecosystem will receive the platform’s native token, $GODS, as payment.

It is worth noting that the $GODS token has not been officially launched at the time of writing. Be sure to confirm that the development team has released GODS tokens to the crypto market before proceeding to purchase or receive any token marketed as GODS tokens.

6. The Sandbox 3D

The Sandbox is a voxel-based game metaverse and one of the most popular NFT gaming platforms for creating and trading virtual assets. Players may modify and monetize voxel objects in this game.

Consider it a blockchain-based version of popular games like Minecraft and Roblox. The platforms provide tools for creating and animating objects, which can then be sold on markets. On the platform, users can also develop and play their own games.

$SAND, an ERC-20 coin, has been presented as the metaverse’s native token by Sandbox 3D. Players may use this to buy in-game products from the platform’s marketplace. There are also $LAND tokens, which are NFT tokens that are among the most valuable and sought-after assets in the Sandbox game.

7. Battle Racers

Battle Racers is inspired by popular games such as Super Mario Kart and F-Zero, as its name suggests. The goal of the game is to mix various weaponry and equipment to build the most powerful vehicles possible. Players may mix and match various components and weaponry to get an edge on the arcade-style circuits. You may register your treasured or winning automobiles as NFTs on the blockchain and then sell them for cryptocurrency on OpenSea.

Each player aims to build the ultimate automobile by prioritizing various talents and attributes. You could choose handling over speed or defense over firepower, all in the hopes of emerging victorious.

8. Cryptosnake

The gameplay of Cryptosnake is really easy. It’s based on the old-school snake game. Cryptocurrencies on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain provide food for your snake. The more you consume, the higher your pet’s stats will be. You may also use fiat to level up your snake, which will allow you to earn even more money in the future.

If the snake doesn’t make you nostalgic, the gameplay may appear monotonous. On the other hand, you spend less time on in-game activities that aren’t essential and instead earn more consistently.

9. Gold Fever

Gold Fever is a jungle-themed role-playing game where players choose a character and try to outplay other players for a chance of mining gold in the form of the game’s native token, $NGL. Players also go about collecting limited NFT-based items like clothes, weapons and other supplies.

Similar to the workings of most NFT games, Gold Fever tries to enable blockchain-initiated scarcity for its in-game assets. You can pick any of the main characters of the game and play your part in the formation of a fiercely contested gold economy.

Note that the in-app game items are tradable on marketplaces. Therefore, you can exchange $NGL earned for fiat or cryptocurrencies on exchanges or earn by trading collectibles on NFT marketplaces.

10. Neon District

Neon District is a cyberpunk role-playing game (RPG) that allows users to collect characters, gears and crafts. All of the game objects are blockchain components and almost everything may be purchased or sold. As is usually the case, the price is determined by supply and demand.

The goal is to build a team and compete against other players in missions or real-time combats. One multiplayer competitive game mode, called Neon Pizza, in particular, pitches players against each other for the chance of earning the platform’s native token – $Neon, as well as gears, parts and so on.

All you need to do is send your characters on pizza delivery runs to feed hungry citizens. You can also take up a more villainous strategy by ambushing the pizza delivery team of other players and stealing their earnings.

$Neon earnings can be used to purchase characters, weapons, parts, armors, juice, and other in-game items required to upgrade characters. The tokens are now NFTs that are linked to the blockchain, but they cannot yet be traded on a genuine cryptocurrency exchange.

Conclusion

NFT games are not tough to master as they make use of popular gaming genres, with the added combination of blockchain features that are ideal for establishing rarity and uniqueness. With the raging popularity of NFT games, more and more people are starting to realize that it is possible to make a decent profit from these games.

These games are also highly entertaining and have made great strides for the understanding and adoption of blockchain. It is exciting to see the next big game that will emerge and where the industry will go from here.

October 20, 2021
The Three Kingdoms: The New Era of GameFi

Ever wanted to be your own hero in ancient China and earn cryptocurrencies while you’re at it? Well, now you can. The Three Kingdoms is a highly strategic third-generation GameFi (blockchain game finance) that is based on the historical characters of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China.

