Sitting at the forefront of DeFi and NFT technology, Aavegotchi represents a prime example of how the two Web3 staples can innovate the gaming industry. Read on to find out how the platform is revolutionizing the space with a deft application of these two aspects of blockchain based tech.
DeFi and NFTs represent remarkable game-changers in their respective intertwined niche. DeFi ushers in the financial revolution that swept across corporate realms with its economic potential. It introduces a borderless financial system free from third party interference, restrictions, and downtime. Essentially, redefining the global digital economy by addressing the traditional global financial system loopholes.
NFTs, on the other hand, revolutionized the artistic space with their tokenization of digital content. It widens the scope of the arts industries by eliminating geographical limitations through ubiquitous blockchain technology. Traditionally, trading artistic pieces usually goes unnoticed or is conducted in private due to the high caliber of those who can afford them. But with NFTs, there are affordable art pieces for all and sundry, traded publicly. Not only this, NFTs extend beyond art collections as they also include unique digital items like animations, music, virtual lands, in-game collectibles, and lots more with varying use cases.
When two remarkable tools or projects merge, it usually results in fantastic development beyond mere anticipation. Such is the case when DeFi and NFTs are incorporated into a single project, Aavegotchi.
What is Aavegotchi?
Aavegotchis are DeFi-based NFTs built on the Ethereum network by Aave. They are pixelated ghost NFTs introduced by Pixelcraft Studios in September 2020. Aave means “ghost” in Finnish, which explains the ghost-themed NFTs. The team initially launched Aavegotchi on the Ethereum network, but it later extended its compatibility to the Polygon network, which is more scalable and has cheaper fees.
The project began as a GameFi NFT platform, but later evolved into an ecosystem where players can play decentralized games, earn rewards, and use their lands for various purposes. Basically, allowing owners of Aavegotchi to unlock access to the platform and participate in the ecosystem. Then in March 2022 the team introduced a rental initiative to lower the entry barrier for new members, therefore, allowing them to play in the Gotchiverse using a loaned NFT.
How Can One Get Aavegotchi?
- Getting or claiming an Aavegotchi means summoning it from the Nether realm through a portal. Would-be gamers can get these fully tradable portals through time-bound auctions or ticket raffles. However, if these have ended, gamers can get their portal on the Baazaar (a secondary marketplace for the Aavegotchi ecosystem).
- After receiving a portal, the next step is to open it so that the user can summon the Aavegotchi. The portal opening occurs via the Polygon network through an authorized wallet transaction. Once opened, 10 different Aavegotchis with different random traits are presented. However, users can pick only 1, and summon it from the Nether realm to the wallet, while others will disappear.
- To summon an Aavegotchi, users need to stake the required spirit force (collateral, aTokens, maTokens, or amTokens) into the portal. These tokens or spirit force can be purchased on Aave or DEXes such as Uniswap.
A Quick Breakdown of the Different Tokens
As mentioned earlier, Aavegotchi initially launched on the Ethereum network and later moved to Polygon. While it was still on the Ethereum network, Spirit Force (a.k.a. aTokens) were interest-based tokens from the Aave ecosystem. Owing to high gas fees on the Ethereum network, Aavegotchi moved to the Polygon network, which has lesser gas fees and faster transaction throughput.
Due to the switching of networks, aTokens will also be needed on Polygon. This resulted in bridging Aave V2 aTokens from Ethereum to Polygon. The bridged aTokens are called maTokens. When the Aave protocol switched to the Polygon network for higher transaction throughput, its market maker liquidity pool on the Polygon network was known as amTokens.
You understand now, right?
The aTokens are divided into stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. The stablecoins include DAI, USDC, and USDT; stablecoins like BUSD, GUSD, TUSD, and USD will be added after DAO voting. The cryptocurrencies are AAVE, UNI, ETH, YFI, and LINK, while BAT, REN, MANA, KNC, ENJ, WBTC, BAL, CRV, REP, and SNX, will be added later after voting.
The base rarity score of your preferred Aavegotchi determines the collateral; the higher the base rarity score, the higher the collateral. The minimum collateral is 10 DAI, while the maximum is 1,000 DAI.
- A rarity score of less than 450 attracts 10 DAI.
- Rarity score greater than 450 but less than 525 attracts 25 DAI.
- A rarity score greater than 526 but less than 580 attracts 100 DAI.
- A rarity score greater than 581 attracts 1000 DAI.
After claiming your Aavegotchi NFT, you can start using it to play and earn rewards, or you can sell it on marketplaces like Rarible or the Baazaar.
Where Do Aavegotchis Get Their Value?
