The content of this article is not investment advice.
As we continue to explore the many avenues that can lead to the widespread adoption of blockchain tech, one financial instrument has been making waves in both traditional finance and the emerging Web3 space—Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).
With vastly increased attention over the past few months, it’s clear that ETFs will play a significant role in driving mainstream acceptance of blockchain and Web3 technologies. But what exactly are ETFs, and why are they so crucial to the mass adoption of Web3? Let’s dive in.
What Are ETFs? Breaking It Down
An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is a type of investment fund and exchange-traded product that holds assets such as stocks, commodities or bonds. ETFs are traded on stock exchanges like individual stocks. This means they can be bought and sold throughout the trading day at market price, which fluctuates with the value of the underlying assets within the particular ETF.
The Appeal of ETFs
In the more traditional world of finances, ETFs have gained popularity because they offer investors exposure to a wide array of assets without requiring them to buy each asset individually. For instance, an investor can buy shares of an ETF that tracks the performance of the S&P 500, thereby gaining exposure to the top 500 companies in the U.S. stock market with a single purchase. This convenience, combined with generally lower fees compared to mutual funds, makes ETFs an attractive option for both novice and seasoned investors.
ETFs and the Web3 Ecosystem: A Perfect Match?
Bridging Traditional Finance and Blockchain
The connection between ETFs and crypto is becoming increasingly significant. As blockchain-based assets continue to steadily gain traction, the introduction of ETFs that track some of these assets allows traditional investors to gain exposure to the blockchain space without directly buying or managing cryptocurrencies.
In the same way that the traditional financial system can appear mysterious and daunting to many early adopters of web3, it can be difficult for traditional investors to dive directly into the web3 pool. ETFs present a shallow end with easier entry, allowing those investors to first get their feet wet without becoming overwhelmed by the less regulated deep end.
Essentially, ETFs are particularly appealing to those who are curious about blockchain but wary of its volatility and technical complexity.
Accessibility: ETFs provide a familiar and regulated investment vehicle for traditional investors to explore the world of blockchain. This ease of access is crucial for onboarding new users to the Web3 space, where unfamiliarity has consistently proven itself a significant barrier.
Institutional Interest: The approval and adoption of blockchain-based ETFs by regulatory bodies signal a growing institutional acceptance of blockchain. As large financial institutions enter the space through ETFs, legitimacy is lended to the entire Web3 ecosystem, encouraging a community of increasingly more conservative investors to participate.
Market Stability: By providing a diversified and regulated way to invest in blockchain technology, ETFs can help stabilize the market. This can reduce the extreme volatility often associated with cryptocurrencies, making the Web3 space more attractive to the general public. As more traditional money flows into these markets, they generally will become more difficult for whales to manipulate.
The Road Ahead: ETFs as Catalysts for Mass Adoption
Looking back several years from now, ther’s a good chance that 2024 will be remembered as the “year of the ETF” in the same way that 2018 was all about ICOs and 2021 centered around NFTs.
ETFs represent a bridge between the traditional financial system and the emerging world of Web3, and bridges are incredibly important when it comes to mass adoption. By offering a regulated, accessible and relatively low-risk entry point into blockchain, ETFs are likely to play a pivotal role in bringing blockchain technology into the mainstream.
As we continue to develop the GalaChain ecosystem, we recognize the importance of such instruments in shaping the future of Web3. By keeping an eye on these trends, we position ourselves—and our community—at the forefront of the blockchain revolution.
The first Bitcoin ETFs were approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the first weeks of 2024, with a total of 11 BTC ETFs approved, opening the floodgates.
In mid July, Ethereum-containing ETFs were finally approved for market trading. “We’ve now fully entered the ETF era of crypto. Investors can now access more than 70% of the liquid crypto asset market through low-cost ETPs,” said Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise.
There is a constant flow of news in the financial sector about crypto-related ETFs. Such extensive intersection of crypto and traditional finance is unprecedented.
At Gala, we’re not looking to make any predictions or speculations about token prices, and we’re not offering financial advice of any kind. We support the empowerment that comes with adoption of blockchain technology, regardless of how that empowerment interacts with markets. When we see the mainstream financial world (and its most trusted regulators) paying more attention to cryptocurrency, we recognize that global awareness of web3 is on the rise.
We encourage our readers to stay informed and try to keep up with the latest developments at the intersection of centralized and decentralized finance. Knowledge is empowerment, especially in the web3 world.
The intersection of ETFs and blockchain is a powerful indicator of how traditional finance and emerging technologies are beginning to converge. As we look to the future, ETFs could very well be the key that unlocks widespread adoption of Web3 technologies. At Gala, we are excited to be part of this journey and are committed to leading the charge in integrating these financial innovations into our ecosystem.
When you’re living in an endless time loop, trying to save the world from a destruction that already happened at the hands of the now ruthless superheroes that used to look out for you, picking the right weapons is always important.
In an ironic twist of justice, the chief weapons used by the Resistance against the power-crazed super villains are their own powers turned against them. With the help of the robot Bartender and a complicated Juice extraction/injection system, each mission gives you a chance to power up with certain powers collected from the dead bodies of previously slain superheroes. The whole process is pretty unpredictable, but what have you got to lose?
“It’s better than the old method. That one used a suppository.”
-The Bartender
Every vial of Juice results in a single new superpower for the round when you visit the Juice Injector in the bar. You’ll get your pick–One of three powers, unless you use a Reroll, then you’ll get three new random choices.
Powers 101
Skill will only get you so far when the baddies start swarming. That’s why it’s crucial to select powers that will continually enhance your ability to smash and bash greater numbers of enemies.
