Splinterlands Economy

It has been ages I have written about Splinterlands. It is not because that I haven't playing the game, its rather oppositie. It is just because, there is lot of others items on my mind all the time, and Splinterlands and me are in such a relationship that things are rather natural:) Recently, I have delegated my competitve deck and playing and building a secondary deck. I don't know why, but here I am. I love playing the game still, and considering I am a late adaptor, I am doing rather well. Before, my delegation, I would routinely qualify to top 100 on every season, and depending on my focus, I have beaten most top 10 players, time to time. I have never qualified in the top 10 or even top 25, but as most regular players will tell you, that requires a lot of dedication and time, which currently I do not have.

The idea of this post came from a long comment that I made at @tarazkp 's post. I was explaining to Taraz, who is a long term prominant Hive Citizen, but not familiar with game play and the current state of the Splinterlands economy. After the comment, I realized that I didn't do a good job, and skipped many things. I did notice Taraz's surprise though on my Gold Lightning Dragon, which is priced for $12K. Most players know that it is perhaps unlikely that I can find a buyer for this card for that price, but that is besides the point. I do not plan on selling this card, EVER!

Why? Not only because it is my most valuable card but it is an NFT (Non-fungible Token). A NFT that I use almost everyday. A NFT, a card, that I am emotionally attached to. There is a history on how I got this particular card (I won't reveal it, its for some other time). Just like any collectible, its the stories and the emotional attachment to a particular item that makes it special, creates the value and the economy for that item. Like an expensive and famous Diamond like Kohinoor! This came today, as my wife mentioned to me the story about the famous and iconic YouTube Video Charlie Bit Me was taken down (the original version) from YouTube, because it was sold as an NFT for $760,999!!

I don't know about you, but I have splendid and happy memories about this video. I watched it a thousand times when my older daughter was born 10 years back. I even watched interview of the parents who made the vid. Even 10 years back it was one of the highest hit vid on YouTube, and at that time, it already paid the full college tution of both kids!! Now seems like it can pay for the seed business capital for both kids who are likely adults now (I didn't check, I don't want to check). But my point is, if you have an original work, this is what is possible today! So my gold lightening dragon might fetch $100K to the right buyer some day! LOL!

Professional Sports

The comparison to profressional sports was raised today during various discussions. I think it is still at its infancy in Splinterlands, but we do have professional players. Also players are not just earning from playing the game, but there are also capitalizing opportunties from several airdrops for various external game NFT packs, and they capitize and promote their games on Hive. Wax chain is a classic example. There are multiple airdrops packs that I have participated in WAX, and later been able to sale those packs at a profit. I am no professional NFT arbitrage guy (is that even a term, hell yes!), but I know multiple people who are. A few have even taken a break from the game to trade various NFTs.

In future, there is potential to hire professional players and build a team (read guild) and complete against other similar teams (Guild Brawls). There are potential brawl championships possible with viewership and endoresements. Maybe sooner or later we can make Splinterlands a spectator sport. Maybe even sell tickets? Anything is possible.

Economy of NFT Blockchain

Let us start with the Splinterlands marketcap chart (can be easily found by typing $marketcap on #sm-votershut channel on Splinterlands discord. Perhaps it is the most used command there...

Many people do not play the game, but they understand crypto well. They do know how to look at a chart. Be it price or market cap. Above is a 2 year marketcap chart of Splinterlands. People can identify bull market and bear market well on any chart. People already discussing if the recent correction in BTC is the beginning of a bear market.

Ladies and Gentleman, please tell me where is the bear market or correction on this chart? The worst I can say is perhaps the sideways movement in 2020 Jan-Nov around $5M. Currently the marketcap is sitting to the north of $15M. For a blockchain card game, that is a respectable number. Full disclosure, this is my only blockchain/cryptocurrency investment that doesn't have a bear market. Not yet, anyways. I adore a counter-cyclinal alternative investment like this one, as they are extremely rare these days!