In March 2024, Bitcoin continued to break records and successfully surpassed its mid-month lows. Benefiting from the positive macroeconomic outlook, the entire cryptocurrency market performed well. At the same time, the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2024 played a crucial role in driving the development of the blockchain gaming industry, leading to a 24.1% increase in the market value of blockchain game tokens and a 17.5% increase in daily active users. Major players in the gaming industry and public chains are investing in the cultivation of the Web3 gaming ecosystem. Let’s pay attention to how these initiatives will be implemented and what results they will bring.
This report is based on data from Footprint Analytics’ Web3 Gaming Research page. It is an easy-to-use dashboard that provides the most important statistics and indicators for the Web3 gaming industry and is updated in real-time. You can click here to learn more about the latest information on prices, projects, funding, and more.
Market Review for the Month
In March, Bitcoin experienced significant fluctuations between “breakthroughs” and “volatility”. Starting at $61,213 at the beginning of the month, it quickly surpassed the previous high of $69,000 and reached a new all-time high of $73,068 on March 14. Although it temporarily fell by 15.1% to $62,047 in the middle of the month, it recovered by the end of the month and closed at $69,656, achieving a monthly increase of 13.8%. In comparison, the increase in Ethereum was relatively stable, starting at $3,344 and closing at $3,648, with a 9.1% increase.
Data Source: Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Trends – Footprint Analytics
The strong performance of the cryptocurrency market in March was mainly due to market expectations of interest rate cuts, despite strong overall economic performance. This prospect intensified inflation concerns, making assets such as Bitcoin and gold more attractive. The price movement of Bitcoin was closely related to the performance of the US Bitcoin spot ETF. The mid-month price decline was mainly influenced by the slowdown in the inflow of funds into the Bitcoin spot ETF and the reduction of leverage by traditional traders. However, market expectations for the Bitcoin halving event in April maintained its upward momentum.
Although Ethereum’s increase was slightly lower than Bitcoin’s, it still maintained steady growth, partly because the prospects for the approval of the US spot ETF seemed uncertain. The important network upgrade of Ethereum on March 13 (Dencun Upgrade/Kankan Upgrade) aimed to reduce the transaction costs of Ethereum and promote activities within its ecosystem.
In March, the AI industry became the focus of the market, as Nvidia unveiled the Blackwell GPU and GB200 superchip at the AI event GTC 2024. This not only ignited enthusiasm in the US and global stock markets but also attracted widespread attention in the cryptocurrency market, driving the rise of the crypto AI sector.
Overview of the Blockchain Gaming Market
In March, the market value of blockchain game tokens increased by 24.1% to reach $24.1 billion. This growth was not only due to the prosperity of the cryptocurrency market but also the promotion of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2024. The conference further stimulated the activity of Web3 game developers and significantly increased market attention to game tokens.
Data Source: Active Game Players Percentage – Footprint Analytics
Driven by market dynamics and major industry events, the number of daily active users (wallets) in March continued to grow, reaching 2.7 million, a 17.5% increase compared to February.
However, although trading volume has rebounded since the third quarter of 2023, it has not yet reached the peak level of the second quarter of 2022.
Blockchain Game Public Chain Data
In March, the rankings of game player platforms showed that Ronin, Polygon, and BNB Chain had the highest number of active players, accounting for 35.4%, 20.9%, and 10.8% of the market share, respectively. It is worth mentioning that Ronin and Polygon further consolidated their leading positions, with their market shares increasing by 6.3% and 7.8% respectively compared to February.
In terms of trading volume rankings, Ethereum, Ronin, and BNB Chain dominated. In March, Ronin’s trading volume reached $81.7 million, a 35.1% increase compared to the previous month, while BNB Chain saw a 13% decline. Ronin showed strong momentum in market share expansion despite having fewer than 10 games. With Ronin continuously adding new games, its growth potential is expected to further increase.
