Imagining RWA+ Game New Narrative Will it become the engine of this bull market?

Will the New Narrative of the RWA+ Game be the Driving Force of this Bull Market?

Editor’s note: This article was written in early November 2023. As of today, November 28th, BTC has made multiple attempts to break and stabilize at the 38,000 point concentration zone. The fourth point mentioned in this article’s new narrative of the current bull market, “Bitcoin ecosystem,” is the leading track driving the surge. Ordi, listed on Binance, has skyrocketed four times in just 10 days. So, will RWA, as mentioned in the third point of this article’s new narrative, have a chance to fully showcase its potential in this bull market? What kind of sparks will fly when it collides with the world of gaming?

1. Is the Bull Market Here?

If we fast forward to November 2025, looking back on the tumultuous cryptocurrency market of the past two years, we may be surprised to find that October 23, 2023, was a typical sign of the start of this bull market: within 24 hours, BTC surged directly from 30,000 U to 34,000 U. Many gua friends who had already heavily invested around 20,000 U were elated, saying, “See, I told you the crypto bull market was coming!” However, some gua friends who missed out on the opportunity remained resolute, saying, “Currently, there is no new money entering the market based on on-chain data, and the total amount of stablecoins like USDT is still low. This is a false bull market created by the hype around the Bitcoin ETF news, and there will be a wave of corrections!”

The positive perspective of “the bull has arrived” is quite clear, as it is supported by the following three major catalysts for the bull market:

• Tron The Dark Web’s New Darling after Bitcoin
• LD Capital Cryptocurrency Track Weekly Report [2023/11/28] Overall continues to rebound, NFT market shows significant bounce-back.
• Investment Guru Charlie Munger Passes Away, Looking Back at His Legendary and Multifaceted Life

1. Bitcoin ETF accelerating the entry of funds from traditional financial institutions;

2. Bitcoin’s halving in May 2024, increasing mining costs to above 28,000;

3. The United States not raising interest rates or even lowering them;

Regardless of whether this is a real or false bull market, I’ve always pondered that for a bull market to last for at least 12 months, there must be a new narrative driving the entire industry forward. Out of the three catalysts supporting this bull market, the first and third are external forces, and the second is the well-known four-year halving rule since the release of the Bitcoin whitepaper. So, what are the industry’s new narratives that can sustain this bull market? If one doesn’t develop properly and relies solely on external information and policies, it will likely be short-lived.

Let’s take a look at the development trajectory of the previous bull market: it all started with the DeFi summer of 2020, where Bitcoin took off from around 10,000 U. DeFi was a major innovation for the industry, simulating some functions of the real-world financial system using smart contracts. It offered yield farming, decentralized trading, and derivative products, among others. Then, big influencers like Elon Musk started endorsing it. After that, the emergence of NFTs and GameFi 1.0 allowed many inexperienced users to enter the market without having to learn about DeFi’s knowledge barriers. Moreover, they could also become wealthy. And finally, the concept of the metaverse gained popularity, leading to Facebook’s rebranding as Meta. The bull market reached its peak in November 2021, with the price of Bitcoin reaching 69,000 U.

2. The New Narrative of this Bull Market

Did you see it? At least Defi, NFT, Gamefi 1.0, and Metaverse are the four innovations that emerged in the previous bull market as the industry’s own evolution points. So what are the new evolution points, or the new narratives, of this bull market? Let’s summarize:

1. SocialFi – decentralized social networking, a recent example being the rising star Friend.Tech;

2. Chain Gaming 2.0 – the gaming industry on the blockchain, also known as web2.5 gaming: assets represented on the blockchain with a focus on highly playable games leveraging those assets;

3. RWA (Real World Asset) – a massive track that can bridge the Web2 world and the crypto industry, which recently HK crypto circles have mentioned repeatedly, including Depin;

4. The rise of the Bitcoin ecosystem – after all, whether in Web2 or Web3, BTC is considered to be a value store similar to gold, so why not do something with it? We can certainly do fancy things with gold in the financial industry.

Today, let’s focus on the third point, RWA, because I have always felt that RWA is the extended narrative of DeFi, which powered the previous bull market. Just think about it, DeFi generates a bunch of virtual coins with code, and then uses smart contracts to play with them, simulating the real financial system. It’s like children playing house, having a father and a mother, pots and pans, rice and oil. BUT, what impact does this have on the real world? None! Besides BTC, which has some consensus in the Web2 world, other cryptocurrencies are seen as nothing by outsiders. So, what’s the point of all these complex and intricate operations based on thin air?

