2022 was a tough year for market participants. Many DAOs, firms and projects did not survive the rapid decline of asset prices, and the domino effect of the subsequent insolvencies.
Merit Circle not only survived the collapse, but has come out stronger.
How?
3/28
As blockchain gaming has progressed, so has the DAO’s investment strategy.
There has been shift to focusing on bigger ticket sizes, for fewer investments. In part, this has been made more achievable due to a slowdown of the wider market.
Quality over quantity.
4/28
While not immune to market conditions, the DAO retains a strong liquid capitalization, including ~$45m USDC.
The DAO’s priority is always to protect the treasury, and so all investments and yield farming opportunities continue to undergo stringent due diligence.
5/28
The DAO continues to shift away from the unsustainable P2E scholarship model.
Games must first and foremost be enjoyable to play. This is the main focus for traditional game studios, whereas ‘earning’ was for blockchain entrepreneurs.
6/28
By focusing on helping traditional game studios incorporate blockchain technology, the DAO can support sustainable, fun blockchain games that can appeal to crypto natives, as well as traditional gamers.
Sustainability and enjoyment take priority over earning.
7/28
Merit Circle’s gaming platform @MeritGamers acts as a gateway to the industry’s best games.
Information about games, as well as exclusive early access to those games, and various other benefits, can be found on there.
As more games are launched the gaming platform will transform into hub for gaming activities.
In the future we could see private betas, unique in-game rewards and eSports tournaments all be hosted on the platform.
9/28
We also saw Staking V2 launch in November 2022, which came with a new set of rewards, a completely revamped UI, and upgraded contracts which offer longer locking times, as well as more built in flexibility.
The DAO is well prepared for a year in which significant market growth may not happen.
Merit Circle products such as Sphere, Edenhorde, and the gaming and staking platforms, continue to be developed, as well as the partnered NFT aggregator @xericxyz
12/28
The wider market down-turn in demand for NFTs and gaming assets gave the DAO an opportunity to add additional features to the Sphere marketplace @GetOnSphere before launching.
The community will be able to get their first taste of the marketplace early this year.
13/28
Sphere will continue to be developed through user feedback, and the ever-changing market demands.
All done with the intent of becoming the go-to NFT marketplace, especially for gaming assets.
14/28
While not a directly in-house Merit Circle product, NFT aggregator @xericxyz continues its development into 2023.
No official timeline for launch has been announced, but we are excited to see how Xeric evolves and progresses throughout 2023.
15/28
Merit Circle Studio’s first creation @Edenhorde was a huge success upon launch. The collection sold out, and also trended top of OpenSea for having significant volume.
16/28
The DAO will soon release news on how Edenhorde will be developed further.
Possible development news could include Edenhorde NFT staking, a new card game, and progression of the interactive storyline.
17/28
Merit Circle’s governance forum still remains one of the most active across the crypto space, and we anticipate more exciting proposals to be passed in 2023.
MIP-21 - Merit Circle Grants
MIP-22 - MC Tactile
Are both examples of such proposals that have recently passed.
18/28
Merit Circle Grants will allow small grants ($10k research grant + $25k development grant) to be distributed to those who wish to contribute to the DAO’s success.
MC Tactile is paving the way for the first set of $MC merchandise.
This exclusive run will be limited to 650 boxes of merchandise and will be distributed to a mixture of community members, contributors and DAO participants.
Ascenders @PlayAscenders recently launched a brand new trailer showcasing some of the environments found on the world of Ascension.
24/28
The team also showcased the new visual branding and broke it down in a thread released earlier today, as well as releasing a showcase of backgrounds to use.
Illuvium @illuviumio recently shared their December dev blog which gave important updates on Illuvium: Overworld and Illuvium: Zero, as well a nod to the upcoming Illuvitars.
The #FED's tightening led to a significant drop in equities and crypto, along with rapidly increasing bond yields. The dollar strengthened against other currencies especially EUR, GBP and JPY.
1/7
The crypto market was especially hard hit due to LUNA/UST, FTX/Alameda, and funds such as 3AC blowing up. Bad actors and degeneracy helped bring down crypto even harder than the wider macro market did.
2/7
With the many predictions of recessions around the world, the fed seemingly looks to hold rates at a high level throughout 2023. Has inflation actually topped or will there be a future resurgence? But, more importantly, how are you taking advantage of either outcome?
After first being announced almost 2 months ago, the @MeritCircle_IO team have shared exciting information about their new NFT marketplace: #Sphere - @GetOnSphere
Here's a short summary of what we know from $MC so far, and what we have to look forward to 🧵
1/24
Despite NFTs being heavily related to #GameFi, current NFT marketplaces (@OpenSea, @LooksRare, @the_x2y2) are still completely focused on PFP/memes/membership/utility/celebrity NFTs.
Gaming asset NFTs are lost in the mix, and this is where Sphere comes in.
2/24
Merit Circle are working with @DeptAgency to deliver a purpose-built NFT marketplace which specifically targets these gaming assets.
The aim is to become a multi-chain, all-in-one, low-fee, marketplace for gamers to buy, sell, and trade their in-game NFTs.
With the recent launch of @avalancheavax subnets, we wanted to take a look at why games such as @PlayAscenders are deciding to launch on an #Avalanche subnet.
If you don't know what a $AVAX subnet is, here is a simple thread going over the basics 🧵
1/16
Subnets are a scaling solution for the #Avalanche blockchain. Each subnet is a group of validators who work together to bring consensus to one, or more, blockchains.
To put it simply, subnets allow projects to launch their own custom blockchains within Avalanche.
2/16
These subnets do NOT share network loads with the primary Avalanche network, and are independent from other subnets.
This means each subnet can enjoy low latency, high TPS, and low transaction costs, without being burdened by Avalanche main-net traffic.
With more and more blockchain games being announced, it can be hard to keep up with new releases. @MeritCircle_IO allows investors to gain lower-risk exposure to upcoming games through partnerships, and often seed deals.
Here is a thread on the current $MC game partners 🧵
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For any investments made by the $MC DAO we recommend checking the latest treasury report here for the amounts invested, and current valuation.
This thread is not an exhaustive list and we may have missed partners and/or investments.
An upcoming open-world, sci-fantasy RPG powered by the #Avalanche blockchain. Players can choose to Build, Fight and Explore in order to collect rare resources and progress their character in the direction of their choice.