The play-to-earn metaverse allows players to immerse themselves in a gaming experience enriched with extensive history, well-developed characters, progression gameplay and more. Prepare your heroes for battle, siege cities, and win battles to expand your own land.

Learn more about The Three Kingdoms (TTK):

URGENT: Next BIGGEST NFT Game REVEALED

What is GameFi?

Combining the words Game and DeFi (decentralized finance) in one name, GameFi is the gamification of financial mechanisms where users can earn money by playing games. Another popular term for this industry is “play-to-earn.” On the surface, the keyword is “game”, but at its core, “finance” is the most important thing for blockchains.

The spike of popularity in GameFi plays a major role in cryptocurrency adoption on the whole. Blockchain gamification makes it easier for the DeFi ideology to be accepted, incorporated, and advanced.

The Next Generation of GameFi

CryptoKitties was the first to bring blockchain gaming to life, and games such as Axie Infinity have taken it to the next level. The Three Kingdoms team set out to build a blockchain game that features multiple methods never seen before in the GameFi market to earn tokens. Additionally, they are creating an authentic gaming experience that compares better to the games by major publishers that gamers have been accustomed to playing.

Cryptokitties

To achieve this, The Three Kingdoms will feature high-end graphics, the ability to collect NFT characters, complete quests, and join siege gameplays to earn NFTs. The Three Kingdoms will be the first play-to-earn game that incorporates the idea of battling and besieging cities through staking, complete with a deep and engaging storyline, providing a breath of fresh air to the GameFi landscape.

In the game, users will be able to build their base, expand their territories, upgrade their character’s attributes, win battles and emerge victorious in PvE (player versus environment) and PvP (player versus player) battles.

The History of the Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms is based in 220 AD, during the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty. The Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, with cities and regions forming their alliance for survival. Warlord Dong Zhuo seized control of the capital under the pretext of protecting the young emperor. Cao Cao, who had gradually taken control of territories in the North, saved the emperor and led the central government. Still, formed clans are already eager for the chance to rule over China.

The country broke into civil war, and soon, China was divided into three spheres of influence: Cao Cao dominating the North, Sun Quan the South, and Liu Bei, the West. The three kingdoms fought for sixty years to conquer China, and this is where the story for the user begins.

The Three Kingdoms land is modelled after the historical map of China split into Wei, Shu, and Wu regions. The land will be split into unique squares and within these lands, users can host, stake, and monetize events. Users can conquer and own their base of operations where they can fight and expand their territory.

Roadmap for the Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms is well underway, with plans to begin passive gameplay in Q4 of 2021. Referred to as Phase 0, users will be able to earn NFTs by recruiting heroes via outskirts. The team plans to include additional gameplay features such as the ability to siege empty cities (stake NFTs) and occupy cities (earn APY, in-game currency, and NFTs) in 2022 (Phase 1).

Phase 2 will feature PvP, where users can attack and defend cities. The attacker and defender both stake NFTs, with the winner earning an APY, currency, NFTs, and attributes.

Finally, Phase 3 will be the introduction of active gameplay via Arena and Tournaments. Players will be able to stake their NFTs against other players in a winner-takes-all battle.

NFTs In The Three Kingdoms

Similar to popular gacha games with their randomized loot boxes, The Three Kingdoms utilises NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to bring added excitement to the gameplay experience. Players can recruit unique and powerful characters to build up their army to occupy cities and win battles.

Raffles – A raffle will be held every so often that will enable players to draw a character card at random, for a price. Players will be able to draw as many cards as they wish.

Characters – Characters will be randomly assigned six attributes: attack power, defence power, energy, luck, leadership, and intellect. The combination of these attributes determines whether a card is normal, rare, super rare or legendary.

Quests – Another method to recruit NFTs is where players send out one of their characters to recruit other heroes. Each found hero is another NFT of varying quality, which could help strengthen their forces.

Farming – Special NFTs can also be farmed by staking $TTK, the game’s native currency.