Does this mean DeFi is meaningless? Not at all! It can only be said that DeFi, which started in the previous bull market, is just the first half of this new narrative. It establishes the playing field, the rules, and the direction. It’s like preparing the kitchen, utensils, and chefs for a grand banquet. Now all we need is the ingredients to start cooking. That’s why I see RWA as the second half of DeFi, just like the two parts of “A Chinese Odyssey”: “The Magic Box of Moonlight” and “Havoc in Heaven”. Only when you connect them together can you truly appreciate their beauty.

3. How to Make the Most of RWA

What is RWA? It stands for Real World Asset, which means tokenizing real-world assets. RWA can be categorized into tangible assets and intangible assets based on the types of underlying assets. Tangible assets include real estate, commodities, art, etc., while intangible assets include bonds, stocks, carbon credits, etc. Since RWA is based on real-world assets, it requires a legal process off-chain to establish asset ownership and determine its value. Then, these assets can be tokenized through DeFi protocols and traded on-chain, while off-chain oracles monitor the value changes of these assets.

There are actually some practical applications of RWA already. The stablecoins (USDT, USDC, etc.) that we often use are essentially RWA. For example, in the “Satoshi Island” of physical assets, the hottest RWA this year in financial assets is RWA US bonds, which are examples of on-chain token issuance supported by physical assets. In fact, the idea of a Bitcoin ETF is a reverse financial RWA, where funds from the Web2 world participate in Bitcoin investment through a compliant ETF financial product; on the other hand, RWA US bonds represent Web3 funds participating in US bond investment without the need for cash outflows, earning about 5% in annual returns.

In 2018, there was a booming wave of STO, which was an early attempt of RWA. During that period, there were attempts to make traditional assets compliant and put them on the blockchain. A batch of Web3 entrepreneurial projects emerged with this goal in mind, such as tZERO, Polymath, Aspen, etc., and they also made some case attempts, such as Aspen REIT, Resolute.Fund, Fundament Group, etc. However, due to various reasons such as market conditions, economic cycles, and regulations, the STO market did not develop as smoothly as imagined.

The mainstream approach to RWA currently is relatively simple. It involves tokenization similar to securitization, allowing crypto funds (such as various stablecoins) to have ownership or rights to profits of real-world physical assets or financial assets. This is a straightforward one-to-one relationship, and ownership is also subject to the restrictions of real-world laws. If we want to diversify the gameplay of RWA and have more users participate, we need to design better application scenarios for RWA, and we believe it will show outstanding performance in this bull market, thus defining itself as the basic application infrastructure for RWA.

Imagine this, in a game setting similar to “Monopoly” or “The Sims,” you enter a securities exchange, link your wallet, and actually buy Tesla stocks with the game tokens or U in your wallet, then enjoy the benefits given to you by Musk. Or, when we engage in virtual tourism in a gamified scenario and visit a particular city, we can conveniently buy shares of landmark buildings as part of real asset investments. Isn’t that cool? Of course, here we are only considering the user experience, as for the legal regulations and how to connect with real securities departments, that would require skillful project teams.

In fact, the described basic application settings of RWA can be considered as part of the metaverse in a broad sense, but in terms of security and integration with Web2, it is more hardcore, so it needs to be separated and presented as a new narrative. Currently, it seems that gamified RWA scenarios should be able to attract more users. Not only can it connect the tokens in wallets with the real world for Web3 players, but it can also allow Web2 players to experience the uniqueness of Web3 products: no need to go through the cumbersome paperwork of the real world, just a wallet connection is enough; the ownership shares are always reflected on the chain and can be traded at any time.

So, here’s the question: how can we make Web2 players smoothly enter Web3 and recognize the new gameplay of RWA+ games? Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a Web2 user in the real world who wants to enter the virtual world of RWA+Web3 or even the embryonic metaverse. What difficulties would they face, and what would their desires be?

