Yield Guild Games (YGG), a platform for renting NFTs in blockchain games, has announced the successful sale of US$13.8 million worth of tokens to an investment group spearheaded by DWF Labs and Andreessen Horowitz’s Web3-focused fund—A16Z Crypto. YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon revealed that they would invest these funds to develop their soulbound reputation token technology further.
Last year, YGG successfully test-launched its reputation tokens to reward players for in-guild activities such as content creation. Additionally, the company collaborates with developers to integrate the token into their games and offers rewards for completing certain quests or tasks. With plans to unveil a revamped web app at San Francisco’s Game Developers Conference in late March this year, these tokens are set to become an integral part of YGG’s platform ecosystem.
The co-founder of YGG emphasized that people recognize the platform as a source for high-quality players. He also revealed that they had revamped their web app, adding new technology to better support and reward accomplishments with reputation tokens. This token purchase by a16z and DWF Labs marks the second time both companies have invested in gaming on this platform – joining YGG’s US$4.6 million round back in 2021.
Andrei Grachev, the managing partner at DWF Labs, stated that they have committed to support YGG as part of their mission towards a blockchain-based economy through Web3. Dizon noted that the token sale ended late last year; however, the announcement was postponed due to an abundance of negative news in the crypto industry during this time frame. Fortunately, despite sinking lows in 2022, where YGG’s token reached US$0.16 per unit – it has skyrocketed 200% at the start of 2023.
Although the exact number of tokens sold was not made public, it is estimated that YGG’s sale constituted over 35% of their treasury, worth an estimated US$25 million as of November 2022. When queried about how they arrived at such a figure for their token sale, Dizon replied that the organization strategically balanced development costs with the mind of remaining financially stable.
With a 45% reserve of the firm’s token maximum supply under its control, YGG has US$21.7 million worth of tokens in their treasury wallet per Nansen.ai figures from February 15th, including US$5.1 million in Tether (USDT) and US$4 million in USDC.