With crypto gaming is set to explode (again), what GameFi tokens are trending?

Gaming has been one of crypto’s hottest narratives for some time, and with games development progressing at pace, it’s a sector that likely has its most explosive gains ahead. Bitget helps us get a bead on GameFi. 

At the time of writing, the crypto market has experienced something of a pull-back after a very strong few weeks that saw the price of Bitcoin soar to a new all-time high (above US$73,000), and many an altcoin narrative ring in strong gains in its wake.

One of the strongest of those narratives is gaming, as analysts at the Bitget global crypto exchange attest, having recently witnessed a sharp increase in trading volume across the crypto GameFi sector.

Before we touch on the sector a bit more, though – just quickly, what is GameFi?

It’s where games and finance collide to include tokenised in-game economics and rewards and, for example, NFT in-game assets that have real-world value.

Told you we’d be quick.

Why crypto gaming?

We probably needn’t mention (but will anyway) that gaming – video gaming in general – has usurped other entertainment behemoths for audience and pure monetary value, including the film and music industries.

It was valued at an estimated staggering $US385 billion in 2023, according to Statista.

In fact, gaming is now bigger than music, film and TV combined and is compounding 10 per cent year on year.

Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson recently said, via X, that “Web3 gaming is clearly becoming the next break out category” and one that “won’t wane with the next bear” market.

“The $100 billion a year spent ‘renting’ items is going to turn into a trillion dollar ownable economy,” the Immutable man is also fond of noting, adding: “All of it will be built on web3.”

With this in mind, demand is already surely baked into the crypto gaming sector, even if it were to only capture a small slice of that global market.

And, while sceptics’ voices about NFTs and in-game tokenised economies have been loud in the past, the best crypto gaming companies and projects in development are looking to abstract the buzz words and tokenised tech behind superb-looking, addictive gaming experiences to rival mainstream gaming.

Which gaming cryptos have been surging on Bitget?

As the time of writing, the Bitget GameFi Zone experienced a significant surge in trading activity during March, with the average daily trading volume nearly doubling compared to February.

The number of daily traders rose by 72 per cent, too, while the market capitalisation in the sector saw a 66 per cent increase.”

This might tell you that this is a crypto sector primed for activity when the market is hot.

Bitget Research’s chief analyst Ryan Lee noted that the following gaming-focused coins, in particular, saw high, positive trading activity:

• Gala (GALA)
• STEPN (GST)
• Ecehlon Prime (PRIME)
• DGI Game (DGI)
• Rainbow Token (RBW)
• Marblex (MBX)
• Radio Caca (RACA)
• Degen Base (DEGEN)
• BinaryX (BNX)
• Salad (SALD)

GALA and GST aside, we’ve not heard of most of those things, and one in particular sounds like a food a typical hardcore gamer probably wouldn’t be into. But we’ll definitely take the Bitget expert’s word for it here.

Narratives that could play into GameFi gains

Bitget’s research chief analyst also told us that, in the very short term, buzz surrounding the just finished Game Developers Conference 2024 (March 18 to March 22) held in San Francisco, could have been fuelling some of the recent surging in the GameFi sector.

“Select tokens within the GameFi space, such as YGG and GMT from the previous bull market, have experienced notable recent increases,” noted Lee, adding:

“Blockchain-based gaming platforms like Ronin, along with new entrants in the current bull market such as BIGTIME and PIXEL, also saw gains.

“In the lead-up to and during the conference, certain projects might capitalise on the heightened market focus to announce positive developments, potentially amplifying the momentum in the GameFi sector.”

Bitget also suggested that, assuming a crypto bull market persists post Bitcoin Halving (mid April), then the interest surrounding AI technology may well coincide and play well into another “GameFi Summer” mid year 2024.

“Technological advancements in blockchain are elevating the potential of blockchain gaming, while the entry of mainstream gaming powerhouses is set to enhance the overall quality and playability of these games,” Lee said.

“Leading-edge blockchain games and high-performance gaming blockchains are poised to spearhead the next wave in the GameFi industry.

“Platforms such as Ronin and ImmutableX are expected to roll out a plethora of blockchain gaming projects in 2024, establishing marquee projects designed to draw in a broader user base.

“Furthermore, the daily active users (DAU) of legacy GameFi projects are likely to rebound, becoming a focal point for ongoing anticipation and speculation.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Bitget, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.   This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Why crypto gaming is set to explode (again) this year, and what GameFi tokens are trending?