DeFi Kingdoms looks to be building an ambitious multi-chain fantasy RPG universe. Will DeFi Kingdomshave more users after going live on Avalanche?

Apr. 2022, James

Data Source: Footprint Analytics — Address Analysis of DeFi Kingdoms

On March 30th, the world’s most popular blockchain game, DeFi Kingdoms, added a new realm as it expanded its fantasy-themed world to DFK Chain, the game’s own protocol hosted on Avalanche.

Crystalvale, the name of the new environment, currently has the same core play-to-earn features as the original environment, Serendale, except set in an icy mountain setting. It garnered 20K users by March 31.

Within the game, users can travel from own realm to the other via “docks” and “ships”. This is just one example of how DeFi Kingdoms gamifies elements of DeFi — in this case, the previously ordinary experience of switching your hot wallet from one chain to another.

The project roadmap is the first step into a multi-chain simulation role-playing game.

DeFi Kingdoms is a combination of game and DEX platform, without being entirely one or the other.

It lacks traditional gameplay elements such as battles and interactive quests (for now), and the main objective of players is still to earn yield on their tokens. However, its immersive world gamifies all the usual features of a DEX. It feels more like playing Stardew Valley or Runescape than staking on SushiSwap.

Besides staking and providing liquidity, users can also purchase hero NFTs with different specialties and classes. These can mint new heroes and do perform tasks to earn in-game items. The developers have also promised battling and other gameplay features in the future, which would significantly expand DeFi Kingdom’s P2E capabilities. “Kingdoms” and land are also forthcoming.

For now, the game’s main draw is its tokenomics and revenue-generating opportunities.

DeFi Kingdom’s largest liquidity pool consists of the game’s non-governance value token, JEWEL, and ONE, Harmony’s token. For the last several months, this LP had an APY of 300–400%, and this figure quickly jumped with the launch of Crytalvale as users flocked to transfer their funds to the new environments and its pool.

The JEWEL emitted on LPs is divided into locked and unlocked. The user can access the latter immediately after withdrawing or claiming profits, whereas the former will be unlocked gradually over the next 4 months. This tokenomic feature is meant to stabilize the price.

The realm users see when they connect to the game on DFK Chain is called Crystalvale. As of launch, the main world map features are:

• Jeweler: Players can stake their tokens.

• Marketplace: Players can swap tokens, create LP tokens, and buy or sell in-game objects.

• Gardens: Players can deposit and manage their LPs.

• Docks: Players can bridge tokens and travel to Serendale.

• The Cradle: A mysterious, dragon-guarded goosepen bearing a large crystal in its core. (Purpose and backstory yet unknown.)

By launching its own dedicated chain, DFK Chain, DeFi Kingdoms hopes to gain more control over user experience, including speed and transaction finality.

CRYSTAL is the value token of Crystalvale, and its price as of April 10 was $12.28. JEWEL will be the gas token of Crytalvale, which is a departure from Serendale where users need to hold ONE to pay for gas.

DeFi Kingdoms get Crystal by providing liquidity in Crystalvale. In anticipation of enormous APYs, DeFi Kingdoms players waited eagerly for doors of Crystalvale to open so they could bridge their JEWEL and xJEWEL (the only liquidity pair available currently.)

The only two ways to bridge were through DeFi Kingdoms natively or through Synapse Bridge, which had the added benefit of providing a constant token status. The enthusiasm for the expansion created a gargantuan door dash of users.

The huge amount bridged on DeFi Kingdoms caused severe congestion which became one hitch for the launch. Users reported waiting up to 6 and 7 hours to see their tokens appear in Crystalvale.

Most would probably say the wait was worth it once they saw the APY of upwards of 4,000%. As of the time of writing, APY briefly reached over 4,800%, but has fluctuated between 3,000% and 4,000%.

The main fear of previous DeFi Kingdoms players was that the expansion would erode the price of JEWEL as users move to the CRYSTAL-dominated environment. As of April 11, the price of JEWEL is down 40% from March 30.

With the launch of Crystalvale and rumors of further expansions on other chains, DeFi Kingdoms looks to be building an ambitious multi-chain fantasy RPG universe. However, having overtaken Axie Infinity to become the largest blockchain game**, **it is unclear how much more room there is left to grow by users alone.

Therefore, it will be critical to see whether DeFi Kingdoms is able to absorb users from other Avalanche projects in the next several months.

This piece is contributed by the Footprint Analytics community.

The Footprint Community is a place where data and crypto enthusiasts worldwide help each other understand and gain insights about Web3, the metaverse, DeFi, GameFi, or any other area of the world of blockchain. Here you’ll find active, diverse voices supporting each other and driving the community forward.