The Native Token – $TTK

The game’s native token is $TTK, which will be the lifeblood of this ancient yet modern metaverse. Players will use $TTK to purchase new characters in the NFT marketplace, upgrade armies, and invest in land. It can also be staked to farm more valuable NFTs.

$TTK will also be needed to acquire $CHI, the secondary in-game token.

$TTK tokens should be viewed as powers originating from the spirits of the dead that perished on the battlefield, so attaining them will be important to gather energy that will help players on their journey.

The In-Game Token – $CHI

Inspired by the actual use of Chi in Chinese history as the energy that runs through all living things, The Three Kingdoms will have a secondary in-game token that will be important to the gameplay.

As players gather energy through $TTK tokens for their journey of The Three Kingdoms, they are able to convert the energy to $CHI through harmonization. Only through mastering the energy of $TTK can warriors advance ahead with their well-balanced Chi.

$CHI can be earned by staking $TTK-LP + NFTs to receive NFTs + $CHI as rewards.

Some future uses of $CHI include the ability to besiege cities, battle other players and even fuse new heroes. As a fair launch token, any player is able to ascend into their ultimate self and transform their $TTK into $CHI.

The Three Kingdoms Receives $3.2M in Funding

In October 2021, The Three Kingdoms successfully raised $3.2 million USD from supporting investors. The investors included DAO Maker, Magnus Capital, LinkPad, SMO Capital, CoinUnited.io, Double Peak, x21, ZBS Capital, ReBlock and CryptoDiffer.

The Three Kingdoms will be utilising the funds to innovate new projects and further the growth of the ecosystem, expanding the community and strengthening the foundation of the ecosystem for users to maximize the use of the platform.

The game will be hosted on the Binance Smart Chain network and is currently underway. Passive gameplay is aimed to be released later this year.

To know more about The Three Kingdom and its future developments, visit their social media channels listed below.

Website — https://ttk.gg/

Twitter — https://twitter.com/PlayTTK

Telegram Announcements — https://t.me/TTK_Official

Telegram Official Community — https://t.me/PlayTTK

Discord — https://discord.com/invite/kg4SMdCCM5

Reddit — https://www.reddit.com/r/PlayTTK

Medium — https://medium.com/@PlayTTK

Sources:

https://latestnews.plus/gamefi-altcoins-are-growing-crazy-so-what-is-gamefi/ https://medium.com/@PlayTTK/the-three-kingdoms-introducing-the-new-era-of-play-to-earn-d569264ffb11
https://medium.com/@PlayTTK/introducing-ttk-and-chi-let-the-spirit-of-ttk-help-you-find-your-chi-2394d2895f7a
https://medium.com/@PlayTTK/the-art-of-chi-the-life-force-that-enriches-play-to-earn-in-the-three-kingdoms-274959efee24
https://news.bitcoin.com/the-three-kingdoms-the-new-era-of-play-to-earn-games/ https://www.crypto-news-flash.com/the-three-kingdoms-successfully-closes-3-2m-investment-round/

October 12, 2021
Fantom: A Fast and Flexible Next-Generation Blockchain
Fantom (FTM) is a smart contract-enabled blockchain that provides a robust environment for dApp (decentralized application) development.

Using advanced Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) technology, this project aims to provide near-infinite scalability and instant transactions at nearly zero cost. They are also working on a high-performance virtual machine with safe, secure smart contract execution.

Check out our explainer video on Fantom (FTM) will it be the next hotbed for DeFi?

Fantom (FTM) explained: Will it be the next hotbed for DeFi?

The Blockchain Trilemma: What is it?

blockchain trilemma

The blockchain trilemma is a concept coined by Vitalik Buterin that proposes a set of three main issues that developers encounter when building blockchains. More often than not, creators are forced to sacrifice one aspect for the sake of the other two.
- Decentralization – creating a blockchain system that does not rely on a central point of control
- Scalability – the ability for a blockchain system to handle an increasingly growing amount of transactions
- Security – the ability of the blockchain system to operate as expected, defend itself from attacks, bugs, and other unforeseen issues
For some in the industry, achieving all three aspects is an impossible feat that will never be done, at least in the near future.

