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The rapid rise of tap-to-earn games on Telegram, powered by The Open Network (TON) blockchain, has attracted significant attention — and funding — from venture capitalists. Investors are making substantial bets on Telegram’s tap-to-earn games like Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen, seeing them as the future of Web3 gaming.
But what exactly is driving these investment decisions, and how do investors envision the future of tap-to-earn? BeInCrypto recently interviewed Animoca Brands, one of the biggest TON validators, and Hashkey Capital, which has made significant investments and formed partnerships with Catizen.
Investors Eye Social Experiences as the Future of Tap-to-Earn Games
Undeniably, one of the key reasons venture capitalists are drawn to Telegram’s tap-to-earn ecosystem is its vast and engaged user base. With 950 million active users as of July 2024, the platform offers an unparalleled audience for developers looking to launch and scale games. This kind of organic reach dramatically reduces user acquisition costs, which is a major selling point for investors.
Furthermore, its crypto-native infrastructure sets Telegram apart from other platforms in the Web3 gaming space. The integration of TON blockchain allows for seamless transactions, reducing friction between the gaming experience and the user’s wallet. This ease of use is a significant draw for both developers and investors, as it allows instant monetization without the hurdles typically associated with blockchain adoption.
“Telegram is one of the few platforms where Web3 mechanics are baked into the experience. The ability to move from gameplay to crypto transactions without leaving the app is a huge competitive edge,” Junbo Yang, Investment Manager at Hashkey Capital, explains.
For investors, this integrated experience makes Telegram a prime candidate for further investment. The platform’s low transaction fees, scalability, and growing list of mini-apps ensure that developers can continue to innovate and retain users without the technical barriers that often plague Web3 adoption.
As TON ecosystem and tap-to-earn games grow, investors remain optimistic about the future of this segment. For instance, Hamster Kombat alone has attracted over 300 million users across 190 countries, with its upcoming HMSTR airdrop poised to be one of the largest in the crypto space.
Meanwhile, Catizen has successfully built a loyal user base while optimizing its monetization strategy. Likewise, Notcoin attracted over 40 million global users and executed one of the year’s largest airdrops, solidifying its position as a key player in TON ecosystem.
Both Hashkey Capital and Animoca Brands see the success of these games as just the beginning. They believe as developers improve game mechanics, they will also discover new ways to retain users, moving beyond simple rewards to social and immersive experiences.
Why Telegram Could Drive the Next Web3 Boom?
Furthermore, the investors view these games as a proof of concept, demonstrating the scalability of the tap-to-earn model and its ability to retain users beyond initial incentives. This success reveals significant potential for growth and expansion within the tap-to-earn sphere.
In a recent exclusive interview with BeInCrypto, Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, strongly advocated integrating blockchain gaming into Telegram. He sees that the built-in audience allows games to scale quickly without costly marketing campaigns—a crucial factor for venture capitalists eyeing high returns.
“The next 100 to 200 million users in Web3 will come from Telegram and its gaming ecosystem,” Siu remarks.
Investors are primarily focused on three factors: user acquisition, scalability, and retention. However, they are also particularly excited about the potential for long-term monetization. Catizen, for example, stands out for its ability to retain users and optimize their lifetime value (LTV), showcasing sustainable growth and a profitable tap-to-earn model.
Junbo Yang highlights how Catizen and similar games set the stage for future development by prioritizing monetization and long-term user engagement.
“The early success of Catizen in monetizing its user base offers a blueprint for how other developers can scale their games,” Yang notes.
These investors’ perspectives align with the game teams’ long-term visions. In an email to BeInCrypto, the Hamster Kombat team revealed their plan to evolve into a multi-game platform.
“After the first airdrop, we will launch the second season with a massive expansion, allowing players to choose from multiple games to play. This begins the transformation of Hamster Kombat from a game into a gaming platform, similar to how Valve moved on from launching cult-status games to Steam, the largest game marketplace for PCs,” they elaborated.
Turning Setbacks into Growth: Why Investors Remain Optimistic Despite TON’s Hiccups
While the tap-to-earn model has proven its ability to attract users, the key challenge is keeping them engaged beyond initial airdrops and rewards. Some critics have raised concerns about mercenary users—those who join games solely to earn tokens—but investors see this as a short-term challenge.
However, investors believe that as developers increasingly adopt the tap-to-earn model, they will also find ways to extend user lifecycles, enhancing its sustainability. Yat Siu believes that the tap-to-earn model, while currently reward-driven, is laying the foundation for a much larger gaming ecosystem.
“Tap-to-earn is just the beginning. Once users enter the ecosystem, the goal is to build community and social experiences that keep them engaged for reasons beyond just token rewards,” Siu argues.
In addition to the sustainability concerns, the Telegram ecosystem has faced recent challenges. For instance, earlier in August, BeInCrypto reported that TON blockchain experienced an outage, temporarily halting block production for several hours. This incident raised concerns about the network’s ability to handle future surges in activity, especially with the increasing number of users participating in tap-to-earn games.
Addressing the issue, Yat Siu acknowledged the outage but remained confident in TON’s resilience. Siu emphasized that TON is still in its early stages and believes that such challenges are part of the network’s growth process. He sees TON’s potential to become even larger than Telegram itself in the future, driving the platform’s growth.
“TON itself should remain as a censorship-resistant decentralized platform like other chains, but the projects and dApps themselves can implement measures to ensure stability,” he said.
Regardless of these challenges, venture capitalists remain confident in the potential of tap-to-earn. The coming years will reveal whether this model will secure its place as a lasting feature in Web3 gaming, but for now, investors are fully committed.