According to ChainCatcher, mempool data shows that El Salvador currently holds 6,025 BTC, worth approximately $5.7 billion.

Telegram-based mini app BIRDS has a growing flock of fans in the world of blockchain gaming, capturing the attention of crypto enthusiasts and helping them take their first step into other aspects of blockchain technology. Only a few months after its July, 2024 launch, the platform has already gained significant traction, attracting millions of players with its fun, frictionless experience that encourages players to engage in the blockchain ecosystem — even those who’ve never done anything other than DeFi. 

At the heart of this success is BIRDS’ mission: to seamlessly onboard offchain Telegram users into the Web3 space and turn them into active users of Sui.

“We want to be the go-to gateway for newcomers to Web3,” said Aaron P., BIRDS Head of Marketing.

Making the blockchain fun and accessible

The team behind BIRDS understands that, although the majority of crypto enthusiasts on platforms like Telegram are drawn to the speculative and volatile nature of the industry, many of them have not explored the practical, transformative potential of blockchain technology itself. So with BIRDS, they’re trying to bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3 spaces by providing an engaging, educational entry point for newcomers.

“BIRDS is designed for everyone, regardless of their crypto knowledge,” said Aaron. “Our goal is to provide Web2-level simplicity in a Web3 environment, easing the transition for newcomers.”

BIRDS introduces Telegram users to the world of DeFi and gaming by integrating highly engaging gamification features that make the game fun and rewarding to play while utilizing Sui’s scalable infrastructure to create a seamless experience with a low barrier to entry.

Inspired by Telegram-based mini apps like Catizen and Hamster Kombat, BIRDS is designed to be easy to start and difficult to stop. First-time players start off with an egg, which develops over time based on the player’s activity on Telegram. By completing daily check-ins and social tasks, and interacting with other players, users earn BIRDS tokens to level up their egg. Once the egg reaches level 21, it hatches into a bird.

At this point, the player enters a whole new phase of gameplay, using their bird to prey on resources like WORMS and additional BIRDS tokens. These resources are crucial for upgrading the bird, making it stronger, faster, and capable of unlocking more advanced in-game features. There’s also a community element to the game, as players can create guilds and engage in cooperative gameplay.

0:00 / 0:20 1× A token economy designed for engagement

Part of what makes BIRDS so engaging is its token-based reward structure. In addition to in-game rewards, BIRDS runs incentive-driven campaigns in collaboration with other Sui projects, including Cetus, Navi, Turbos, and SeaPad. One recent initiative was the Sui Discovery campaign, which incentivized players to explore the Sui ecosystem. During that campaign, more than 50,000 participants completed 10 million social tasks, and 1.2 million BIRDS tokens and 1.09 million partner tokens were distributed.

BIRDS blends the playful, viral nature of memecoins with the utility of a GameFi token. Approximately 20 percent of the project's focus is on creating a fun, meme-driven environment, while the remaining 80 percent is rooted in GameFi mechanics, rewarding dedicated players and ecosystem contributors. While all of the details have yet to be announced, Aaron says the tokenomics structure is designed to ensure sustainability, with features like reward redistribution and token burns to maintain balance and value over time.

“A significant portion of the initial airdrop is reserved for Sui ecosystem users, reinforcing our commitment to growing the network’s user base,” said Aaron.

The ideal blockchain for gaming

Behind the scenes, the game is deeply and seamlessly integrated with Sui. Most in-game actions — such as leveling up, hunting for resources, and completing social tasks — are executed onchain, ensuring transparency and decentralization. BIRDS’ collaboration with Sui was a natural choice. The team has been closely involved with Sui since its Testnet days. 

“Sui’s unmatched scalability, low transaction fees, and Move-based architecture make it the ideal blockchain for gaming,” said Aaron. “Its ecosystem maturity and robust security infrastructure position it as a top contender for mass adoption.”

Many key features of Sui have been vital to BIRDS’ rapid success. One example is BIRDS’ non-custodial wallet. It’s fully integrated into the Telegram app, which means players don’t have to juggle multiple applications (a major barrier for newcomers to crypto). The BIRDS wallet not only stores assets but also facilitates seamless transactions on Sui. This design ensures that even those without any blockchain experience can interact with Web3 technologies in a fast, secure, and intuitive manner.

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Another example is Sui's Kiosk primitive, which BIRDS uses for its NFT marketplace. The team says Kiosk gives them flexibility, higher performance, and seamless integration with game mechanics.

Meanwhile, Sui’s Move-based architecture and object-centric data model enables the creation of composable and complex assets stored directly onchain, which helps to ensure resource safety, secure smart contracts, and precise asset management. That streamlines development and gives the team additional flexibility.

Sui's high throughput and near-instant finality for independent transactions lets BIRDS deliver the best experience for an onchain game. The new Mysticeti consensus protocol significantly enhances network performance, reducing latency and optimizing resource utilization, according to the BIRDS team.

Finally, Sui’s affordable and predictable gas fee structure makes blockchain interactions more cost-effective for players, which ultimately increases accessibility and makes it possible for more people to participate.

Where BIRDS is headed

Growth of the fledgling platform is noteworthy. To date, it boasts more than 9 million users, 24.2 million transactions with 550,000 average daily transactions, 788,000 onchain accounts, and 1.3 million NFTs minted. In terms of package IDs and daily NFT collection volume, it’s already the top-ranked project on Sui. But the team is actively working on updates, including GameFi expansions to deepen gameplay and reward long-term engagement, DeFi integrations such as staking and lending, a web-based NFT marketplace with advanced trading features, and launchpad initiatives that would encourage users to further explore the Sui ecosystem.

By making it easy and fun to engage with blockchain technology, BIRDS hopes to continue bringing more users into the Web3 nest.