X Empire, a new Elon Musk-themed play-to-earn game and Pepe Unchained, a meme coin with utility, are offering unique opportunities for investors in the crypto bear market.
Within the ongoing crypto bear market, two distinct projects—X Empire, a new Elon Musk-themed play-to-earn game and Pepe Unchained, a meme coin focused on tangible utility—are making waves, with investors hoping to capitalise on these opportunities.
These projects are offering unique approaches that could position them as major players in the advancing blockchain gaming and cryptocurrency space.
X Empire: A Pre-Market Game with NFT Integration
X Empire, formerly known as Musk Empire, is positioning itself as a follow-up to the success of games like Notcoin. It is a Telegram-based tap-to-earn game that will allow players to engage in a mix of simple gameplay mechanics such as tapping, upgrading avatars and playing mini-games like rock-paper-scissors.
What sets X Empire apart is its decision to introduce pre-market trading through custom NFT vouchers ahead of its upcoming token launch and airdrop. While other Telegram games like Hamster Kombat and Catizen opted for traditional exchange-based trading, X Empire is relying on The Open Network (TON) blockchain to mint NFT vouchers. These NFTs can then be traded on the Getgems marketplace, offering players and investors a chance to speculate on the token’s future value before its official release.
This approach mirrors the path set by Notcoin, which also allowed players to cash out a portion of their earned coins via NFTs that were traded on the Getgems marketplace.
However, X Empire introduces more complexity by incorporating additional gameplay features. Players can upgrade their avatars and bet on in-game activities, making it difficult to tie a clear conversion rate between in-game earnings and the airdropped tokens.
As of now, X Empire has not disclosed the exact method for calculating airdrop allocations, leaving players with unanswered questions regarding the token’s distribution process. For instance, high-level accounts may mint multiple NFT vouchers, but these do not represent the full token entitlement. With the mining phase set to end on September 30 and the airdrop to follow shortly, players will have to decide whether to mint the NFTs now or wait for the full token airdrop.
The game’s native token, X, will have a total supply of 690 billion tokens on TON. Currently, only one NFT voucher has been sold on Getgems for 7 TON, equivalent to around $36. As players and investors await the airdrop, the future of X Empire remains uncertain, but it is clear that the game is following a path that has been proven to draw interest in the past.
Pepe Unchained: A Meme Coin with Utility
While X Empire focuses on gaming and NFTs, Pepe Unchained ($PEPU) is setting itself apart in the meme coin market through its combination of utility and branding.
Analysts, including popular crypto commentator ClayBro, have pointed to the unique features of Pepe Unchained as a key reason why the coin may outperform established meme coins like Pepe and Dogecoin.
One of the defining factors of Pepe Unchained is its use of Layer 2 (L2) blockchain technology, which allows for faster and cheaper transactions compared to Ethereum’s mainnet.
L2 blockchains solve many of the scalability and cost issues that Ethereum faces by processing transactions on an offshoot chain and later settling them on the main Ethereum network. This can lead to lower fees and significantly improved transaction speeds—both major selling points for users who want to engage in high-volume trading or gaming without worrying about expensive gas fees.
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Pepe Unchained takes this utility further by integrating the popular meme coin aesthetic, making it a unique combination of branding and practicality. Unlike its competitors, which rely heavily on community engagement and “vibes” to drive prices, Pepe Unchained offers tangible features that could attract long-term investors looking for more than just speculative gains.
According to ClayBro, the project’s presale performance is a testament to its potential. Despite the broader bearish sentiment in the cryptocurrency market, Pepe Unchained has raised over $12.8 million during its presale phase.
Investors have shown a willingness to accumulate PEPU tokens, even as other cryptocurrencies have struggled to maintain value. This ability to raise funds during difficult market conditions has led analysts to speculate that Pepe Unchained could become a top meme coin, possibly surpassing its more well-known competitors.
Staking and APY: A Key Attraction for Investors
One of the significant features driving interest in Pepe Unchained is its staking program, which offers a return of up to 160% APY (annual percentage yield). This is significantly higher than other staking options in the market, including Ethereum, which offers around 7% APY for staking. In addition, PEPU staking does not require users to host their own node or delegate their tokens, making it a more accessible option for everyday investors.
However, there are some limitations. The staking rewards are capped at 30% of the total PEPU supply, meaning that as more investors participate, the APY is expected to decrease. This has incentivised early investors to take action before the rewards drop.
Furthermore, as the presale progresses, the price of PEPU tokens is gradually increasing, creating urgency for those who want to buy in at the lower presale rates.
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Both X Empire and Pepe Unchained reflect larger trends within the cryptocurrency space. The intersection of gaming and blockchain, represented by X Empire, has become an increasingly popular way for developers to engage users and create new economic models through play-to-earn mechanics.
Meanwhile, Pepe Unchained represents a new breed of meme coins, ones that offer more than just speculative value but also real utility through technological advancements like L2 blockchains.
As both projects continue to develop, investors are betting that these emerging opportunities will provide lucrative returns, even amid the current market downturn. Whether through gaming, staking, or innovative blockchain solutions, X Empire and Pepe Unchained offer a glimpse into how cryptocurrency projects are adapting to both market conditions and user demands.
