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Xai, the layer-3 gaming network built on Ethereum scaler Arbitrum, kicked off 2024 with a bang, launching its XAI token to early supporters and then announcing that noted NFT game studio Laguna Games will bring Crypto Unicorns and related titles to the network.

So what’s next? More games, of course.

Ex Populus, which co-founder and CEO Tobias Batton described to Decrypt’s GG as the “labs company that serves the Xai Foundation,” is a game studio—and its games are set to be the first out the gate in the coming months as the Xai ecosystem takes shape.

The first, called Final Form, is a card-battler game with NFTs. According to its official website, the game will support NFT cards previously released on Solana via a bridge to Arbitrum. Batton said that the game is “penciled in for April,” but that the ETA could change. He said the game is playable and “moving into a polish phase,” so it can’t be far off.

LAMOverse is the other game from Ex Populus, and it’s a long-in-development online action game with colorful, cartoonish environments. Tied into physical LAMO toys based on gaming influencers like Ninja and Dr. Disrespect, LAMOverse is set to debut sometime after Final Form, and the game studio says it’s likewise playable and nearing a proper launch on Xai.

Batton recounted that Ex Populus spent substantial time seeking an ideal gaming chain for its projects and said that it explored building on other Ethereum scaling networks like Polygon or Immutable X. But, he said, each chain the studio tried had trade-offs that made the team “not enthusiastic” about committing to those ecosystems.

Ultimately, Arbitrum creator Offchain Labs proposed building a custom gaming chain that would suit the needs of Ex Populus while also providing a home for other studios in the future. Thus Xai was born.

In this team-up, Batton said, Ex Populus built the software that powers the Sentry Nodes that early users have purchased to support the Xai network. It also makes games and works in a publisher-like role to help other studios onboard to Xai and get their games in front of players.

That’s the kind of role that Ex Populus will serve for Laguna Games as it migrates its Crypto Unicorns games and associated NFTs from Polygon to Xai this year. And Batton said that he’s seen a “massive influx” of other studios reaching out since the airdrop to get involved with Xai, whether they’re building new games or migrating from existing chains.

In this dual role of game developer and distribution partner, Batton said that Ex Populus is attempting to be the Web3 version of Valve. That gaming powerhouse is known not only for operating the popular Steam PC gaming store, but also developing iconic games like Half-Life, Portal, and Counter-Strike. Fortnite maker Epic Games has charted a similar path.

Ex Populus doesn’t yet have the storied gaming legacy of those long-running giants, of course, but it also faces the immense challenge of trying to convince traditional gamers that user-owned NFT assets and crypto-driven economies are beneficial. And gamers have broadly not been too receptive to such overtures in the past.

What could make that easier is the way that the Xai network abstracts away the complexities of wallet use and asset handling for users who don’t want to get deep into the “crypto” of it all. Your average player doesn’t have to worry about self-custody of NFTs or tokens, plus Xai provides a gas-free experience for players.

“We had this crazy idea that if you remove wallets and remove gas from everything, that you can experience large growth,” Batton explained. “Really, the benefits of blockchain are the ability to trade items and own items—all the stuff we always hear about—but there's a tremendous amount of friction that stands in the way of that.”

There still are wallets, but for traditional gamers, they’re managed in the back end by the Xai team. And if you’d rather bring in your own wallet and self-custody your assets, that option is certainly available for veteran crypto users.

“As a traditional gamer who maybe isn't familiar with crypto or is a little averse to it, these games just seem like a normal game,” said Batton, who added that there would be wallet management features in the settings. “And then you're like, ‘Oh, I have a wallet. I didn't even know it.’ So it sort of breadcrumbs people into this experience in a way that doesn't seem so obtuse.”

our competitors aren't treasure, imx, ronin, or beam.

our competition is nintendo and valve.

decentralized gaming is inevitable.

— XAI (@XAI_GAMES) January 29, 2024

It’s been a busy couple of months for Xai. The Sentry Node sale, which let users invest in supporting the network and receive an allocation of XAI tokens, was a sizable success with about $30 million in sales. And the XAI airdrop that followed certainly made waves, putting over $150 million worth of tokens (at peak value) into users’ wallets.

But as Batton described, the journey dates back to 2022. It’s been a steady rise in prominence and buzz, in his view—and the biggest moves are still yet to come as games start going live on the network.

“It’s a grassroots approach—it didn't happen overnight,” he affirmed. “It took months and months and months of building this hype and this community and excitement.”

“Having Laguna agree to deploy their games is a big deal, because before this news, it was just hype. It's just an empty chain,” Batton added. “But now it's not an empty chain. It's got real games coming.”

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.

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November 27, 2024

Andreas Brekken, the founder of SideShift.ai, a platform offering direct-to-wallet trading, sat down (in his hammock) for an exclusive interview with the Cryptonews Podcast.

Talking with host Matt Zahab, Brekken recalled how difficult it was for people to buy BTC in 2011, noting that the ease of purchase today contributes to its adoption.