Firstly, they would be overwhelmed by the previously unfamiliar Web3 information that comes rushing at them. Public chains, wallets, DeFi, and other basic knowledge may seem straightforward, but they go deep, and learning them can be overwhelming and confusing. Then they would be attracted to various innovative Web3 projects and models, tempted by the myth of getting rich quick. They would be eager to jump in but also afraid of becoming “leeks” with nothing left. So, they would seek advice from everywhere, hoping to learn the true investment secrets of Web3 or find reliable investment advice. Furthermore, they would hope to find a truly enjoyable gaming experience in the virtual world of Web3. They would also want their high-end virtual identity to extend into the real world, allowing them to participate in some meaningful and exclusive activities that seamlessly blend online and offline.

The above imaginings may seem overly idealistic, but they are indeed the simplest and most fundamental desires in the hearts of most Web2 players transitioning to Web3. Now, are there any products or games on the market that can meet or partially meet these needs? We have specifically searched the market and found the following cases for your reference.

Four, examples of RWA+ games.

1. DeFi Kingdom

If you want to learn Web3 knowledge but find reading articles, studying white papers, and doing desktop research too boring, is there a product that allows you to learn Web3 knowledge while playing a game? Well, there is such a project, and it’s called DeFi Kingdom.

DeFi Kingdom is a Play2Earn game based on the Harmony public chain, which was launched during the previous bull market. However, it is not just a game; it is also a Dex and an NFT trading market. The entire game map can be described as visualizing and gamifying the functionalities of Dex and NFT. For example, in the Gardens, players can provide LP through Druid and receive Jewel token rewards. In the Marketplace, users can purchase the main in-game token Jewel and stake it in the Jeweler’s bank to earn xJewel tokens and enjoy various rights and governance privileges, including participating in voting. Players can also use the Trader feature to exchange Jewel tokens, Harmony tokens, stablecoins, and other mainstream cryptocurrencies.

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Another aspect of the game is the gameplay based on Hero NFTs, including Hero blind boxes, completing quests for rewards, PVP battles, and more. Users can purchase or lease Heroes in the Tavern and produce offspring Heroes through breeding. Heroes have different attributes such as lineage, profession, rarity, and ability values, and the quality and attributes of the offspring produced through breeding are also related to these attributes. The higher the lineage level, the more breeding attempts can be made and the lower the breeding cost. The profession, rarity, and attributes of the next generation of Heroes bred have a certain probability distribution and require some effort to study. Once you have a Hero, you can perform various tasks in the Kingdom, including garden defense, Jewel mining, dungeon raids, and more, to protect the garden from attacks or uncover new treasures. You can also participate in tournaments with three players at regular intervals to compete for prizes.

In the future, the game will launch functions such as land, buildings, equipment, PVP, etc., forming a more complete game ecosystem. Overall, DeFi Kingdom is a successful integration of Dex and NFT market features in a game. Through the game, players can learn, use, and gain a preliminary experience of knowledge and operations in Dex and NFT trading. They can also earn game tokens through Play2Earn, staking, mining, etc., making it a win-win situation.

But like most games, the excessive financial attributes inevitably lead to a rapid decline in the game’s growth, known as the death spiral. According to Defi Llama data, during the peak period in early 2022, TVL (Total Value Locked) reached over $900 million, making it a star in Harmony’s blockchain ecosystem. However, as the previous bull market and chain game hype subsided, the latest TVL data is only around $2.2 million, which is slightly above 0.2% of the peak period.

DeFi Kingdom is a gamified attempt at Dex and NFT markets, and its success in combining DeFi and gaming has had a profound impact on the Web3 market. The breakout of RWA+ games is fundamentally similar to DeFi Kingdom; it requires creating a gamified scenario to seamlessly integrate RWA into the game, allowing players to unknowingly learn about relevant finance and investment knowledge through the gaming experience. Furthermore, they can directly participate in the investment process through the game, which will undoubtedly be an innovative breakthrough for RWA.

2. Monopoly-style board games

Real estate is one of the main asset classes of RWA, and games in the real estate category often remind people of Monopoly-style board games. I believe many of us have had some exposure to Monopoly-type games, whether online or offline versions. Like Web2, Monopoly-style games in the Web3 market have also stood the test of time. Currently, there are two influential Monopoly games in the Web3 market: Meta World (Richman 2) and Mhaya.

Everyday Tycoon 2 is the new work of Netmarble, the largest mobile game developer in South Korea. It is a land-building chess strategy game based on the gameplay of Monopoly. In addition to the basic gameplay of Monopoly, which includes moving pieces, building houses, upgrading, collecting tolls, and ultimately achieving victory, it also incorporates Web3 content. Players can connect their Web3 wallets to exchange diamonds and further exchange them for crystals and game props.

