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Solana Labs GameShift May Unite Web3 and Blockchain Gaming

Solana Labs GameShift May Unite Web3 and Blockchain Gaming

Solana Labs, the company behind the fast and scalable Solana blockchain, has recently launched the beta version of GameShift, a platform that aims to simplify the integration of Web3 features into games.

GameShift promises to offer game developers a single, easy-to-use API that handles all the blockchain complexity under the hood, allowing them to focus on creating immersive and engaging gaming experiences.

But will it really change the blockchain gaming landscape and enable more games to be launched? Here are some of the key aspects and implications of this innovative platform.

How Does GameShift Work?

GameShift is a unified blockchain game development API that leverages the power and efficiency of the Solana blockchain. It allows game developers to access a full stack of trusted third-party Web3 components on Solana through a single API without needing blockchain coding or knowledge. Some of the features include:

  • User wallets: Integrates with popular wallet providers such as Phantom, Sollet, and Coin98, enabling users to easily connect their wallets to games and manage their assets.
  • NFT minting: Enables game developers to create and mint unique and verifiable digital assets, such as characters, items, skins, and collectibles, using the Metaplex protocol.
  • In-game marketplaces: Allows game developers to create and customize their own branded in-game marketplaces, where users can buy, sell, and trade their NFTs using the Crossmint protocol.
  • Credit card on-ramps: Enables users to purchase NFTs and other in-game assets using fiat currency through credit card payments using the Coinflow protocol.
  • Analytics and insights: Provides game developers with access to data and metrics about their games, such as user behavior, engagement, retention, and revenue, using the Metakeep protocol.

GameShift is designed to be Web2-friendly, meaning that it uses familiar technologies and interfaces that game developers are already accustomed to, such as REST API, SDKs, and Unity, and Unreal engines. It also aims to provide a seamless and user-friendly experience for gamers, who can enjoy the benefits of Web3 gaming without having to deal with the technicalities and frictions of blockchain.

What are the Benefits of GameShift?

GameShift offers several benefits for both game developers and gamers, such as:

  • Faster and more accessible game development: Reduces the time, cost, and complexity of developing blockchain games by providing a single solution that handles all the Web3 components and integrations. Game developers can focus on the core gameplay and design aspects rather than the backend infrastructure and blockchain coding.
  • Higher quality and diversity of games: Enables game developers to create high-quality and diverse games that can rival those of traditional PC, console, and mobile games. It supports various genres and styles of games, from casual and social games to RPGs and MMOs and from 2D and 3D graphics to VR and AR experiences.
  • More revenue and engagement opportunities: Allows game developers to monetize their games and create new revenue streams by leveraging the play-to-earn and play-to-own models. Game developers can reward their users with cryptocurrency and NFTs for playing their games and also earn a share of the transactions that occur in their in-game marketplaces. It also enables game developers to increase user engagement and retention by offering users more ownership, control, and customization over their in-game assets and experiences.

What is the Impact and Potential of GameShift?

GameShift is a promising and innovative platform that has the potential to revolutionize the blockchain gaming industry and attract more game developers and gamers to the Web3 space. It may also have a positive impact on the broader blockchain and crypto ecosystem by driving more adoption and innovation and by creating more use cases and value for Solana and its native token, SOL.

They are still in the early stages of development. However, it has already attracted some interest and attention from game developers and investors and is powered by industry partners like Crossmint, Coinflow, and Metakeep. This is a good start for them.

It is expected to launch more games and features on its platform in the near future and to expand its user base and network effect. Personally, I think they may also explore more opportunities, such as:

  • Interoperability and cross-chain gaming: They may enable game developers and gamers to interact and exchange assets and data across different blockchains and platforms, creating more diversity and interoperability in the Web3 gaming ecosystem.
  • Social and community gaming: It may foster more social and community aspects in Web3 gaming by enabling game developers and gamers to create and join groups, clans, guilds, and DAOs and to communicate and collaborate with each other through chat, voice, and video features.
  • Immersive and realistic gaming: They may enhance the immersive and realistic aspects of Web3 gaming by enabling game developers and gamers to use VR and AR technologies and to create and experience lifelike and dynamic virtual worlds and environments.

