Superpowered NFTs – Gamification

If you’ve been in the blockchain space for only a short amount of time, chances are you will have heard about NFTs and what they might mean for the art and crypto sectors. In this post, I want to help you understand what ‘gamification’ looks like.

‘Gamifying’ means applying the basic principles behind game theory and game design to make financial assets more human and rewarding. It is particularly useful when applied to store of value or long-term investment solutions, which are by nature relatively static… and frankly, often boring and convoluted.

This technique is built on the principle that humans find competing and winning rewards to be hugely stimulating, but the context in which those things happen in our financial system is not.

They also hugely enjoy getting good at something, and so are naturally more drawn to a skill-building game than to making deposits in an ISA or 401k. And lastly, they love making all of their decisions in complete autonomy – as testified by the recent surge in interest for retail investment solutions such as Robinhood or FreeTrade.

It’s not all for fun and giggles though! These solutions have a significant upside for the institutions that run them, of course.

With retention and loyalty being the most important key revenue and growth drivers for banks and brokers alike, it’s not hard to see why this seems to work for all involved. Rewards and ‘recognition’ can also lead users to feel more appreciated and valued, with both features being the hallmark of a healthy customer-brand relationship. It’s a no-brainer!

You probably didn’t think of them as such, but you’ve already engaged with plenty of gamification in your journey as a customer.

If you have a frequent flyer card or a credit card with cashback, you’ve already been ‘playing’ every time you cash in a reward.

You will have also received ‘sign on’ bonuses or initial discounts from all sorts of online businesses, and probably have your pockets full of ‘get the 10th one free’ slips from your local coffee shop.

In recent times, some financial institutions have gone further: BBVA launched a very successful platform that would reward customers for watching instructional videos about their platform. You might know major crypto exchange Binance has released a similar initiative through their cash-for-learning ‘Binance Earn‘ programme.

You might be wondering, as any seasoned crypto investor would… am I late to the game, though?

Well, this year’s Mordor Intelligence’s report on the Gamification market seems to disagree. While they reference the market is already healthy and sizable, they expect it could grow from the current 7.17$ billion to a whopping $23 billion in just over 2 years.

In February this year, Origin partnered with American music producer and DJ 3LAU to release his new album online as an NFT. In a first of its kind, the NFTs were sold in an auction with the top 33 bidders receiving tokens with varying levels of benefits. With $11.7 million raised by these top bidders, bids ranged from $65,001 to $3.66 million securing the top spot. This winning bid not only received a physical vinyl and unlock exclusive content but also the opportunity to collaborate with 3LAU on a future song.

EtherCards is another example that you are still early. The project’s main sale on March 18 is riding off the back of a successful presale. The team is developing smart contracts that can automatically assign attributes to NFTs such as royalty distribution, fee exemption, and coupon codes. Other possible use-cases for the platform include membership, subscription, and access attributes. The average person can now have the ability to add gamification features to their collectibles.

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