The highlight of the game is the addition of a virtual island gameplay. Players can build properties on the virtual island, which can bring them continuous income. The higher the value of the property, the higher the income it brings. If you purchase the land NFT, you can also earn token rewards. Players can participate in games and competitions to earn trophies. The more trophies they have, the higher their investment level will be, increasing their game revenue. The game also includes hero characters. As the game progresses, more and more heroes will be unlocked, bringing additional bonuses in the game, such as special dice rolls and free buildings.

All in all, Everyday Tycoon 2’s game quality in Web3 is top-notch. The game’s art style, smoothness, and overall experience are not much different from traditional Web2 games. However, with the addition of Web3 elements, it instantly ignites players’ passion for earning money. I’ve seen many people in the community researching how to make money through game rules and have achieved decent profits.

Another Monopoly game, Mhaya, is still in the testing phase. The project completed a $5 million Pre-A round of financing in May this year and recently completed the airdrop of NFT assets. There are four levels (F1-F4), each corresponding to different values, staking rewards, and output rewards. Higher-level NFTs are produced in the game and have much higher output efficiency than regular NFTs.

Mhaya focuses on concepts such as free, easy-to-learn, money-making, and anti-monopoly. It has two modes: single-player and multiplayer. Players can build various buildings, collect tokens, explore lucky events, and create their own cities in the game. The game adds a series of random and entertaining reward mechanisms, all of which are open and transparent. There are a total of 40 events in the game, with beneficial events accounting for 82.5%, detrimental events accounting for 2.5%, and random events accounting for 15%. The number of events distributed on the game board determines the probabilities. In random events, the overall probability of triggering a beneficial result is 64.44%, while the overall probability of triggering a detrimental result is 35.56%. The main profit of the game comes from building buildings, which are divided into commercial buildings or miracle buildings. The higher the level of the building, the higher the profit bonus. When players enter a building unit, they can receive corresponding HAYA rewards. The reward value is determined by the character level and building level, with higher levels resulting in higher rewards.

The game has two tokens, MAYA as the governance token, and HAYA as the in-game token. The HAYA token can be earned through gameplay, staking, and other rewards. One notable feature of the game is the presence of free and staking pools, corresponding to 10% and 60% of the total token supply, respectively. This shows their sincerity. The staking incentives for the 60% token will greatly encourage players to stake, reducing the pressure of short-term mining and selling. The game also includes character NFTs, which can be obtained using MAYA tokens at different levels, each corresponding to a different output rate.

The above two highly anticipated monopoly-like games are a concentrated representation of Web3 financial simulation game products. In fact, monopoly-like games are perfect candidates for the RWA concept, as the entire game model is based on real estate investment and can be transformed through Web3 to integrate Web3 gameplay, allowing everyone to have fun while also making money. However, the drawback of these games is that they tend to focus too much on entertainment value, downplaying their educational potential. This includes not fully replicating the real investment process and details in the gameplay. In simple terms, it has yet to enter the process of connecting to the real estate world, and can only be considered a game to play, not a source of education or a true RWA.

3. AssetClub

Recently, a game called AssetClub appeared on the market. At first glance, it seems to be another monopoly-style chess-based Web3 game. However, after having the opportunity to play the beta version, I realized that it is actually an online version of a wealth flow game. Many of you may have participated in offline wealth flow sandbox board game activities, such as the globally renowned bestselling book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” also releasing an offline wealth flow board game. Usually, such activities last at least 2-3 hours, but everyone enjoys it because in each game, through simulating investments, wealth, and various life events, each move feels like experiencing a virtual life. At the end of each activity, when everyone summarizes and exchanges their experiences, everyone feels a mix of joy, regret, and reluctance. They always wonder how the outcome would have been different if they played again from the beginning and made different decisions at key points. And that’s what AssetClub is: an online version of this wealth flow game. Compared to the slow-paced gameplay of the offline version, AssetClub speeds up the entire game process, with each game taking approximately 10-20 minutes.

The main interface of AssetClub is also a chess-like game interface, but unlike the goal of Monopoly (to build more buildings, collect more tolls, and achieve ultimate success), the goal of AssetClub’s game is to achieve financial freedom, that is, monthly investment income > monthly expenses. The game realistically recreates the investment experience of the golden 40 years of life from the age of 25 to 65, starting from a naive graduate who has just entered the workplace, getting promoted and earning more money, getting married and having children, and going through a series of life, career, and investment practices to finally achieve the goal of financial freedom in a certain stage of life. The game emphasizes randomness, with each event on the grid being random, and the map composition also having a certain randomness, ensuring that each game experience for the player will be different and will have different life insights.