Like every other NFT, which is valued based on utility, an Aavegotchi is valued based on its inherent worth and rarity.
The realistic valuation of an Aavegotchi is defined by its staked collateral. If an Aavegotchi is staked with 100 DAI, then it will be valued at 100 DAI alongside whatever is earned from the lending pool with the staked DAI. Therefore, an Aavegotchi staked with 1,000 DAI will have a higher value than one staked with 100 or 25 DAI. However, each Aavegotchi has its value on its own.
Rarity Value
Aavegotchis’ rarity value is measured by calculating the rarity score of each Aavegotchi’s traits and associated wearables. Unlike most NFTs whose rarity is fixed, a mechanism called “Rarity farming” enables Aavegotchi’s rarity to be dynamic and increase as they upgrade and acquire more wearables and consumables.
Traits and Wearables
An NFT trait generally refers to the physical features or attributes and functionality of the particular NFT. Such is the case of the primary traits, which include Randomly Generated Traits, Spirit Force Trait Modifiers, Experience, Kinship, level, and Haunt.
Randomly Generated Traits (RGTs)
The randomly generated traits are assigned to all Aavegotchis during the portal opening. RGTs include Aggressiveness (AGG), Energy (NRG), Spookiness (SPK), Brain Size (BRN), Eye Shape (EYS), and Eye Color (EYC). Each of these traits has its rarity value which is categorized into Common (50%), Uncommon (30%), Rare (16%), or Mythical (4%).
Spirit Force Trait Modifiers
Recall that spirit force is collateral used to summon Aavegotchi from the Nether realm. Spirit forces are none other than tokens (aTokens, maTokens, and amTokens), as explained earlier, but these tokens have their respective modification on traits of Aavegotchis they are used to summon. Below is the effect of each token on Aavegotchi’s trait.
Kinship
Kinship is a function of Aavegotchi’s sense of loyalty to its owner. This kind of trait is not randomly assigned to Aavegotchis, but it starts at a neutral level of 50, reducing to zero (minimum) or increasing to over 500. Using your Aavegotchi every 12 hours earns you 1 Kinship, but if you don’t use your Aavegotchi for 24 hours, you will lose 1 Kinship.
Kinship is used in the Gotchiverse (Aavegotchi Metaverse) for Alchemical channeling, the basic daily stipend earned by each Aavegotchi. The Kinship level of each Aavegotchi determines how much it accumulates in the Alchemical tokens (FUD, FOMO, ALPHA, and KEK). The primary earnings for channeling are 20 FUD, 10 FOMO, 5 ALPHA, and 2 KEK.
Experience (XP)
Experience is a function of the activities each Aavegotchi has participated in. It is measured by XP, awarded to each Aavegotchi for playing unique mini-games, participating in events hosted on the ecosystem’s Discord channel, and voting in the Aavegotchi’s DAO.
Level
Levels of Aavegotchi increase as it earns more XP. At every three levels, Aavegotchis will earn 1 Spirit point, which can be used to increase or reduce a particular trait. The higher the level of your Aavegotchi, the more guilds it can join. Furthermore, some wearables are only compatible with Aavegotchis of a specific level.
Haunts
Haunts refer to the group an Aavegotchi travels with from the Nether to the Ether realm. There are currently two haunts that also mark editions of Aavegotchis in existence. The first haunt has 10,000 portals through which Aavegotchis were summoned, while the second haunt has 15,000 portals. Each portal can only be used once to summon an Aavegotchi.
Each haunt has its exclusive spirit forces; haunt 1 has maETH, maLINK, maTUSD, maYFI, and maUNI, while haunt 2 has amWETH, amWBTC, and amMATIC.
Wearables
Wearables are ERC-998 standard tokens, an extension of the unique ERC-721 standard token for NFTs. These items are regarded as child NFTs in the Aavegotchi ecosystem because the ERC-998 allows NFTs to own other NFTs and ERC-20 tokens (cryptocurrencies). They are none other than clothing or fashion accessories worn by Aavegotchi, and they have their respective rarity. As a result, users can purchase wearables in the Aavegotchi Baazaar with $GHST.
What is $GHST?
The $GHST token is Aavegotchi’s native token used to purchase various assets in the ecosystem, like portals, collectibles, consumables, wearables, etc. It is also the governance token used by DAO to vote in the ecosystem and can be staked.
According to CoinGecko, GHST ranks #432 with a market cap of $41,074,249 and a maximum supply of 42,264,367 tokens. A GHST is currently valued at $1.01 with 40,657,004 $GHST currently in circulation. It recorded an all-time high of $2.88 on December 2, 2021, and an all-time low of $0.43 on November 15, 2020.
Source NFT Plazas
