Crypto, blockchain, and Web3 will change the ways we interact financially, digitally, and even in ways, we have not yet imagined. We are all at the frontier of this movement, as community members, builders, traders, and users of the technology.
Each role or identity within this frontier grows, learns, fails, and rises again, as they take their losses with humble acceptance of lessons learned and celebrate their victories with the hope and optimism that they can wipe away whatever came before. Competition grows in every lane and across the entire space. As builders and crypto-crazed participants meet in the middle to help each side grow, it becomes vital for both sides to understand each other, and to grow in synergy as time marches on.
There are thousands of great ideas thus far that have made their way to the crypto space. Due to the recent 2020–2021 explosion in popularity of meme coins and NFT digital collectible artworks, builders and teams have entered the space in growing numbers and many ideas compete for the support of Web3 community members.
How do new projects stand out in highly competitive environments? Some improve upon things that have worked well in the past but simply need a fresh take with a new set of eyes on the problems at hand. Others find no reason to reinvent the wheel and try to approach similar solutions with better efforts. At Gnogen, our approach to the $GNG token has always been the same since the first day. Since creating the $GNG token in Q1 of 2021, the goal has always been to have this token be entirely distributed to our community and for it to take the role as the the fundamental utility token of the games and digital collectibles Gnogen, our partners, and our community will create together.
Bitcoin and to a lesser extent, dogecoin, are cryptocurrencies that have defied expectations, expert opinions, and have withstood the test of time. For all the limitations these two coins were said to possess, there is an attribute that remains…well…immutable. These coins were never sold by the creator. These coins were meant to be for anyone and everyone in the world. These coins, Bitcoin & Dogecoin, have no central point of failure. Put simply, the mechanism for distribution cannot be shut off by any single entity. This immutability, this type of mining/equipment-based effort, has shown the world, like water, oxygen, and sunlight, that the best things in life are free and provide an opportunity to anyone.
Today, the dream of what $GNG could be, starts as implausibly as the two coins mentioned above did at one point in the past. We make zero guarantees of any expectation of profit or that $GNG will be worth a lot of money one day. The guarantee that we make is this. That we will, and are doing everything to bring true utility to the $GNG token. As jaded as the bear market has left many crypto participants, there was indeed a time not too long ago, when many were hopeful that blockchain could bring immense improvements to finance, governments, art, gaming, music, etc., etc. - the list became extensive. True utility began to feel like the shore that kept getting smaller with each passing wave. But it’s not that these things cannot come to pass. It only means that things take time to build properly.
- How does mining for $GNG work?
Mining for $GNG is done through a master smart contract known as “The Great War”. Gnogen collectors will have the option to submit one, select a few, or all of their eligible NFTs into The Great War. Any Gnogen NFT that contains a “Power” score within the metadata is eligible to participate. You can submit your miners for just 1 day, or pay enough gas fees to leave them in for longer periods of time. Each day your miners will compete for that particular day’s scheduled $GNG reward amount. The way this is achieved within the smart contract is each NFT that enters the daily battle will be separated into 2 stacks: the left and the right. If you submit 6 NFTs, 3 will enter the left stack and the other 3 will enter the right stack. These stacks will end up being just 2 stacks, that combine everyone participating in mining in the entire world. The left stack battles the right stack. These stacks are metaphorically both face down. The topmost card for each stack will “flip” face up, and whichever of the two NFTs contain the higher Power score, will “defeat” the other and enter the winners’ group, while the lower Power score NFT enters the losers’ group. If both Power scores are identical, both enter the losers’ group. Once the original stacks have been depleted and all the simulations have been ran, the smart contract rewards the winners’ group by rewarding each NFT owner proportional to their contribution to the winners’ group overall Power score. So for example, if the winners’ group had a total Power score of 15,000 and you had 5 winning NFTs which had a cumulative Power score of 487, you would receive (487/15,000) * daily issuance rate (which is predetermined at epoch = 0). Each day the stacks are shuffled at random and the number of NFTs participating can also change day by day. The issuance rate is known and deterministic for the life of the mining program, but the daily number of participants changes based on community engagement. - Are there any special rules, disadvantages or advantages for participating in The Great War?
Indeed there are. If an Emidas and Gnogon NFT are battling each other, and both have the same Power score, Emidas wins, rather than both ending up in a tie (both would be losers in the case of a “typical” tie). If a Gnogon NFT and a Validator NFT are battling each other, and both have the same Power score, the Gnogon wins, rather than both ending up in a tie. If a Gnogon NFT and another Gnogon NFT face off in battle, and both have the same Power score, the higher Heart score will win the battle. If a Validator NFT and another Validator NFT are battling each other, and both have the same Power score, the higher RAM score will win the battle. These are the only rules for the 3 collections we have released so far that contain Power scores (Emidas, Gnogons, and Validators V2). - Are low Power NFTs useless?
It is important to stress that first and foremost, Gnogen is a digital art and content producer. Artwork is collected and traded in the eyes of the beholder and that is why we try to release digital artwork that can continue to be enjoyed for years to come. Our artworks are also underpinned by original content, lore, and characters that we no doubt will continue to develop and explore as time goes on. However and with that said, there is a balancing mechanism that will be built into The Great War smart contract. The code will be instructed to change the basis on which it selects winners on every Sunday. On Sundays, the rules for winners and losers will be reversed, meaning the lower Power scores win while the higher Power score loses. Once every 7 days (on Sundays), the lower Power score will win that day’s daily $GNG issuance. - What is the distribution timeline of $GNG?
