Tap-to-earn made a breakthrough for cryptocurrencies, bringing millions of new users into the industry who had never made a single blockchain transaction before.
After the success of Notcoin, which generously rewarded users, expectations were high for Hamster Combat. The audience was already engaged, and tap-to-earn became a daily activity for many, even those far removed from cryptocurrencies. The potential to make the project truly popular was enormous.
In May-June, some already estimated Hamsterâs potential FDV at a couple of billion dollars.
While Notcoin talked about decentralization and nodes, here there was little need to explain: users quickly understoodâ the more points you score, the more tokens you get.
âïžThe Boom of Tap-to-Earn
Thousands of tap-to-earn games appeared on Telegram. Some users played dozens of them daily, even creating multiple accounts. Tap-to-earn traffic was extremely cheap, and the referral system generated itself. You couldnât get a perk or item unless you invited three friends, plus you received a portion of your referral's income. To get started, the project needed to create quality creatives and work with bloggers, often for future tokens.
âïžHow the Project Made Money
Projects made money from ads, and a lot of it. Traffic was cheap, and users were given tasks to subscribe to channels, watch videos, visit websites, register on exchange sites, etc. Projects broke even in 1-2 months and then generated such income that many tokens became irrelevant, especially for smaller projects that didnât harbor illusions of a successful listing, even though they told users different stories.
âïžSelling Ads, Not Building a Community
Tap-to-earn on Telegram was a very cheap advertising channelâits main function. Unfortunately, unlike other airdrops where users also had to complete tasks but the goal was to boost metrics, build a large active community, introduce the user to the product, and build loyalty.
Here, the goal was to show you ads. Tokens were a secondary goal. Many small tap-to-earns wonât even bother with proper listings. Iâm sure they will conduct TGE simply on DEX because listings on centralized platforms are paid and quite expensive.
âïžBad Timing
The decline of altcoins over the past two months hit the airdrop market hard. If they had listed a bit earlier, the results might have been different, but not drastically so, I suppose.
âïžAny Exceptions?
DOGS is an exception. They launched the token on a strong news hook. There are tap-to-earn projects with actual products; they promise to offer something else, like a game or service (Blum is a prime example). It looks more classic: the tap-to-earn becomes a tool for the project's boost and community growth, not the only revenue method. But they will suffer too.
âïžWhy is This a Funeral?
I met people and got messages asking how much Hamster could bring. I estimated no more than $100, but no one agreed with me; most active players expected much more, even laughing at my estimate. Players are very disappointed. When you receive a meager drop after putting in real effort, it leaves a bad taste and feels like a waste of time. This creates negative feedback. For many, it was their first airdrop. Getting $10-20 after months of playing is disheartening for the average user. Yes, some earned much more, but the ordinary player who occasionally logged in got about that much.
Tap-to-earn attracted users with the potential to earn. Notcoin gave a beautiful hope (a dream). Hamster brought many back down to earth.
Some projects will still shoot up, but only if the altseason starts and they time their listings well.
đThe Tap-to-Earn Industry Faces a Pullback.
Users are starting to understand the game being played: earning $2-10 for tons of viewed ads.
#NOTđ #Toncoin #HAMSTERCOIN #Blum #dogs
