A Digital Renaissance: What Artists Love About Crypto

From collecting unique, interactive pieces to designing video games, Cuen and deCourcelle explore how crypto could redefine modern art.

Blockade Games co-founder Marguerite deCourcelle said her startup sold $160,000 worth of crypto assets, including NFTs, with most of the profits from two editions of the company's first game, Neon District.

"Instead of the idea of running through the digital treasure hunt and possibly getting bitcoin at the end, the design is now that you start at the beginning, there's no barriers. You can just start playing," she said, describing her video games.

Since the first wave of so-called decentralized applications in 2017, non-fungible tokens have earned gamers more than $20 million through trading, and startups roughly $13.6 million for selling the digital assets, according to blockchain analytics firm Flipside Crypto.

Other gaming dapps like Gods Unchained and My Crypto Heroes garnered $4.2 million and $1.5 million, respectively, selling digital assets.

Flipside Crypto data scientist Angela Minster added that most of these games so far see a surge during the first year, then struggle to retain users.

Barely anybody uses crypto games these days and even Ethereum fans love to dis them, but some aficionados say a few startups show potential.

Companies like Nifty Gateway are exploring how users might display them IRL, while video game creators like deCourcelle focus on interactive features.

Flipside Crypto's analytics showed the top CryptoKitties user earned $698,887 and the median user earnings hovered around $53. Earning pocket money through relatively short gameplay, compared to Minecraft or Animal Crossing, may be an attractive factor for some avid gamers.

Balter said it's "Still very early." If a niche app needs around 500,000 daily users to be successful, then there's still a long way to go before anyone can claim crypto games are a significant niche within the gaming sector.