Competition in the public chain field is becoming increasingly fierce, with major public chains increasing their investments to promote the prosperity of the Web3 gaming ecosystem. The Arbitrum Foundation announced a proposal to distribute 200 million $ARB tokens over two years to support game projects on its blockchain. Among them, 160 million $ARB will be allocated to game publishers and developers, while the remaining funds are planned to be used to improve infrastructure. This proposal requires approval from the Arbitrum DAO.
At the same time, the Starknet Foundation is also taking active action by establishing a dedicated gaming committee to promote the development of the Starknet gaming ecosystem. The committee plans to distribute 50 million $STRK tokens to support committee-approved game projects, especially those that can incentivize game development and player participation.
In addition, Immutable, King River Capital, and Polygon Labs have jointly launched a $100 million “Inevitable Games Fund”. This fund combines the expertise of the three parties in the gaming and blockchain fields to seek and invest in promising game studios and Web3 infrastructure.
Overview of Blockchain Games
In March, the number of active blockchain games remained stable at 2,879, with no significant fluctuations in the market. However, the industry is eagerly anticipating major breakthroughs to significantly increase user participation.
In this context, a question arises: will the popular game Notcoin this month become a game changer that the market is anticipating? This simple click game, based on the Telegram messaging app, has attracted over 35 million players in just a few months. Players only need to interact with the Notcoin bot on Telegram, invite friends, and start playing to earn game coins. However, what prompted 35 million users to engage in this seemingly simple “click the screen to get game coins” game? The answer lies in the upcoming airdrop activity. Notcoin announced that it will migrate its large number of game coins to the blockchain using The Open Network (TON) in April, which has attracted great market attention. But this raises another question: if only game coins are on the chain and other game mechanics, equipment, and data are not, can a game be called a “blockchain game”?
Meanwhile, several games and platforms with impressive performance emerged in March. Among them, the token $GALA of Gala Games saw a rise of 69.6%. Gala is dedicated to building a large-scale AAA game platform that empowers players with unprecedented freedom, control, and rewards.
On the other hand, the Ethereum-based open-world fantasy battle game Illuvium also made significant progress, successfully completing a $12 million Series A financing. Positioned as the first AAA game on Ethereum, Illuvium stands out with its fully 3D environment, setting it apart from other blockchain games. In March, its $ILV token value increased by 18.2%.
Blockchain Game Investment and Financing
The gaming industry experienced an investment frenzy in March, raising a total of $151 million, an 80.6% increase compared to the previous month, involving 26 rounds of financing. This significant growth highlights the continued favor and high attention of capital to the industry.
Key Dynamics in March
Ubisoft will become an XPLA ecosystem node validator.
Pebble, the Web3 gaming platform under NHN, has reached a strategic cooperation with Footprint Analytics.
The game blockchain Saga announced the establishment of the Saga Origins department for Web3 game distribution.
Sony is seeking a patent for “super fungible” game tokens.
Korean game company Nexon revealed that the blockchain version of its game MapleStory Universe will abandon Polygon and switch to Avalanche.
This article is for industry research and communication purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. The market carries risks, and investments should be made with caution.
About Footprint Analytics
Footprint Analytics is a blockchain data solutions provider. With cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, it offers the first no-code data analysis platform and unified data API for the crypto field, allowing users to quickly retrieve fund flow tracking data for over 30 public chain ecosystems, NFTs, games, and wallet addresses.
Product Highlights:
Data API for developers;
Footprint Growth Analytics (FGA) for GameFi projects;
Batch download for big data;
All data sets provided by Footprint.
Follow us on Twitter (Footprint_Data) for more product updates.
Tags:
DeFi, GameFi, Social, Metaverse
WEB3
Cryptocurrency
Funding
Market Trends
Note: The content of this article is for industry research and communication purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
Original article link: [https://www.bitpush.news/articles/6585316](https://www.bitpush.news/articles/6585316)
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