Fantom is designed to overcome these limitations of old-generation blockchain platforms by providing a steady balance of scalability, security, and decentralization.

Fantom Overview

Fantom operates atop a bespoke “leaderless” PoS consensus mechanism dubbed Lachesis that secures the Fantom network and ensures both transactional speed and security. Lachesis is an aBFT consensus mechanism, which means that network data can be processed at different times, and the network can tolerate up to one third of participants engaging in faulty or malicious behavior without causing undue harm to network processes.

Lachesis also boasts near-instant finality. This means that transactions are confirmed and finalized in an average of one second, without the need to wait for laborious block confirmation as experienced in Proof-of-Work (PoW) networks. By avoiding the relatively lengthy block confirmation process, this aBFT system is much faster and more scalable than many of its Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) counterparts.

The Fantom Foundation has turned its focus towards decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases with the help of Yearn Finance founder Andre Cronje, who serves as a technical advisor to Fantom. Andre has advised and helped promote Fantom’s multi-chain efforts, such as the launch of Fantom’s bridge to Ethereum.

As an ultra-high speed and high-performance platform, Fantom believes it can become the IT infrastructure backbone for the emerging smart cities. With a goal of executing 300,000 transactions per second, and the ability to communicate across multiple service providers, Fantom believes it is the solution to storing vast amounts of data securely.

It hopes to achieve this by being accessible to stakeholders for smart city data-driven smart contracts and dApp adoption. The Fantom team envisions the platform being used across a wide variety of sectors, including public utilities, smart home systems, healthcare, education, traffic management, resource management, and environmental sustainability projects.

Fantom Technology

Fantom features two core technologies:
1. Lachesis protocol – the core consensus layer
2. Opera – an application development layer
Lachesis uses a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) based algorithm to achieve asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerance (aBFT). Lachesis has four key qualities:
- Asynchronous: Participants have the freedom to process commands at different times
- Leaderless: No participant plays a “special” role in block production
- Byzantine Fault-Tolerant: Supports one-third of faulty nodes
- Near-Instant Finality: Transactions are confirmed in 1-2 seconds.
Fantom has implemented Lachesis as a consensus layer that can extend to additional layers within the system.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance

Opera is a permissionless and open-source environment for development. It boasts the full range of smart contract capability that Ethereum has due to its support of the Solidity programming language and integration with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Applications built on Fantom can be designed to be interoperable with platforms built on Ethereum, while still maintaining the transactional efficiency of the Fantom network.

A proprietary software development kit (SDK) known as the Fantom Virtual Machine will eventually be released for native Fantom-based development alongside continued support for the EVM — a strategy meant to entice Ethereum-based dApp developers to make an easy transition over to building applications on Fantom.

Fantom DeFi and FTM Token

Fantom promises to be the all-in-one DeFi (decentralized finance) suite for users. Fantom’s EVM-compatible blockchain gives users the ability to mint, trade, lend and borrow digital assets directly from their wallets. And all of this comes with near zero fees and instant transactions, making DeFi ideal on Fantom.

Fantom currently supports the following:
- Liquid staking – using staked FTM tokens as collateral for DeFi applications. All FTM delegations are liquid within the Fantom ecosystem.
- fMint – users can mint dozens of synthetic assets on Fantom, including cryptocurrencies, national currencies, and commodities.
- fLend – lending and borrowing digital assets to trade and to earn interests without losing exposure to held FTM.
- fTrade – trading Fantom-based digital assets without leaving the wallet. This makes for a fully non-custodial and decentralized AMM exchange.
What is the FTM token?

FTM is the primary token on the Fantom network. FTM tokens and sFTM tokens can be used as collateral to mint fUSD, which can then be used to trade and swap for synthetic tokens and fiat, and much more. All of this is accomplished through the progressive web app Fantom fWallet, where users can store, send, receive, and stake FTM tokens.

