In this article, we dive deep into the Yield Guild Games ecosystem. We explore how the unique “Yield Guild” model works and the utilities of the native YGG token. Also, we look at how users can earn a passive income with the YGG vaults and YGG scholarships program!

Yield Guild Games runs on top of the Ethereum blockchain, the largest smart contract chain in the industry. To learn more about how Ethereum works on a deeper level, see our Ethereum Fundamentals course at Moralis Academy. Suitable for non-programmers, learn about Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), token standards, and the foundations of decentralized applications (dapps). Don’t forget to check out the world-leading Web3 education suite, Moralis Academy, today! 

Exploring Yield Guild and the Yield Guild Games (YGG) Token

Yield Guild Games is a novel blockchain project intertwining aspects of decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and play-to-earn (P2E) gaming within the metaverse economy. Founded by Gabby Dizon, Beryl Li, and Owl of Moistness in 2020, the project was inspired by the P2E blockchain game called “Axie Infinity”. Dizon was fascinated by Axie Infinity’s ability to offer earning potentials that exceed local wages in some countries. As such, he co-founded a blockchain startup to expand the global network of P2E gamers within the metaverse. Less than twelve months after launching, with over 20,000 players registered, Yield Guild is one of the largest NFT play-to-earn gaming investment platforms. 

Fundamentally, Yield Guild Games is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) operating on the Ethereum blockchain. Further, the DAO project uses its native asset, the Yield Guild Games (YGG) token, to power the operations. As a result, Yield Guild is a fully decentralized project that operates according to the majority vote of its YGG token holders. To achieve its mission, Yield Guild has four main goals. First, to continually source the highest yield-producing NFTs within metaverse games. Second, build an ever-growing network of P2E gamers. Then, generate earnings from operating and renting NFTs while simultaneously encouraging community engagement within the Yield Guild social networks. Overall, Yield Guild and the YGG token encourage new gamers to begin and grow within P2E blockchain games.

Beyond Yield Guild Games

For a beginner’s guide to the technicalities of blockchain, the Blockchain & Bitcoin Fundamentals course at Moralis Academy is the perfect place to start! Or, learn about the foundations of leading blockchain projects with our free blog. Save our “Solana vs. Ethereum” and “Rust & Solana” articles for later! In addition, if you’re an aspiring blockchain developer or a solid JavaScript programmer, make sure to check out our tutorials on the Moralis blog. If you’re feeling extra venturesome, travel deep down the rabbit hole and explore Moralis Projects! There, you get to participate in Web3 projects and earn NFTs after submitting your project!

How Does the Yield Guild Games Community Work?

The Yield Guild Games project and associated games operate using blockchain, a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) based on computer science, cryptography, and mathematics. As such, Yield Guild operates using a decentralized autonomous organization (YGG DAO) that manages the assets (via the YGG treasury), parameters, and games within its ecosystem. In addition, the YGG DAO comprises various “SubDAOs” operating their own governance parameters. 

The Yield Guild Games model blends aspects of DeFi and NFT investing to create a P2E metaverse economy. As a result, different players within the same NFT game can collaborate to maximize earning potential. Also, guild members can rent and use community-owned in-game NFT assets stored within the YGG treasury to earn in-game rewards. Those who contribute their assets receive a percentage share of the gamers’ earnings.

Being open-source, the Yield Guild Games infrastructure design seeks to expand, network, and interoperate with new metaverse games. However, every metaverse project must strictly adhere to three conditions. Each game must operate a virtual economy with its own native token. Second, the game must include a play-to-earn (P2E) functionality rewarding users with the virtual economy’s native token. Finally, to qualify for Yield Guild Games selection, it must be an active virtual land-based economy.

YGG DAO

Akin to most decentralized applications (dapps), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) operate using smart contracts. Smart contracts are pieces of code that can automate a financial or data transaction when meeting a predetermined set of parameters. The Yield Guild Games (YGG) DAO operates using smart contracts and the native Yield Guild Games (YGG) token. Members use the YGG token to cast a vote on updates and changes to the project. Primarily, the YGG DAO defines project parameters such as the YGG tokenomics and DAO governance structure. Plus, the YGG DAO can vote on introducing or removing new projects, products, and technological developments.

