MetaJam Asia 2022 is officially a wrap, but not before ending the event with its Web3 Summit to discuss about the future of crypto.
MetaJam Asia 2022 ended its first Singapore’s first NFT experiential festival with a final hurrah with the Web3 Summit held between 26th to 28th July.
Over the three days, the Web3 Summit explored three different themes:
- Navigating The World of NFTs, with discussions around the industries that it is impacting and the relevant risks
- Navigating the World of DeFi, GameFi and the Metaverse, which explored the potentials of GameFi, Play-To-Earn, and the metaverses.
- The Future of Web3, which touched on Web 3.0 technology and current regulations.
CoinPasar had the pleasure of attending the phygital, or physical-slash-digital, Web3 Summit which showcased a line-up of keynote speeches, debates, and sharing workshops hosted by leading personnel and speakers from the region’s Web3.0 space.
Here are our choice takeaways from the event.
Why Venture Funds Are Rushing Into The World Of Crypto
Despite the ongoing bear market and tumultuous future of cryptocurrency protocols, investments into Web3-linked projects like Unstoppable Domains & Space and Time by venture capital (VC) firms show no signs of slowing down. What drives VCs to go against the market trend?
The Web3 Summit discussion saw Derek Lim, Spartan Labs’ Head of Research; Gwendolyn Regina, Investment Director of Binance’s BNB Chain; and Ben Wee, Vice President of Crypto.com Capital, coming together to give their take on the issue.
The panel unanimously agreed the main driver for continued investments is because Web3 is a nascent space, and the potential for higher, liquid returns remain. In short, the three factors of a potential project are:
- Projects that hold up well in a bear market
- Protocols that are experimenting with new mechanisms, especially in DeFi
- Protocols that can complement the growth of chains like BNB and CRO blockchains
Adding to the conversation, Gwen believes projects that have a clear strategy and direction are more likely to be onboarded onto blockchain ecosystems such as the BNB chain. To date, the BNB chain ecosystem is one of the largest with over 3,800 decentralised apps at the time of writing.
And what is the next trend in the Web3 space? The panel believes that MusicFi, or protocols looking to decentralise music streaming, may be the next trending hype.
GameFi’s Potential: Where Will the Next 10 Million Users Come From?
Gamers, not games, were the key takeaway about the future of GameFi. The Web3 Summit panelists included Prakash Somosundram, CEO of launchpad platform Enjinstarter; Alfonso ‘Cholo’ Maputol, CEO of Play It Forward DAO which aims to revolutionise crypto gaming; and Francois Zhang, Investment Director of venture capital firm Arcane Group.
What needs to happen for more GameFi adoption? For Prakash it’s all about the collaboration between gaming fandoms, while Alfonso believes the user experience needs to be improved. On the other hand, Francois believes that education about blockchain gaming is key to success.
Despite their different takes, the panel agreed that blockchain games should focus on easing the user experience and lower the entry barrier. This means focusing on mobile-based games where a large percentage of Asian gamers are and easing complicated processes like creating wallets to store tokens and rewards. Indonesia had the highest number of mobile gamers in Southeast Asia (SEA) with 59.8 million players in 2021. Plus mobile games accounted for $3.1 billion, or 70% of the total SEA gaming revenue in 2019.
The panel also touched on education and partnerships as strategic points to address before more players jump onboard the GameFi space. Gamers are currently unfamiliar with blockchain gaming and tend to regard it as a scam. More public gaming events and education about the technology, along with creating partnerships with gaming studios, are the key to driving adoption further amongst gamers.
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