Fantom partnerships

Fantom is working together with Chainlink to build secure and scalable DeFi products like decentralized stablecoins, lending protocols, and synthetic assets. All developers building on Fantom can access Chainlink’s oracle infrastructure. The integration enables the whole Fantom ecosystem to combine tamper-proof real-time data for on-chain and off-chain assets from trusted sources.

Travala, a blockchain-based travel booking platform, is leveraging Fantom to help users book over 3,000,000 travel products worldwide, including hotels, homes, flights, tours, and activities. This will be a huge boost to Fantom’s adoption.

SuperFarm, a growing NFT ecosystem, simplifies the process for builders on projects like Fantom to set up NFT farms and expand use cases for their tokens. In addition to launching exclusive NFT drops for Fantom users, SuperFarm offers Fantom builders new ways to engage their communities. By setting up NFT farms via the SuperFarm platform’s intuitive and simple interface, builders can incentivize community members to stake their tokens, earn rewards, and interact with each other.

DABS is Afghanistan’s national and fastest-growing electricity company. It manages electricity production, import, transmission, and distribution across the country. Fantom has signed an MoU with DABS where they have agreed to cooperate on the digitalization and implementation of advanced audit software within DABS’s operations. This a huge partnership to support smart energy in Afghanistan, which can help more adoption & validation of the Fantom platform.

Fantom has secured many partnerships and integrations in its quest to become the “nervous system for smart cities.”

More details about these partnerships can be found on their official website: https://fantom.foundation/partners/

Conclusion

Fantom’s approach to the DeFi and dApp landscape is innovative — as is its staking reward program structure. Further proposed use cases for Fantom’s highly scalable smart contract platform are dApps related to supply chain management, payments, and smart city programs, some of which are already being piloted around the world.

As the first of its kind with its complex and unique infrastructure, Fantom’s approach to fast, scalable dApp development is still establishing its place in the wider blockchain ecosystem. Although there is already much competition in the burgeoning dApp sector, the speed and benefits that Fantom offers dApp developers are notable, and the platform is poised to gain further traction.

FAQ

What is Fantom?
Fantom is a smart contract-enabled blockchain that provides a robust environment for dApp development.

What does Fantom do?
The Fantom network architecture intends to provide a viable solution to the blockchain trilemma by providing a steady balance of scalability, security, and decentralization.

How does Fantom work?
Fantom’s fast, scalable platform for decentralized applications (dApps) draws its speed from a unique consensus mechanism called Lachesis. Fantom also offers tools that make it easy to integrate existing dApps, a nuanced system of staking rewards, and a suite of built-in decentralized finance (DeFi) tools.

What is Lachesis?
Fantom is a Layer-1 blockchain that uses a single consensus layer to support the creation of multiple execution chains. The network’s independent consensus layer called Lachesis, featuring a novel consensus mechanism developed by the Fantom Foundation dubbed the “Lachesis Protocol.” Lachesis can provide security to multiple other layers, the first of which is Fantom’s EVM-compatible smart contract chain called Opera.

Has Fantom been adopted?
Yes. Fantom is an ambitious project that has already partnered with numerous blockchain projects, as well as governments and enterprises.

Sources:

https://medium.com/certik/the-blockchain-trilemma-decentralized-scalable-and-secure-e9d8c41a87b3 https://fantom.foundation/lachesis-consensus-algorithm/ https://fantom.foundation/what-is-fantom-opera/ https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/fantom-wallet-fantom-crypto-ftm-token https://messari.io/asset/fantom/profile/technology https://medium.com/geekculture/what-is-fantom-ftm-token-why-it-is-the-potential-hidden-gem-67be22a51254
https://www.coinbureau.com/review/fantom-ftm/ https://fantom.foundation/partners/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_qs_MOAP6cGW1uLpLEUYyT98dB0iKkE4DXjCrhQSs3Ps-1632701162-0-gqNtZGzNAdCjcnBszQo9
October 9, 2021
HUMAN Protocol: A New Way for Humans and Machines to Interact

HUMAN Protocol is an infrastructure that aims to redefine how humans work by supporting distributed job markets.