The Bottom Line

Gameshift has the potential to shake up the world of blockchain gaming. It simplifies and speeds up the process of adding Web3 features to games, making it easier for game developers. It could completely transform blockchain gaming, enabling more games to launch.

For developers, it’s like a one-stop shop that takes care of all the complicated Web3 stuff, and for gamers, it offers a smooth and user-friendly experience with all the benefits of Web3 gaming.

And it’s not just about games. This platform could have a positive impact on the wider blockchain and crypto world. It might encourage more people to get involved and develop new ideas. It could even boost the value of Solana and its native token, SOL.

Right now, the platform is still in beta, and it hasn’t hosted any games yet. But it’s already getting much attention from game developers and investors. They’ve also announced some cool partnerships with other prominent players in the gaming world.

They plan to launch more games and features soon and explore all kinds of exciting possibilities for Web3 gaming, like making games work together, creating social gaming experiences, and diving into immersive gaming.

 

 

 

Source: https://www.techopedia.com/solana-labs-gameshift-may-unite-web3-and-blockchain-gaming

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
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SOL /BTC prediction: Can Solana arrest year-long decline, return to growth?

SOL /BTC prediction: Can Solana arrest year-long decline, return to growth?

Solana’s SOL has been seeing a surge in investor interest as it continues to expand its network with more exciting projects coming up. Despite dipping by 87.8% since its all-time high in November 2021, experts are saying that a rebound is near while bitcoin (BTC) is down by around 70% since November 2021 gains.

How do the two coins trade against each other and what does the SOL to BTC forecast suggest amid a bear market? Let’s take a look at the SOL/BTC pair and some of the factors that may shape its exchange rate.

What is SOL/BTC?

SOL/BTC is the exchange rate between SOL, the native cryptocurrency of the Solana blockchain platform, and BTC, the native token of the Bitcoin Network.

Bitcoin was first mined in 2009 by its creator or group of creators who prefer to keep their identity a secret using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It is also the first ever platform to use a blockchain to build, exchange, store and distribute the digital coin.

The cryptocurrency is used as a peer-to-peer payments method, and over the last 10 years it has also become an investment vehicle.

Bitcoin uses a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. The cryptocurrency is given as a reward to miners who solve mathematical equations to prove the legitimacy of BTC transactions.

The maximum number of newly mined bitcoins is limited at 21 million. After every 210,000 mined BTC blocks (this takes around four years), the blockchain experiences a halving event, which cuts the number of BTC coins in circulation by half.

Solana is a public, open-source blockchain that hosts a number of projects in the likes of decentralised finance (DeFi) applications, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Web3.

It prides itself in its low transaction costs (at less than $0.01), fast speed (at 400 milliseconds per block) and security (it is censorship resistant). The blockchain was nicknamed the ‘Ethereum killer’, as it aims to improve what the Ethereum blockchain is lacking.

It was founded in 2017 by a former Qualcomm (QCOM) employee and Dropbox software engineer Anatoly Yakovenko and his colleague Greg Fitzgerald. In contrast to BTC, Solana uses a Proof of History (PoH) consensus mechanism for verifying transactions on the blockchain, which uses an alternative method for calculating time.

Some of the network’s key functions allow users to mint, sell and trade NFTs, create their own DeFi projects, write smart contracts, build Web3 games and accept payments in crypto form.

SOL coins are ERC-20 standard, meaning that they were developed on the Ethereum (ETH) network and are primarily used for interacting on the blockchain.

SOL to BTC price history

Since SOL’s launch in 2020, the SOL to BTC rate struggled to pick up momentum, moving sideways for around 10 months before starting to gain speed at the end of February 2021.

Between late February 2021 and mid-August 2021 the pairing fluctuated between values as low as 0.0001781BTC and as high as 0.001179BTC. The SOL to USD price chart followed a similar trend, fluctuating between $13 and $49.

SOL to BTC price chart, 2020 - 2022

Between 15 August 2021 and 9 September 2021, however, the SOL/BTC pair surged, rising by more than 385%, up from 0.0009374BTC to 0.004576BTC as Solana was being discovered by a number of celebrities, such as Mike Tyson and Jason Derulo. This was also the time when the SOL to BTC reached its all-time high, as seen on the price chart above.

