Virtual Currency Issuing Game Stocks... Stock Price and Coin Both on a Downward Path

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] In a situation where the stock prices of game companies pioneering the P2E (Play to Earn) market are showing weakness, the cryptocurrencies they issued are also struggling to rebound.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 2nd, Wemade closed trading at 77,600 won, down 22.86% compared to early last month. As of 9:28 a.m. that day, Wemade was trading at 75,000 won, down 3.35% from the previous day. In addition, Kakao Games, Com2uS Holdings, and Netmarble also showed weak stock prices compared to early last month, falling 23.42%, 30.94%, and 11.48%, respectively, during the same period.

In this situation, most of the cryptocurrencies issued by these game companies are also on a downward trend. They have positioned P2E as a new future growth engine, issuing cryptocurrencies and working on building blockchain-based game ecosystem platforms. According to the global cryptocurrency market data site CoinMarketCap, as of 9:48 a.m. that day, the price of Wemade’s issued cryptocurrency WEMIX was trading at $2.42 (about 3,064 won), down 47.73% from early last month. Kakao Games’ BORA, Com2uS Holdings’ C2X token, and Netmarble’s MBX also fell 30.31%, 37.99%, and 13.9%, respectively, during the same period.

In Korea, the release of P2E games is currently not allowed due to concerns over gambling addiction, so P2E games are mainly being launched in overseas markets. However, expectations for P2E games are not very high, leading to decreased interest in cryptocurrencies. On the 30th of last month, WEMIX’s daily trading volume was $42,546,062 (about 53.7 billion won), which is about 1/30 of the $1,265,295,260 (about 1.599 trillion won) recorded on January 11.

Experts agree that ultimately, game quality is crucial for the stock prices and cryptocurrency prices of these companies to rise. Professor Hong Ki-hoon of Hongik University’s Department of Business Administration explained, “Game companies are marketing through P2E and cryptocurrency issuance, but ultimately, game quality and fun are the most important factors. However, since expectations for the games are low, stock prices are falling, and investment interest in cryptocurrencies that can circulate within P2E games also seems to be limited.”