He remarked that meme coins are actually great for the crypto space because they are fun, cheap to get, and generally harmless. Importantly, they are stress-testing the biggest chains in the sector.

The crypto veteran talked about multiple markets happening simultaneously and the potential significance of the Ethereum Dencun upgrade.

Brekken also touched upon the necessity to re-examine our interaction with centralized exchanges and the need for services like SideShift.

In this interview, Brekken discussed:

Buying BTC in 2011 vs. today; Multiple markets currently happening at the same time; Rethinking how we interact with crypto exchanges — particularly as the bull run ushers in a new wave of mainstream adoption; How products like SideShift encourage mass adoption; The Ethereum Dencun upgrade; If meme coins are generally good or bad for the crypto space; How increased meme coin trading will show us the limits of current protocols, forcing chains to compete with each other to show who can handle the most traffic.

Brekken gave a wide-ranging exclusive interview, which you can see above or read below.

How the Bitcoin Times Have Changed!
Brekken discovered Bitcoin in 2011.

At that time, he said, there were very few routes for people to get BTC. One option was dark web markets, including the infamous Silk Road.

“But in my case, I’m just too much of a nerd,” Brekken remarked. He didn’t know about this avenue at the time.

But he had an advantage over an average Joe: he was a programmer.

Therefore, Brekken discovered information on BTC online and started learning about the novel technology.

Notably, at the time, anyone interested in BTC needed to install a program on their PC to get it. This program would create addresses and allow users to find a place to buy the coin, receive it, and send it.

This was obviously a much more difficult system than what we have today.

But Brekken said another advantage a programmer or engineer would have at the time is the way they view and think of technology.

They seek to understand how it’s made and how they can build upon it. They’ll to to find a way to improve it, create something similar, find another use case, etc.

Not every shiny coin on social media will lead to generational wealth.

AI recommends DYOR and safe trading.

Good job! 🎈 pic.twitter.com/q4O0SXuMFO

— SideShift.ai – Direct to Wallet Trading (@sideshiftai) March 24, 2024

Direct-to-Wallet Trading: Recipe for Mass Adoption
And this is how SideShift.ai was created. There was a way to make a piece of tech that would help fulfill a demand, and Brekken went for it.

The team developed an efficient, easy-to-use, newcomer-friendly platform that offers direct-to-wallet trading.

When one uses a centralized crypto exchange, there are many steps to complete before finally getting the coins.

This includes all the necessary log-ins, 2FA, KYC, choosing the deposit, finding the network, waiting for confirmations, and so on, says Brekken.

However, it can get more complicated in certain cases, such as buying a specific meme coin. For example, the user needs to trade BTC for UDTS first before getting WIF.

SideShift.ai performs the trade immediately and delivers the coins to the wallet, the founder said.

// USD WEEKLY SHIFT VOLUME – APR 9 TO 15 //

SideShift recorded a gross weekly volume of $22.9m alongside a SHIFT count of 11,669 shifts. These figures combined to produce healthy daily averages of $3.3m on 1,667 shifts. pic.twitter.com/8urons5elK

— SideShift Research (@XAIResearch) April 19, 2024

“That’s why we call it direct-to-wallet trading because it’s the only way I know to explain that you don’t have to click 700 buttons in order to do something as simple as just going from what you have to what you want.”

There was lots of demand for this service, he added.

But speaking of exchanges, Brekken gave a warning: take your funds out.

The more long-term view for this industry is that people need to stop leaving their money on exchanges. It’s a huge problem, he said.

Simply said, the incentives are not aligned between the user and the exchange.

The exchanges have full control over users’ funds and make money off of it.

Also, they may use the funds without telling users, be attacked, do a rug pull, etc. There are too many red flags.

Oui oui! SideShift about to be available directly in the Ledger wallet https://t.co/ytGDcUxwHN

— Andreas (@abrkn) April 16, 2024

AI In Name Only
Brekken briefly touched on the ‘AI’ part in ‘SideShift.ai.’

“I’m going to be completely honest with you,” he said, “I just thought it sounded really awesome.”

The closest the company will get to an actual AI is the amount of automation they’ve done.

The company has a small team of people who deal with “quite a lot of volume.”

Yet, they keep everything smooth and stable thanks to “excessive automation internally,” Brekken said.

There’s very little human intervention, he added. “It’s like a giant machine” running nearly everything.

AI advises HUMANS to do their own research to be confident in their financial journey.

ATTACHING: Meme for motivation

Good job! 🎈 pic.twitter.com/eRli2v5Iw1

— SideShift.ai – Direct to Wallet Trading (@sideshiftai) April 13, 2024

However, when talking to customer support, the team “makes it a bit confusing” for people to know if they’re talking to a human, a machine, or a machine pretending to be human.

“More likely, you might be talking to a human pretending to be a machine,” Brekken said.

And speaking of the team, the founder noted that SideShift.ai is currently hiring for a number of roles, especially engineers.

Meme Coins Are Stress-Testing Major Chains
Commenting on the ongoing meme coin craze, Brekken said that he himself was “really into” Dogecoin when it launched in 2013.

