In this issue:

• Is This the $END For Crypto Gaming? (by Flower83)

• This Week in Neo Tokyo: The $BYTES Chart Will Invent a New Color (by PhoenixxDown)

• Did Altura Just Exit Rug? (by Flower83)

Another one bytes the dust this week. Maaaaan, web3 gaming just can't catch a break, can it? 

What will happen to us, if even legitimate projects that have been delivering regular updates, grinding for years, producing relatively quality games and not rugging or pocketing investor funds to enrich themselves, can’t get off the ground and achieve success? Is our industry fully cooked?

You have heard our psychedelic prophet ZeHI speak on this matter a few weeks ago…

Something about crypto being ineligible, inedible, inadmissible, indeducable, inexcusable, inaudible, ineffective, inaccessible?… anyway.

It certainly wasn't as inevitable as some other (false) prophets would want you to believe. (sidenote; you have to be aware of those. The false prophets disguise themselves as crypto influencers with full bags bought up for cheap in seed rounds or acquired tokens for free due to “team” or “advisor” roles).

But rest assured, here you got unfiltered takes, even if they are bearish… but the reality is that the current crypto gaming space IS INDEED bearish. The prices (and vibes) don’t lie.

And now, this week ZeHI’s prophecies may be coming to light, and hard, too. It hurts, I know, but it's better to rip the bandaid off and embrace truth and reality than to live a lie.

This seems to be the primary reason for this week’s disillusionment from CT collective regarding the future of web3 gaming. The failed Endless Clouds token ($END) TGE that resulted in less than favorable outcomes for investors and team left many people in pain and unsure what to expect next.

Admittedly, it's never pretty when you want to launch at $30 million, but the markets just don't agree with you and (fairly?) price it at $8 million just 15 minutes later. This isn't just bad because our (NT’s) collective CitCap investments are being cooked, this is a loss for the entire space.

To begin with, the official statement from the founder, Loopifyyy, isn't exactly reassuring for the future of our space. But hey, at least he is honest and got straight to the point without sugar-coating anything, and I respect that:

Given all the price action, accusations, community drama, FUD & overall bad vibes, many pitched in with their exquisite takes worth reading:

I don't have much more to add to all this, really. What is done is done, what is said is said.

Maybe just…

Another way to look at it is… maybe we just got it all wrong?

Perhaps our expectations were too high to begin with? Maybe the token’s market cap shouldn't be $30 million to begin with? Maybe $8 million dollar valuation for a game like Endless Clouds is totally fair and accurate and the markets aren't wrong?

Perhaps we, collectively, were? Maybe we were all living in a bubble of inflated expectations and are actually doing well in comparison to web2 games?

Time will tell. But…

Something to think about.

See you in the next one 🧡

Big news dropped yesterday: $BYTES have gone multichain and are now available on Avalanche! Shout out to PM Firestorm for making it happen, and also massive credit to the OG living legend, Felix Norden, for “linking the chains.”

It all lines up nicely with the Avalanche-based BHOLE launch today, and the airdrop for active Citizens early next week.

How is it all going to work together? That remains to be seen. Maybe it’s a good time to start asking Grok about how liquidity pools work to start taking advantage.

In other news, here’s something that looks very cool. The Lore Team has been working hard for YEARS writing a decentralized storytelling experiment for Neo Tokyo, and in due course, you’ll be able to “explore and expand your own narratives” within the guardrails of Neo Tokyo’s lore, breathing life into your S1 or S2.

All the tools for this will be available in time, but for now, if you’re interested in contributing to the Writing Division and shaping the Citadel’s storytelling future, reach out to Writing Lead Seize or a NT mod. All details can be found below:

And finally, for the marketers among us, BlockChainMeta hosted the 3rd NT Marketing Accelerator yesterday, breaking down some key strategies that sharpen your skills, drive conversions, and build trust.

These aren’t recorded, but if you’re interested, make sure you look out for the next one coming soon.

Market Monday #130

NT x Unfungible Space - Today at 12:00 EST

Flourish AMA

OYA Plays AMA

Short Scoops

Until next next week, citizens.

This is a developing story and new information is still coming in; but what we know so far is absolutely wild. 

Apparently, their CEO (Majd Hailat) one day just decided he is done with web3 gaming space (a common pattern for many builders, investors and influencers lately) and allegedly decided to hard rug before exiting, pocketing millions along the way.

The team fell apart as a result and apparently the OG holders sold and are shorting the tokens atm, trying to salvage whatever they can and not go down with the ship.

The accusations started with user YoloThrill dropping a juicy thread claiming that Majd used the Minting & Burning contract to mint 1 million ALU tokens at a time via fallback calls, and then dumping them on the market.

He shared a lot of evidence for this, but most importantly, if we just simply look at the Altura’s chart it might be the most honest reflection of what is going on. A consistent downtrend and a 76% decline on the monthly time frame is very bad, and certainly not organic.

The evidence cited includes screenshots, private chats, and further discussion pinned in Telegram (links in the original post), with allegations that this could constitute fraud under U.S. law. YoloThrill even provided a handy list of links to report this to the FBI, SEC, and FTC.

Altura’s official response has been a fun and entertaining read as well, and it certainly hasn't managed to quell the storm, and even further fueled the FUD and community backlash.

The image of Altura’s logo slashed with a red X has become the unofficial meme of this meltdown, symbolizing the project’s apparent demise.

So, did Altura just exit rug? The signs point to a hard and decisive “yes.”

If even half of the allegations hold, Majd’s behaviour could land him in legal hot water, while the $ALU token’s fate is pretty much sealed with little to no chance of recovery even if we get an alt season.

This one hits particularly hard, because many of us believed Altura is here to stay and deliver, only for us to witness yet another reason why the gaming season didn't happen this cycle.

Oh well, you can't win them all, I guess.

All content from Neo Tokyo News is for entertainment purposes only, is not financial advice, and does not reflect the opinions of Neo Tokyo.

That’s it for our 106th edition of the Neo Tokyo Newsletter. Be sure to subscribe and share with your friends so you don’t miss out on future content.

Make sure to also follow Neo Tokyo News on Twitter.