The Protocol provides tools for labor requesters to crowdsource people to perform tasks that help bolster machine-learning networks.

HUMAN’s vision is to create a more human world: decentralized yet connected, with every viewpoint and background accounted for and represented, in which all value produced is rewarded. The Protocol facilitates direct, globally-mapped connections that bring workers closer to the rewards of their work, organizations to workforces, and machines to understanding.

Distributed Job Markets

To improve a digital world, we must look to its foundations: the mechanisms and systems through which people connect, interact, and collaborate.

HUMAN enables distributed job markets, but it is not the job market itself. Rather, it provides the tools, infrastructure, plugins, and APIs to support broad-scale data markets – which in time, will become markets to support any type of work.

It connects distributed workers with global opportunities to empower an already flourishing gig economy. This ensures it is the workers, not corporate authorities, that have control over the opportunities available to them, allowing the workers to receive more value for their contributions.

AI training

New technologies require new data. Data informs the capability of machines to accurately interpret the world.

If organizations can select who labels data, they can better assure the relevancy of the dataset produced. HUMAN Protocol provides the end-to-end infrastructure – the tools, plugins, integrations, and API – to hire, manage, validate, and compensate workers at any scale.

How Does It Work?

Three key entities within HUMAN Protocol are Requesters, Workers, and Exchanges.

The Requester submits work to the Exchange with a bounty attached to a smart contract. The bounty is a sum of Human Tokens (HMT) held in escrow until the Worker fulfils the specifications of the job.

The Workers perform the work as specified by the Requester. A Worker can be an individual, a website, or derive from labor pools.

The Exchange is the interface between Requesters and Workers. It monitors the blockchain for new jobs, manages bids for work, and serves the jobs to Workers.

The Technology

The Protocol enables Requesters of work to choose from job types supported by Exchanges, then create a job specification and set of tasks to complete. This is distributed by the Exchange to Workers.

Optimized execution of jobs by Exchanges is also possible. In this process, the Exchange can intelligently split jobs into smaller pieces. For example, when a Requester submits a medical document for labelling to a HUMAN Exchange, the Exchange can factor this into multiple sub-tasks: understanding where fields are on a page, what type of field each is, and what the contents of the field contain. Each sub-task can be represented by a standard job type.

The Exchange then distributes these sub-tasks to other Exchanges that support those job types, which make sure that each part reaches an appropriate worker, whether human or machine or both. For example, complicated medical terminology may need to go to an Exchange with qualified doctors. Simple tasks may have no such constraints.

As Workers submit their individual answers, the Exchange submits results to a Recording Oracle, which does an initial evaluation and aggregates the work into chunks. These chunks are then evaluated by a Reputation Oracle, which performs payouts and computes a final result for the Requester.

hCaptcha: The Anti-Bot Solution

The first application running on HUMAN Protocol is hCaptcha, an online security service that distinguishes humans from bots via simple questions, e.g. selecting all image squares containing a dog.

hCaptcha does the same thing as reCaptcha but with better security

hCaptcha uses HUMAN Labs’s Proof-of-HUMANity tool to assist in the evaluation and compensation of the end users who get paid to solve the image-annotation challenges.

“Proof-of-HUMANity is a gamechanger for the blockchain industry, which has long been plagued by nefarious bot activity,” Alex Newman, hCaptcha co-founder, said in a statement.

With the boom in decentralized finance (DeFi), front-running bots have increasingly become an issue. The bots are known to cut in line in an execution queue, right before a known future transaction occurs, in order to capitalize on a price change.

By using hCaptcha, developers can ensure transactions on their networks are executed by humans, and this bot-buster is a more private alternative to Google’s reCAPTCHA. hCaptcha does not sell personal data and they collect only minimum necessary personal data. They are transparent in describing the information being collected, how the information will be used and/or disclosed, and they agree to only use such data to provide the hCaptcha service to Cloudflare.