The most important powers are those that enhance your primary abilities of Jump, Dash and Attack.
You can hold one power per round within each of those primary abilities. For example, Xeno Cycle is a Dash power that transforms you into a motorcycle form that speeds through enemies to cause immense damage as you run them down. Fire Jump is of course a Jump power that shoots flames from your feet, allowing you to jetpack around and burn enemies on the ground. Ghost Jump lets you teleport upward and hover for a time.
You’ll notice that each of the powers listed above are part of a different family. You’ll almost always get more from your combined powers by stacking new powers from the same families, but as you play more, you’ll also start to notice interesting ways in which different power families can work together in deadly combos.
Power Families
Fire
Ice
Shock
Xeno
Ghost
Force
At the bar’s Upgrade Station, you’ll often find upgrades that enhance various stats based on which power families you’re running in that round. You can buy those upgrades for Credits, which you’ll collect during the round.
Once you’ve injected a primary power from a particular family, you’ll start to see more specialized power upgrades that will work together with the powers you’ve already collected. In the example above, Feast is a Xeno ability that lets you permanently gain health when you kill 7 enemies within 5 seconds. WIth Xeno abilities, such massacres are simpler than they seem.
You’ll also have opportunities to grab powers that enhance your proficiency with certain types of weapons by attaching super powers to them. For example, Burning Shot will inflict Burn on targets of your Precision Weapons like pistols and certain rifles.
Experiment and Find Your Power Groove
There are ideal strategies for every one of the endless power combos you’ll come across in the game. If you’re having a hard time in a round, always ask yourself if it’s due to a poor combination of powers or simply falling short on finding the right style of play for those powers. And when you have an easy time, always remember the combination of power upgrades that got you there, as well as the way you played.
Playing Alone?
Keep in mind that you’ll need to rely on different strategic choices when you’re playing alone or with other players. When you’ve got a full team of 3 hunters, do your best to complement the upgrade choices of your teammates. When it’s you alone versus all the bad guys, just go for the combination that will help you kill the most bad guys as fast as possible!
The bottom line when it comes to Superior powers is that there’s always something unique and exciting to play around with every round. You’ll continually find unique new ways to maximize your score and kill more enemies, especially as you grind up your Skill tree and increase your Infamy level!
Play Superior in Early Access
There are two ways to get into Early Access gameplay now on Gala Games:
Pick up an Early Access Pass – Holding one of these handy tokens in your GalaChain Inventory will allow you to play with any of the 5 characters currently available in Early Access, including 2 characters that aren’t yet available as Primes (Renegade and Specialist). NOTE: Bridge your Early Access Pass to GalaChain to unlock access to the characters.
We’re thrilled to announce that the beta of Version 1 is now available for public testing. All the team’s hard work is finally coming to your eyeballs and iPhones (and Androids).
V1 contains the last parts of the game’s foundational systems, ready to give you a taste of the overall Project Cerberus experience. Ultimately, V1 will let you enjoy all the features listed below, but some of them are not yet turned on for this public playtest.
Crafting!
The ‘Store’
Account Advancement
Land Merging
Account sign in (and see your VOX/Land/Skins exc)
This is all leading to our next releases, which will include self expression through building exterior/interior places, decoration and social systems like visiting each other’s homes. As we’ve mentioned before, we had to build this a bit backwards from a normal game development view, considering the crazy technical hurdles that needed solving before we could get to the ‘cool stuff’. That’s all the past, and the foundation is built!
Here is a bit about each of the features:
Crafting!
Hey, all that stuff your workers have been collecting? Now you can do something with it.
It’s pretty easy.
Click the crafting room in the upper right of the VOX main screen.
Select a crafting station.
Assign a worker – VOX or protovox in the upper right corner.
Select a recipe you want to craft and click next.
Make sure you have all the parts needed and hit Craft.
Ta-da… you made a thing! Just like shop class!
The Store
For now, you can only ‘sell’ items.
You’ll eventually get the ability to buy crafting and other items, including exclusive decorations and other creative cosmetics.
Additionally, we’ll have a Gala Games store with exclusive items sold for $GALA, the ability to buy in game currency and more!
Account Advancement
By completing tasks you can level your account up, and open up new options and skills! Its that simple.
Land Merge
Three lands of the same type can be merged into a land of greater rarity. For example, three common plains would make an uncommon plain.
This feature is disabled for now in case we need to wipe out the databases before the real launch. Because it involves combining and upgrading NFTs, this feature will get a ton of in-house testing, so please be patient with all those rare lands you bought a few weeks ago.
Account log in
We have this disabled in the beta currently just to keep things focused. Still, very soon we’ll let you log in with your Gala account to see all your own VOX, lands and skins in-game.
Right now, just for a preview, we put in the VOX as wandering folks in the crafting area. They are all pulled from the thousands of VOX available so who knows what you might see wandering around.
Let’s talk about the crafting area for a second. This was really built out as an area to test some building ideas for 3D, to ensure scale and look was ok for when we move to the building on landscape features. Will this crafting room stay as a thing? We are not sure, but we would love to hear about any slowdown, crashes or problems with that area in particular. We already crushed some bugs in there that were making older Android phones explode. Please keep an eye out for battery use and overheating too. 3D on phones can be mean.
So here we go, rushing towards a release! We appreciate your help in testing our game and we can’t wait to share the next features with you soon!
–The VOX Populi
Please note that all features described in this blog are subject to change for any reason and without notice. Additionally, as Project Cerberus is still an in-development mobile gaming project, access is not guaranteed at any time or for any duration. Thanks for helping us test Project Cerberus!