Between 9 September 2021 and 20 October 2021 the SOL/BTC price lost nearly 50% of its gains, dropping to 0.002425BTC as the BTC price in US dollars started to see major gains, surging by around 39% within the period from $46,000 to $64,000.

BTC to USD price chart, 2013 - 2022

In line with other major cryptocurrencies, the SOL/BTC rate regained a big portion of its losses as it rose to 0.004202BTC by 7 November 2021, at the time when the SOL value in USD reached its all-time high of $258.78.

SOL to USD price chart, 2020 - 2022

Up until the start of January 2022, the SOL to BTC exchange rate was fluctuating between 0.004000BTC and 0.003000BTC before falling more than 60% to 0.001149BTC on 13 June 2022, amid overall broad negative investor sentiment.

In terms of technical analysis, the chief digital advisor at the Mongolian Productivity Organisation and author of NFT: From Zero to Hero, Anndy Lian, told Capital.com that the SOL price could be headed towards a trend reversal, as of 28 October.

“The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicates that the token is in the overbought zone, signalling a reversal could be on the way,” he said.

The pairing’s current exchange rate (28 October) is 0.00151BTC, up by 31.4% since its 13 June 2022 dip.

What is driving SOL/BTC?

On 30 September 2022, the Solana Mainnet Beta cluster experienced an outage, which led to a temporary collapse in the blockchain. This saw the SOL to BTC exchange rate drop by 3.1% within a week, down to 0.001682BTC by 7 October 2022, from 0.001735BTC on the day of the outage.

Dr. Pooja Lekhi, professor of global financial institutions, risk management approach and financial management at University Canada West, told Capital.com:

“Solana has experienced several recent network outages and failures. In the beginning of June, validators in the network stopped processing new blocks for several hours and apps built on Solana’s blockchain were taken offline, which sent its price down more than 12%.”

Projects built on Solana have potential to affect the token’s future price. On 27 October, the Web3 platforms built on Solana Decentralised Engineering Corporation (DEC) and Teleport announced that they have raised funding to bring a Web3 Uber rival (TRIP) to the Solana blockchain, something Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin theorised a while back.

Lian noted that bringing the ridesharing industry to the Solana ecosystem “would surely put SOL into a high utility mode”.

In addition, Solana had partnered with artist Nancy Baker Cahill. She launched her first NFT collection on the blockchain that was shown across 90 billboards on Times Square. Metaplex, an NFT ecosystem built on Solana, also announced it was bringing a new asset class that will allow “creators to enforce royalties at the protocol level by extending the Token Metadata program, which powers 99%+ of all NFTs on Solana.”

Dr. Lekhi noted that until Solana network’s upgrade, “stability will remain a major concern for the SOL, adding:

“It is expected that the Mainnet version will stop the power outage issue. The SOL market had set higher benchmarks for its prices, along with developments in decentralised exchanges, Solana NFT marketplace, Yield aggregators and online games.”

The date for the upgrade launch is yet to be announced.

The enthusiasm surrounding Solana also comes following the news about Saga, its flagship Android phone, which will start shipping in 2023, Lian noted. Solana announced that Saga will have its first mint event on 28 October, which will only be available to those who pre-ordered the phone.

SOL/BTC price prediction

Based on the analysis of past performance, as of 28 October, algorithm-based forecasting service Wallet Investor predicted that SOL/USD could fall to $2.947 in 2023. The platform did not provide a price prediction for 2027.

In terms of its BTC value forecast, the site saw BTC/USD trade at $23,107.27 in 2023 and reach $36,574.97 by 2027.

While Wallet Investor did not provide a direct SOL to BTC forecast, data suggested that the exchange rate could be 0.00012754BTC in 2023.

DigitalCoinPrice predicted that SOL/USD could rise to $36.55 by the end of 2022. The site’s data, as of 28 October, showed that the coin was expected to trade at $49.68 in 2023 and $80.94 in 2025. Its long-term prediction saw the coin reaching $169.10 in 2030.

The site also gave an upbeat BTC/USD forecast, as of 28 October, expecting the coin to grow to $25,646.42 by the end of 2022, reach $33,474.34 in 2023, $53,010.14 in 2025 and surpass $112,000 in 2030.

DigitalCoinPrice’s SOL to BTC forecast for 2022 expected the pair to reach 0.0014252BTC and 0.0014841BTC in 2023. The site’s SOL/BTC forecast for 2025 stood at 0.0015269BTC. Its long-term SOL/BTC forecast for 2030 was 0.0015098BTC.

