MultiversX (EGLD) Leads the Gaming Cryptocurrencies Despite a 20.5% Drop in the Last 30 Days

Gaming cryptocurrencies became popular in the previous bull market through the innovative play-to-earn model that mixed investing with entertainment

Gaming cryptocurrencies became mainstream in the last bull cycle thanks to the innovative play-to-earn model that combined investing with entertainment. However, most games were quickly made and launched to join the hype, ultimately hurting gamers and investors with flaws and unsustainable economics.

In this context, Finbold searched for the current gaming cryptocurrencies and Web3 ecosystems with the highest development activity. This could give investors and gamers insight into solid projects building Web3 games for this cycle, to compete among the best.

According to public data from Santiment, here are the top five cryptocurrency projects in the gaming category. Notably, MultiversX (EGLD) leads with 235.47 activity in the last 30 days, despite a 20.5% drop.

Decentraland (MANA) is in the second position with 144.23 and a 48.05% loss in the same period. Moreover, Nine Chronicles Gold has 102.7, while ImmutableX (IMX) and Skale (SKL) have 76.87 and 42.83, respectively.

MultiversX (EGLD) leads the gaming cryptocurrencies

Interestingly, the leading cryptocurrency by development activity in the gaming category recently conquered this position, which belonged to Decentraland. MultiversX, formerly Elrond, has gradually increased its presence among Web3 gamers and, especially, game developers throughout the year.

If we take a look at a year-over-year chart on Santiment, it is notable how the project's development activity suddenly started surging in January. The 7-day indicator went from 1097 to 1605 by press time, increasing 46% year-to-date.

It is worth mentioning that MultiversX is a layer-1 blockchain that competes with Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and similar cryptocurrencies. It stands out for its presence in gaming and is the only fully operational blockchain that has completely implemented the sharding technology for high scalability while keeping running nodes accessible with low CPU requirements.

Meanwhile, the network's native token, EGLD, trades at 7-month lows, priced at $34.96. However, a surging spot trading volume suggests the market interest could return to MultiversX, as seen in the chart.

MultiversX total value locked in DeFi

From another perspective, MultiversX has managed to attract investors for its decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. In essence, the blockchain currently has $125 million in total value locked (TVL) among its protocols, ranking 39 against its competitors. Data is from DefiLlama, on June 8.

Still, EGLD has one of the best market cap-TVL ratios in the whole industry, considering a $952.5 million capitalization. The 7.54 MCap/TVL ratio suggests its token could be oversold in relation to the value its DeFi ecosystem currently has—offering a potential opportunity at these prices.

To conclude, the gaming industry reached $184 billion in revenue last year, and projections expect it to hit $200 billion by 2024. Newzoo reported this data that highlights the 45% dominance of mobile games in 2023, for $90.5 billion.

Therefore, even a small share of this market could significantly increase the market demand for the $1 billion-capitalization MultiversX.