Thread by @The_ReadingApe

Join us today as we share the pod summary of @BanklessHQ, where the hosts @TrustlessState and @RyanSAdams interview @AriannaSimpson from @a16z. She specialises in crypto gaming and will be sharing her thoughts on the crypto gaming space. Read on below 👇

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z Who is Arianna Simpson?

🔸 General partner from a16z
🔸 Founded Autonomous Partners before that
🔸 Recently named in Fortune's 40 under 40

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z 🔸 We figured she's a voracious reader too
🔸 Hence the trading card depicts her as Belle, from Beauty and the Beast
🔸 In the podcast, she recommends Masters of Doom by @davidkushner
🔸 This is the book that inspires the quote in the trading card

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner Why crypto gaming now?

🔸 Crypto, in general, was building infrastructure before this
🔸 Now reached a level of functionality to build upon
🔸 Crypto has a high barrier 🚧 to entry, but gaming is more approachable and fun
🔸 Gaming is the way to onboard mainstream people to join

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner Infrastructure

🔸 In order for crypto gaming to bloom, we need to focus on scalability solutions, i.e. L1 and L2
🔸 E.g. @flow_blockchain by @dapperlabs is designed specifically for gaming
🔸 E.g @0xPolygon has taken off and many games are on it
🔸 Cost will have to come down

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon "When I minted my YGG badge, I think I ended up paying nearly $100 [in gas]. That's kind of outrageous. And, you know, I would certainly not be willing to spend that much as a transaction costs for most things."

Arianna Simpson

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon Total addressable market (TAM)

🔸 TAM is all the people on the 🌐
🔸 Hard to forecast demand until the barrier to entry is reduced
🔸 This includes scalability solutions and lowering transaction costs
🔸 People didn't forecast everyone to have cell phones 📱 back in the 80s too

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon Crypto Gaming

Short history
🔸 Starts off with buying a game, comes with 📀 and just playing it
🔸 Evolved into the freemium model - the game was free but had to buy skins/items. Assets are not owned by players
🔸 Cost of joining is negative - paid to play, earning crypto assets

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon "In the early days you have a kind of the honour system where you would either mail cash or a cheque and then you would get a game in the mail. And I was just like, oh my god, people used to be so good. I still believe they're good 👼 "

Arianna Simpson

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon Owning assets in-game

🔸 Important for players to own their assets earned in-game
🔸 In crypto, power 💪 and wealth are reclaimed from platforms and redistributed back to the community
🔸 Games are both fun and a source of income

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon New generation of games

🔸 New-gen games do not hold players captive 🔒 - they are willing participants
🔸 Unlike the past, where players are not allowed to cash out and are held captive to avoid value leaks
🔸 More game studios are having crypto as part of their strategy

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon The transition of trad game studios:

🔸 Bigger triple-A studios cannot avoid crypto anymore
🔸 Hard to reconfigure their biz model
🔸 Have to evolve or risk losing their player base
🔸 Might only act when there is a real existential threat, which is when it is too late

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon Player acquisition

🔸 For play-to-earn game, >90% of the players are referred by other players in the game
🔸 Highly organic growth
🔸 The scholarship guides in @AxieInfinity are provided a valuable service to the game economies

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity "You want to tell people about it because it's improving your life in a meaningful way. And so you want your friends and your neighbours to do the same. Games are no longer something that you try to get your kid to stop doing. But it's a really positive force."

Arianna Simpson

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity Game vs Real economy

🔸 There are different participants performing different roles in the economy
🔸 Time > Money: Play the game and earn tokens to sell
🔸 Money > Time: Buy from others or hire others to play
🔸 Game and real world economies are not much different

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity Play-to-earn a Ponzi 🔺?

🔸 No - depends on the willingness of players to put in money to buy
🔸 Game economy will collapse if games are not enticing enough
🔸 This is similar to many other games out there
🔸 Digital world has plenty of things to attract players to come in

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild

🔸 Started by @gabusch, @berylchavezli & @OwlOfMoistness
🔸 YGG lends out axies to players who can't afford the upfront cost to own a team to play
🔸 These scholars will earn in-game tokens, which YGG will take a cut. Can be converted to fiat

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness "I love it. I mean, I think this kind of stuff to me is just like the essence of the space and why I say that I'll never be able to do anything else in my life. Because what am I gonna do? Like, sell bonds after this? Come on now."

Arianna Simpson

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness Bot farming 🤖

🔸 Top of the mind for game builders, but the problem is not insurmountable
🔸 Solved by technology and adding enough complexity to separate players from bots
🔸 Players not being locked in a game also forces developers to work out solutions to prevent mass exodus

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness Innovation

🔸 Crypto don't take itself seriously - not concerned about being wrong
🔸 Everything is open, composable, permissionless - very conducive to innovation and creativity
🔸 @lootproject is an example of such creativity
🔸 The community builds from ground up

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness @lootproject DAOs and crypto gaming

🔸 DAOs are organisational units that generally have a financial component
🔸 A crypto native LLC structure that organises people around a shared objective
🔸 Make sense to have DAO structure in gaming communities e.g pooling to buy Mystic axies

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness @lootproject China's ban on video games

🔸 Games helped players to learn about strategy and collaboration to achieve an objective with constraints
🔸 Don't agree with the ban, but the rule is difficult to enforce, so wait and see
🔸 Tangible benefits in playing games - not a waste of time

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness @lootproject "When I was a kid, I played a lot of video games. My mom didn't like it so much. You know, if I was grounded, I get grounded from video games. David was sharing a story with me before this podcast, that his mom used to hide the power cord from you, right?"

Ryan Sean Adams

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness @lootproject Metaverse:

🔸 Metaverse is a virtual world and crypto games are virtual worlds
🔸 With games, people can hop into specific worlds that cater to their preference
🔸 Unlike countries with border controls, the digital worlds are open and limitless
🔸 This is the next frontier

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness @lootproject $ETH as an asset

🔸 She is pro $BTC
🔸 Logic that just because a token has a fixed cap, hence the value will only go up is not true
🔸 The richness of developers and projects built on the blockchain matters too
🔸 $ETH is money - one of the critical currencies of the Metaverse

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness @lootproject Links:

Substack: thereadingape.substack.com/p/bankless-85-…

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness @lootproject Podcast: podcast.banklesshq.com/85-the-crypto-…

@BanklessHQ @TrustlessState @RyanSAdams @AriannaSimpson @a16z @davidkushner @flow_blockchain @dapperlabs @0xPolygon @AxieInfinity @YieldGuild @gabusch @berylchavezli @OwlOfMoistness @lootproject Like our work?

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~ End Thread