Dr. Lekhi noted that 2022 was not a good year for SOL, however, the coin may observe a steady growth in the coming months as a rebound in SOL’s price is anticipated.

Lian added that interest in SOL is “extremely high” which could mean that its future movement could be “overall positive”, adding that “with the strong ecosystem backing its value, the rebound can be promising.”

Remember that analysts’ and algorithm-based predictions can be wrong and shouldn’t be used as a substitute for your own research.

Always conduct your own due diligence on a cryptocurrency project before trading, looking at the latest news, a wide range of analyst commentary and technical analysis. Note that past performance does not guarantee future returns. And never trade money you cannot afford to lose.

 

Source: https://capital.com/sol-btc-prediction-solana-bitcoin-exchange

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

Magic Eden, largest Solana-based NFT platform, makes royalty fees optional

Magic Eden, largest Solana-based NFT platform, makes royalty fees optional

The platform said the move was in line with growing market trends, but some are concerned about what it means for the industry.

Magic Eden, the largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace in the Solana ecosystem, has moved to make paying NFT creator royalty fees optional, following in the footsteps of rival marketplaces which have eaten into its market share in recent months.

The platform will also be waiving all platform fees for the foreseeable future, Magic Eden said in a Twitter thread announcing the changes on Saturday.

Anndy Lian, author of the new book “NFT: From Zero to Hero,” told Forkast the attempt to win back users by lowering or removing fees surprised him as he was doubtful of the long-term sustainability of the plan.

“For [an] NFT platform, where the secondary market is at a really bad situation right now, I am doubtful whether the zero fees are going to work very well,” he said.

NFT royalties give the original creator a percentage of the sale price each time that NFT creation is sold.

Magic Eden is a giant in the Solana ecosystem, controlling roughly 90% of all sales, and almost nine times the Solana sales of leading NFT marketplace OpenSea, which added support for Solana NFTs in April 2022.

Magic Eden also raised US$130 in series B fundraising in June, bringing its valuation to US$1.6 billion, and cementing its status as a “unicorn,” a privately held start-up with a valuation over US$1 billion.

“This is not a decision we take lightly,” Magic Eden said in a tweet announcing the move, while also acknowledging the industry has been slowly moving towards optional creator royalties for a while. “We understand this move has serious implications for the ecosystem. We also hope it is not a permanent decision.”

Royalties for NFTs are typically set to between 5% and 10% and are often encoded into the smart contract of the NFT itself. Marketplaces are able to rework the code around the sales of these NFTs, however, effectively allowing them to set the fees to whatever they like.

In the case of Magic Eden now, that fee now will be left up to the user to decide whether or not to pay. However, if users choose not to pay the fee, they risk being excluded from the full utility or perks of owning the NFT, the platform warned.

Removing this structure incentivizes creators to lift their prices in order to compensate for this loss of income, he said, which could add extra pressure to an already struggling market that is currently extremely sensitive to pricing.

The issue is compounded if smaller marketplaces follow Magic Eden’s lead, which Lian said they will be incentivized to do.

“So, it goes back to the whole equation: How long is this bear market going to be and how long can you sustain that kind of strategy?” Lian said, “If I’m not wrong, maybe [Magic Eden] can for the next two, three, four years, maybe. But I’m not so sure about the rest.”

Lian explained this was being done to artificially increase an NFT’s trading volume to give the impression it is more highly sought-after than it actually is. This not only discredits the industry but deceives unwitting buyers into potentially paying inflated prices for NFTs.

The issue has become so prevalent on Magic Eden in the few days since fees were removed that OpenSea has since announced it is in the process of temporarily blocking Solana collections from the Top and Trending list on its homepage to avoid “gaming” those numbers.

Secondary monthly NFT sales in September were only US$550 million, an almost 90% decrease from its high in January 2022. NFT creators, marketplaces and collectors alike have had to make difficult choices about how to respond to the difficult market conditions.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty. Based on the current charts, we should still be going down or going sideways for the next quarter or so,” he said.

 

Source: Magic Eden, largest Solana-based NFT platform, makes royalty fees optional (forkast.news)

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j