Have you got an (AAVE)GOTCHI for Christmas?
17.12.2020, 10:25No? Well, neither has….anybody, since these little blockchain ‘de-fi’ ghouls are set for release into our world just after New Year. First, their ‘portals’ must open. Which means there’s still time to find out about these ‘crypto-pets’ and you’re in the right place. The GrabFreeMoney blog is back bringing you another awesome project which can save you money!
And there’s still time to save up your points earned right here in your personal dashboard, and then swap them for major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum. When the time comes, you can purchase an AAVEGOTCHI portal from Opensea. They look set to become a lot more fun and valuable than a Tamagotchi ever was.
First, what is AAVE?
Finnish for ‘ghost’, this Singapore-based project is a major player in the crypto space. It’s a dapp (a secure, decentralised application) where you deposit cryptocurrency and earn interest. This also acts as collateral, allowing you to borrow more. If the value of your collateral rises, then you can pay off your loan easily.
AAVE has grown to become a massive player in the rapidly-evolving Ethereum ‘De-Fi’ realm where there is currently already a market size of over $88.5m locked up in its version 2. It is also known to be one of the most secure and trusted dapps. Just head over to the site and login with your MetaMask etc. browser wallet to check out what cryptos you can deposit and start earning a return. Hint: It’s a lot better (and more secure) than a bank, in these troubled times.
By the way, there is also a token ($AAVE) which you can stake to earn passive income rewards, since this is a governance token and also helps to secure the protocol. Note: there are risks with staking AAVE, in that it’s also designed to be used to protect the project, if there should be a market crash etc.
Now, what is AAVEGOTCHI?
AAVEGOTCHI is a new project which makes AAVE more interesting. It allows your AAVE deposits (the aTokens you receive representing your interest-bearing collateral on a certain cryptocurrency) to take the form of tradeable NFT-style graphical creatures! By the way, these (Ethereum-based) aTokens can also be bought and sold on dexes like Uniswap.
But the ‘gotchis’ themselves are not yet released! The first ‘haunt’ is expected in early January, to tie-in with version 2 of the AAVE protocol. They will be distributed via the Portal NFTs.
What’s in an AAVE Portal?
Each ‘Portal NFT’ will be on sale (tradeable via marketplaces like Opensea) bearing 10 random gotchis. Once ‘opened’, only 1 can be picked as your gotchi. You must summon it out of the ether with aTokens.
The AAVEGOTCHI project has a separate token, the $GHST token, (also a governance token) and via its platform you can already stake it for certain AAVEGOTCHI-based rewards.
You can read some easy blog articles outlining some of the basics of its well-planned tokenomics on the Medium blog.
Why is the $GHST token also an interesting buy? It’s because the project has ambitious plans for these interactive ‘crypto-pets’, including an actual game where they can dwell, and do battle. The AAVEGotchi’s may be only the first incarnation of many de-fi crypto-pets.
However, the tokenomics are still set to become tried-and-tested in 2021, so we’ll see if things ‘play out’ as planned. The Portals are sure to sell out quickly that’s for sure.
To conclude, this is still a very attractive project to get involved with, should you like the idea of ‘investment pets’, where both the graphical traits of the NFTs and the attached aTokens have value. Will caring for your digital pet be like caring for an investment, adding to it and seeing if it can become a lot more valuable (even as their underlying aTokens do?). Will it encourage more hodling?
Would you want your investments to do battle against others? If you were to lose your aTokens, then it could be a scary idea. Hopefully you can transfer them into another gotchi you must acquire. Should you feed them after midnight with more aTokens?
The $GHST token itself will play an important role, as owners themselves eventually get to decide just how things will evolve via more comprehensive governance features.
At least, the world is still safe from such gotchi hauntings at time of writing here in 2020, but... time is running out!
Note: A similar project we’ve previously covered, allowing crypto to be staked inside NFTs is Cargo. Check out our previous article.
Be sure to stay tuned to GrabFreeMoney.com blog to get our next post featuring latest advice and investment opportunities, including those from the exciting, magical new crypto-realm.
Contributed by Ade @ Ade’s Crypto Press (Dec. 2020)
Also find more crypto-tips and NFTs at my site above.
Disclaimer - Always do your own research. This is not professional financial advice so you invest at your own risk. There is always risk with early projects. The cryptocurrency market contains speculative and volatile projects so never invest more than you can expect or afford to lose.