ElonMusk-themedTelegramtap-to-earngameXEmpirelauncheditslong-awaitedXtokenonTheOpenNetwork(TON)onThursday,withsome6millionplayerspurportedlyeligiblefortheairdrop.Butthetokenlaunchedatapproximatelyhalftheestimatedpre-markettradingprice,andhasonlydippedfurthersincethen.
Xlaunchedatapriceofabout$0.000096perdatafromCoinMarketCapandhasbeenvolatilethroughouttheday,dippingaslowasabout$0.00005beforebouncinguptoapeakof$0.00013.It’snowdowntoabout$0.00087asofthiswriting.
Pre-markettradershadbeenbettingonthepriceofthelatestTelegramgametokenlaunchonplatformslikeBitgetandKucoin,withanaveragetradingpriceof$0.0002aheadofthetokenlaunch.Buttherealopeningpricewasabouthalfofthat.
Pre-markettradingletspeoplebetontheexpectedpriceforanupcomingtoken,thoughitcanberisky—particularlyifsomeofthetokenomicsandairdropdetailshaveyettobeconfirmed.
Meanwhile,XEmpireplayershavebeengripingaboutthesizeoftheirairdropsonsocialmedia,withnumerouspurportedplayersclaimingtohaveearned$10orlessworthoftokensforplayingtheTelegram-basedcryptogameoverthelastfewmonths.
It’sthelatestexampleofplayersbeingunderwhelmedbyahighlyanticipatedTelegramgameairdropandtokenlaunch,followingotherrecentexampleswithHamsterKombatandCatizen.Allthreegamesamassedsizablefollowings—XEmpireclaimedover50millionplayers—butomittedmanyplayers,andsomerecipientswereunhappywiththeirallotments.
ThelateststringofTelegramgameairdropsmayservetoreframeexpectationsforthenextwaveofemergingtap-to-earngamesonthemessagingplatform.
ThetrendbeganearlierthisyearwithNotcoin,whichamassedsome35millionplayersandultimatelydeliveredtheyear’sbiggestgamingtokenlaunchbyawidemargin,withtheNOTtokenpeakingatamarketcapjustshyof$3billion.Butsuccessivegames’tokenshavefailedtocommandsimilarpeakvaluations.
Atitscurrentprice,XEmpiresitsatamarketcapofjustunder$40million—wellbelowthe$106millionofCatizenand$217millionofHamsterKombat,letaloneNotcoin’s$786millioncap.
ThedevelopersofXEmpirehavesharedplanstolaunchvariousTelegramappsthatwillprovideexclusiveperkstoholders,suchasanewsfeedandalanguagelearningapp,andteasedsomeotherkindofupcomingannouncementonThursdayviaTelegram.
“Onemonthuntilsomethingbig,”theteamwrote.
decrypt.co