Gamifying Finance: Fantasy Trading and Web3
With Web3 offering a wide new range of financial services, fantasy finance lets users get the hang of a brave new world
The decentralization and gamification of finance have been steadily increasing in recent years. With more and more companies embracing this changing landscape, it’s no surprise that countries are rapidly rolling out new regulations to try and keep up with these changes. Users as well are having to learn new skills to stay ahead of the curve.
Fantasy finance lets users get the hang of the basics of the market and practice their skills in a no-risk series of contests to learn how to make the most out of the new opportunities presented by decentralized finance.
Recently, Dubai made headlines by officially regulating and endorsing cryptocurrencies. With the establishment of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Dubai is hoping to establish itself as a key player in Web3 technologies. With the creation of VARA, the UAE is set to capitalize on this emerging market.
What is Web3?
When the World Wide Web was first created in the early 1990s, data was largely stored locally on individual computers. With the revolution of Web 2.0 in the early 2000s, this data storage was shifted to a few large servers in the hands of a select group of companies — think Apple, Amazon, Google. These “big tech” companies functionally control the internet.
The idea of Web3 is to take the internet back to a more decentralized state by using the proven technology of the blockchain. Bitcoin turned the world of finance on its head when it first launched in 2008. Initially viewed by many as a fad or a scheme, Bitcoin took a bit of time before it saw real growth. However, Bitcoin is now up over ten thousand percent from its early value. By taking the same approach to trading at large as Bitcoin took to currency, the FinTech industry is poised to skyrocket in the coming years.
This approach to decentralized finance (DeFi) is set to shake up the entire finance sector.
Why are People Choosing DeFi?
Mistrust of Financial Institutions
Easily the largest factor driving the growth of DeFi is an increasing mistrust in traditional financial institutions. This is most prevalent in younger people who are just starting their financial journeys. These investors are more likely to explore non-traditional financial offerings. In a 2020 survey, 57% of customers stated that they did not trust banks to look after their financial well-being. In 2021, about half of Gen Z and Millennials named a FinTech institution, as opposed to a bank, as their most-trusted financial brand.
Adoption of New Technologies
Another leading factor driving Web3 growth is access to new financial products. Currently, DeFi is one of the most popular ways people use and hold cryptocurrency as it provides an essential service to the ever-expanding market of crypto users. Fantasy finance can help users become familiar with these technologies in a no-cost, no-risk setting before they move on to the real thing.
Access to Once-Restricted Services
Lastly, DeFi offers access to financial services that were once reserved for professional traders, industry professionals, and institutions. These services, including decentralized exchanges and peer-to-peer borrowing, offer transparent and profitable financial opportunities.
StockBattle CEO Michael Gavrilov had this to say;
“The thing is that some people fear such financial tools as investing simply because they are not properly informed, believing it’s for some white-collared Wall Street bankers, which means out of their reach. So we aim to bridge that information gap by gamifying knowledge to empower the young generation to take an unbiased look at this opportunity.”
What is StockBattle?
Launched in 2021, StockBattle offers a new type of entertainment that is similar to fantasy sports but is based on real-time data from the stock market. With a wide variety of contests, there’s something to cater to everyone. StockBattle offers fantasy contests and fantasy tournaments focusing on both stocks and crypto. With matches starting every 15 minutes, there’s no shortage of opportunities for users.
As a fantasy trading platform, StockBattle has provided more than 1.5 million total competitions to over 550,000 users. In the app, users can also use the social feed to easily share and track their performance.
New users can get started for free by creating an account and signing up for a Freeroll. These contests allow users to earn real income in as little as 15 minutes. The recent growth of Web3 and DeFi technologies shows no sign of slowing down. With more and more companies looking to offer services to these new users, there’s sure to be no shortage of new users looking to get the hang of things.
Since its launch, StockBattle has averaged nearly 10,000 new users a month and currently boasts an active user base of more than 550,000 fantasy traders. With a firm foot in the door, fantasy trading platforms are here to stay.