Partnerships and Integrations with Chainlink, Solana and Polkadot

HUMAN Protocol has teamed up with Metamask and Chainlink to create on-chain proof-of-humanity, enabling ERC20 contract developers to verify that the actions in a smart contract are made by a human.

Chainlink will be used to launch decentralized Reputation Oracles for HUMAN Protocol. These Chainlink-powered Reputation Oracles will enable the autonomous distribution of tasks and payments for HUMAN-powered work pools across the Ethereum, Polkadot, and Solana blockchains. HUMAN Protocol also plans to use Chainlink Price Feeds for payment exchange rates.

Solana was selected by HUMAN Protocol Foundation as one of the leading choices to integrate with HUMAN Protocol. The integration is currently underway, with plans to launch new labor pools later this year.

Polkadot functions as the middle layer that translates the information between the different chains HUMAN Protocol is operating on. Parity and MoonBeam have been implemented.

HMT Token

HMT is the native token of HUMAN Protocol. It is the primary mechanism of value transfer within the network.

Because HUMAN Protocol is built on the blockchain, it can apply smart contracts to execute high-volume micropayments across the globe. The openly verifiable smart contracts hold all funds in escrow, so there is peace of mind for all parties involved.

The Requester spends HMT as they create a Smart Bounty for a job. The Requester prefunds the bounty, which is stored in escrow by smart contracts.

Workers earn HMT by completing work. They bid for work in HMT and are compensated for their work in HMT. If the job is complete, the prefunded bounty is released to the Worker. If the work does not fulfil the requirements, the job is aborted, and funds are returned to the Requester.

The Exchanges earn HMT for matching requested work with Workers. The Exchanges prioritise distribution of tasks based on the reputation, which is determined both by the quantity of HMT a Worker holds or has previously earned (Proof-of-Balance), taking into account both the total value of their past transactions as well as their balance.

The supply of the HMT token is fixed.

Human-Machine Collaboration

Today, HUMAN Protocol already offers unprecedented artificial intelligence training capabilities.

hCaptcha is interacted with by 15% of internet users, representing the world’s largest data-labeling workforce. This is only the beginning, however.

HUMAN and its partners are working to bring the Protocol to more applications, each functioning as an Exchange between Requesters and Workers, to realize new distributed markets and ways of working, and increase the points of human-to-machine interaction.

Not only does HUMAN offer access to the world’s largest labor pool, and the means to effectively manage such a distributed workforce, but it is enabling systems to revolutionize human-machine interaction within AI: a mechanism for machines themselves to understand the data they need to improve their algorithms, and to have a means of asking for that data across an automated, global marketplace, where the answers can be provided.

FAQ

What is HUMAN Protocol?
HUMAN Protocol is a broadly applicable technology to connect and validate human and machine workers.

What does it aim to achieve?
HUMAN is focused on creating the largest labor pool for humans to achieve greater potential, and machines to achieve greater understanding. They offer the ability to request work from other machines; repetitive tasks can be taken care of, and human workers can focus on more interesting, creative, or specialized tasks.

How does it work?
HUMAN Protocol creates a blockchain based, two-sided marketplace. On one side, it enables requests to label large volumes of data. On the other, it allows for the workers who complete this work to be evaluated and remunerated.

Is the technology already available?
Yes, the most widely used service by HUMAN Protocol is hCaptcha, a tool to distinguish humans from bots. HUMAN has also partnered with multiple networks to make their technology available on a global scale.

Sources:
Click to access 60511d72db8c7eb0b9799526_Human-litepaper.pdf
https://www.coindesk.com/human-protocol-expands-hcaptcha-tool-launches-wallet-to-make-ai-smarter
https://news.bitcoin.com/introducing-human-protocol-a-new-way-for-humans-and-machines-to-securely-connect-and-collaborate/
https://www.humanprotocol.org/blog/introduction-to-the-human-token-hmt?lng=en-US
https://www.humanprotocol.org/blog/development-update-collaborations-and-integrations?lng=en-US
https://blog.cloudflare.com/moving-from-recaptcha-to-hcaptcha/

September 4, 2021