The Great War smart contract will be built to run autonomously for a 10 year period. During this time, 50% of the entire supply will be mineable within the first year of token issuance. Each year after this, the issuance rate will be cut in half, until the final and 10th year of the smart contract, where the mining rewards will be least robust. - When will the mining smart contract go live?
The smart contract is scheduled to be completed by August. After which, we will have the SC audited and tested for security and fidelity. Once the SC is secure and ready to exist on the blockchain, we will push it live. Our goal is to release $GNG mining in Q3 2022, barring complications in development, auditing, or potential debugging. - Once the smart contract goes live, can Gnogen change the rules or make revisions to the way the smart contract operates?
No. Once the smart contract is live, Gnogen will forever be unable to make revisions to the core mechanism of the smart contract. The rules and regulations will be set in stone. The only list that can be updated is the list containing which NFT Collections are eligible to mine. For the overall health of the ecosystem as well as making sure we have enough mining equipment to allow for enough adoption of the $GNG token, the target number of total miners ever was set at 30,000–40,000 miners. At the time of this writing there are 21,550 $GNG miners in existence. The majority of the remaining miners will come from future Gnogen Comics Supreme Heroes. - Where can $GNG be spent?
As of right now, $GNG can be spent on some Gnogen NFT sales, such as the 1 of 1 handmade Gen 1 Gnogons we will begin auctioning to our community in the coming days. In the short-term the goal is to begin having some of our core products go live. These core products have been designed and prepared to take full advantage of the ESDT token standard. The first blockchain-based gaming product to go live using $GNG will be the PC downloadable, Gnogen Trading Card Game. We are currently in development of the MVP and hope to have beta testing live in the next few months. On a longer-time horizon, our intention and overarching goal is to create a Metaverse, where our community can hang out, interact, create memories, and show off their NFTs in style. Metaverses were up until recently, notoriously difficult to create and so it would not be reasonable or truthful to guarantee we will build the world’s greatest metaverse. But with more and more gaming engines allowing teams and projects to leverage their existing infrastructure, massive online community experiences are a lot closer than first meets the eye. We will continue to strive daily, monthly, and yearly to bring in the right investors, show our gaming products are designed to bring something entertaining and truly enjoyable to blockchain gaming, while continuing to place immense important on only releasing artworks we feel confident will be well received. - What is the long-term vision for $GNG?
A token by the people and for the people. A token unmarred by major VC holdings and token release schedules. A token that can transcend the bounds of the Gnogen Metaverse, and become widely accepted as a token that is immutable and fair. Often times what the world needs in order to push forward is a common language. $GNG seeks to become a key player in the tokens being transacted across all major metaverses (there will be many). - Will $GNG be listed on exchanges?
Not by Gnogen. Part of this great experiment is to follow in the footsteps of Bitcoin and Dogecoin. We do not take these decisions lightly, as they have already severely impacted our ability to grow at the pace that we would have hoped for. But if we are truly able to deliver the products we know can bring real entertainment value into crypto, these types of questions and concerns will be taken care of by everyone BUT Gnogen (as we have seen with the greatly accepted international cryptocurrencies of the past.) - What are the short, medium, and long-term plans for $GNG?
Short-term would be to release the mining smart contract along with the first lite wave of $GNG use cases. In the medium-term, our goals are to bring deeper utility by helping facilitate a growing list of places where $GNG is accepted as payment. The long-term plan for $GNG is to show the world whether or not this experiment worked. Innovation happens at the cusp of determination and insanity. There are no doubt thousands of cryptocurrencies and tokens making their way across blockchains all over the world. We, the people of the Gnogenverse, want to see what happens when a fairly mined token, runs on a lightning-fast layer 1 blockchain (The Elrond Network Blockchain), and has true Web3 gaming utility. - If Gnogen will not sell the $GNG token, where will the funds for developing use cases come from?
Not all Web3 companies are formed alike. There are projects that raise revenue in all shapes and sizes. The core value proposition of Gnogen is not unlike what legendary brands such as Marvel, DC, Pokemon, Disney, etc., have already succeeded in bringing to markets. Bringing people together through stories has immense value to humanity. It always has. And if there’s one thing we will always strive to do, it is to bring value to the communities we are wholly a part of. Comics, original content/lore, IP that finds more and more people getting interested and googling “Emidas” to find out what this new wave is all about, contribute year over year until the demand for more (tv shows, movies, streaming platforms, etc) appear naturally from the people. None of the aforementioned brands were built overnight but the vision was clear, the creative direction sang in tune with the cultural zeitgeist and genuine adoption over time took care of the rest.
NFTs have thus far been about flipping, profits, and trading. But perhaps, something deeper can be built upon the foundations that are being set even as you are reading this now. We challenge everyone as well as ourselves daily, to open our minds to the possibility that blockchain and its children are simply, just getting started.
If you made it to the end of this article, we thank you sincerely for reading and for being a part of everything that is being built on the blockchain. Here is a sneak peek of the TCG UX/UI being built on Elrond!