Another major feature of AssetClub is the integration of a lot of Web3 knowledge, allowing players to quickly come into contact with the concept of Web3 through quizzes, investments, and digital currency transactions, and form preliminary cognition through simulation operations. Through the rise and fall of assets in the game, players can have a more intuitive and vivid, up-close encounter with the assets they are interested in, and through simulated deduction, they can understand in advance the opportunities and risks that assets may encounter.

In terms of Tokenomics, the game has two tokens, ACC and FLC. ACC is the game token, mainly used for in-game output and empowerment, such as drawing professions, battling, purchasing props and equipment, etc.; FLC is the governance token, which has the right to pledge, vote, and share platform income.

Another narrative of this project is to establish a global community of investors through the game, building a decentralized, borderless, and fully shared investment world for global users to fully learn, share, explore, and practice digital assets. This project actually combines the first point mentioned at the beginning of this article: social interaction.

In fact, what is more noteworthy about this project compared to the Monopoly-like games introduced above is that the project team will actually take actions in the field of RWA (real-world assets). Because in their external introduction, the main members of the project team were originally engaged in the financial education industry in the Web2 industry, and now they are trying to use AssetClub, this Web3 product, to link the team’s original real-world resources, establish a fast track for investment (brokerages, banks, investment advisors, etc.), and based on game data and the investment preferences of players, more accurately recommend suitable investment products for them. Perhaps in the future, it will be possible to directly buy and sell global stocks and bonds through cryptocurrencies in AssetClub.

In the future, the project team will also empower game assets, link more game resources to offline activities, and hold more investment exchange meetings, cocktail parties, VIP services, etc., attracting Web2 players and truly breaking through the circle.

Overall, AssetClub is an investment education game that takes the form of a game with financial education content as its main focus and investment resources as its essence. Players can practice Web3 investment skills, gain insights into life, discover the keys to wealth in the community, and through the act of investing, connect more virtual worlds with real-life. At the moment, AssetClub’s concept is relatively new and most likely to achieve the integration of RWA+games, which is the focal point of the new narrative we are exploring in this bull market. The project has completed its angel round of financing, but the financing information seems to have not been announced yet. The game will be available on Google Play and the App Store in the near future, so interested players can give it a try.

5. Summary and Outlook

In this in-depth investment research article, we discuss the favorable conditions for the upcoming new bull market and compare them to the foundations of the previous bull market. We then discuss the four new narratives of the new bull market and further analyze the RWA track and its evolution. Finally, through four cases: DeFi Kingdom, Richman 2+Mhaya, and AssetClub, we explore the possible forms of breaking the circle for RWA+games.

RWA is not a new proposition. At the beginning of the establishment of blockchain technology, people hoped to empower the real economy and finance through blockchain technology and its inherent transparent and tamper-proof transaction attributes. However, after many years of efforts and multiple attempts by practitioners, the only track that has truly gone mainstream and been widely adopted is the payment track. In the vast world of RWA, what will be the next category to break out? Some say it is US Treasury bonds because they are the most standardized financial products; others say it is real estate because it is the most important window connecting the real world. We believe that in addition to financial assets and tangible assets, introducing web2 business models is also an important direction to explore.

On the other hand, as the most important functional and scenario-based application track of blockchain technology, games also have the opportunity to become a bridge connecting blockchain technology and RWA. Through gamified scenarios, complex and boring digital and financial principles can be presented to users in a visual and interesting way, allowing people to better understand and apply them. DeFi Kingdom is a good example of a Dex scenario, while Richman 2 and Mhaya are attempts at scenario-based real estate investment. AssetClub is more comprehensive, appearing as a game of wealth circulation but actually creating a Web3 investment, communication, and resource embedding platform. All three models have the potential to break the circle for RWA, corresponding to financial, real estate, and comprehensive investment platforms.

In the thriving Web3 industry, one of the goals many people strive for is financial freedom. Games and life are no exception. I hope everyone can seize the opportunity of this bull market’s new narrative in the RWA track and achieve personal breakthroughs through continuous self-learning.

Disclaimer:

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