Looking at the craze now, “It was the exact same thing back when there was only Dogecoin, but obviously, this is on steroids.”

There are many more of these coins now, many more communities, and more people involved – even those outside the crypto space. It’s difficult to visit a café without overhearing a conversation about WIF or BONK, Brekken remarked.

But, generally speaking, meme coins are beneficial for the space, Brekken remarked. “I think it’s good in many ways that people are trading meme coins,” he said.

He argued that these coins create fun for friends and communities, that they are harmless, and also an excellent way for people to enter crypto.

Bitcoin’s $60,000-$70,000 price tag can be intimidating for newcomers. Once bought, there’s also a lot to lose.

But with meme coins, it’s a lot easier to afford and trade them.

Degens need something to gamble on, and the shiny new things are memecoins. 🤡

Catch all of the PvP action, hot takes and more in this week's spicy newsletter!

Read it now: https://t.co/dmEDPBMuyr pic.twitter.com/289DdZ9819

— Shitcoin.com (@ShitcoinDotCom) March 23, 2024

And this space is growing as well. Now, users have more advanced tools at their disposal trading BONK than they do trading Apple shares, Brekken argued.

Additionally, trading meme coins is potentially becoming a competitor to another giant: sports betting.

“It’s quality fun with your friends,” Brekken said.

Lastly, but importantly, all this activity is stress-testing the technology, specifically the chains these tokens reside and move on.

Solana and Ethereum, in particular, are being stress-tested. Different chains are competing. They must work hard not to fall behind and lose users.

“I will bet you, [the developers] are all working day and night on all these platforms and chains […] to just keep this running and to try to find ways to deal with this record-level high demand for throughput and capacity,” Brekken said.

Multiple Parallel Markets At Work
Another exciting point Brekken made is that we currently seem to be witnessing multiple markets happening simultaneously.

Previously, we’d see one sector at a time significantly rising above others, each with its own cycle.

For example, in the last cycle, there was a decentralized finance (DeFi) summer that turned into a Solana summer. This gradually shifted into a “mania” centered around FTX, and so on.

Today, however, we’re seeing the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) taking off, the meme coin market continuation, and a new DeFi wave.

It also seems like these three have separate risks and somewhat separate users, Brekken opined.

Don't be a piggy in the fight between bulls and the bears.

Plan your trades wisely. Good job! 🎈 pic.twitter.com/WSm848Yp9V

— SideShift.ai – Direct to Wallet Trading (@sideshiftai) April 13, 2024

That said, he hopes that the meme coin cycle will continue to attract more newcomers to the space and encourage users within other cycles to explore other crypto-related markets.

The bull market has been “creeping up on us since the desperation we all felt” when Bitcoin was $20,000-$25,000.

Therefore, Brekken hopes the three different cycles will affect each other positively and prolong this bull run.

“If you’re still alive with a good-looking meme coin portfolio [by the end of summer], I think you are a genius,” he added.

Ethereum Dencun Upgrade and Path to Sharding
Lastly, Brekken briefly discussed certain developments in the space, including the Ethereum Dencun upgrade, which went live in March.

The upgrade aimed to significantly boost the Ethereum ecosystem, reduce Ethereum layer-2 blockchain transaction fees, and pave the way for sharding in the future, which will finally lower Ethereum’s high layer-1 fees.

What surprised Brekken about these Ethereum upgrades is that everybody connected to the Ethereum ecosystem, including other chains, was fully ready at the moment the update went live.

This is a positive development.

There is no longer a need to develop separate software for several years to support an upgrade. These are instantaneous now.

Another notable thing is the ongoing talk about sharding.

Deep dive on Ethereum's sharding roadmap from @Delphi_Digital. It's very good! https://t.co/oiTEqLFXGx

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 27, 2022

Sharding is a solution that optimizes the process of verifying transactions and smart contracts by splitting the blockchain network into partitions called shards.

This way, every node does not need to review the entire transaction history on the network.

Instead, specific nodes are assigned to specific shards, optimizing the process of nodes verifying transactions.

This, said Brekken, has the potential to send ETH to $5,000.

Therefore, the upgrades we’re seeing now are the developers gradually building a path towards sharding. Brekken said it’s a large project that will likely take a few years to complete.

__________

About Andreas BrekkenAndreas Brekken is the founder of SideShift.ai, a platform offering direct-to-wallet trading. To date, the exchange has processed over $1.25 billion in volume.

Brekken first discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has a deep technical understanding of the cryptocurrency space.

In addition to being a long-term crypto supporter, he has substantial hands-on industry experience.

In 2013, he founded Justcoin.com, a Norway-based cryptocurrency exchange (later acquired by ANX INTL), and then worked as a software engineer at Kraken in 2015 and 2016.

Brekken is also the founder of Shitcoin.com, a wide-reaching crypto content platform.

$24M CryptoPunk sale shows either ‘NFTs are over’ or ‘this is the bottom’