There are currently five main types of token holders within the YGG DAO. These are the founders, advisors, treasury, investors, and the community. Further, each role plays a significant part in the governance structure. However, Yield Guild Games clarifies that the community is at the heart of its project. As such, the project sets aside 45% of the YGG token supply to distribute among its community through various activities. Also, guild members have the opportunity to receive YGG token rewards. For example, participation in airdrops, staking rewards, YGG DAO management, contribution rewards, plus level-up and loyalty rewards.

An effective reward tokenomic structure is fundamental to the success of any DAO. Therefore, the YGG DAO incorporates community-centric incentives that can scale, adapt, and benefit all members. Also, to achieve this, the YGG DAO infrastructure comprises many SubDAOs. As a result, Yield Guild Games can generate a localized sense of community within its wider global YGG DAO community.

SubDAOs

Akin to the broader YGG DAO ecosystem, each “SubDAO” has its own set of governing and asset management conditions. Further, each SubDAO is a local community to either a specific play-to-earn metaverse game or a geographic location. For example, the first regional SubDAO to launch was the “YGG SEA” SubDAO, or YGG South East Asia. In addition, popular play-to-earn metaverse games Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, and League of Kingdoms each have their own SubDAO community. Overall, the goal of a SubDAO is to create a localized space for players to strategize and maximize performances and earnings. 

Accordingly, each SubDAO community is responsible for the management, rules, and conditions of its respective game’s assets. Furthermore, each SubDAO contributes a percentage of its earnings to the wider YGG DAO. Also, the SubDAO infrastructure comprises a community lead, a dedicated wallet, and a native SubDAO token. With similar utilities to the Yield Guild Games (YGG) token, holders of the SubDAO token can vote on community parameters. Plus, SubDAO token holders can vote on the investment and management strategies of in-game assets via the YGG treasury. As such, SubDAOs present an opportunity to grow a miniature international metaverse gaming economy within a broader DAO. This presents a novel assortment of income streams and growth possibilities.

YGG Scholarships

One of the main operations of Yield Guild Games is its in-game NFT rental program. Known as the “YGG scholarship program”, the revenue model is another influence from the Axie Infinity game. Overall, the YGG scholarship opportunities benefit non-gaming NFT asset owners and play-to-earn gamers.

Using smart contracts, owners of specific gaming NFTs can lease their assets to players to use in the game to maximize revenue. In return, the play-to-earn gamer shares a percentage of the revenue with the NFT owner. The contract operates so that only the NFT owner can transfer or trade the NFT. Then, new play-to-earn gamers can earn in-game rewards using others’ NFTs and split the in-game rewards. In addition, the YGG scholarship scheme includes guidance and training for new players from expert community managers.

The Yield Guild Games platform offers several different YGG scholarships for different metaverse games. For example, new players can receive NFT assets, including virtual land, cars, and armor. YGG scholarships are available in games such as Axie Infinity, League of Kingdoms, F1 Delta Time, The Sandbox, and more. 

Yield Guild Games YGG Token 

Using the ERC-20 token standard, the multi-utility Yield Guild Games (YGG) token operates on top of the leading smart contract blockchain, Ethereum. Primarily, the YGG token grants holders governance rights within the YGG DAO. Moreover, the YGG token allows holders to submit proposals to improve the protocol with winning suggestions receiving YGG token rewards. Furthermore, YGG token holders have the ability to vote on the governance structure, technological developments, and potential projects. Holders can use the YGG token within the Yield Guild Games ecosystem for many other things. This includes the opportunity to earn a passive income! Plus, guild members will need to use the YGG token to pay for services on the network. In addition, the YGG token can provide access to exclusive content within the YGG Discord channel. Holders can also use the YGG token to pay for YGG merchandise and discounts.

Currently, the total maximum supply is one million YGG tokens. However, this may change in the future if the YGG DAO votes to do so. In 2021, 25 million YGG tokens were sold via SushiSwap during the project’s initial DEX offering (IDO). Nevertheless, the Yield Guild Games development team assures users its community comes first. Nearly half (45%) of the total supply is set to be distributed through community activities over four years. Just under a quarter (24.9%) of all YGG tokens are dedicated to early investors, with 15% to the founders. Yield Guild Games states that 1.85% of YGG tokens will go to project advisors, and the remaining 13% is under the management of the YGG treasury.

The YGG token is available to trade on various centralized exchanges and DEXs. For expert-led video tuition on navigating the world of DeFi for the first time, see our Master DeFi in 2022 course at Moralis Academy today!

YGG Vaults

For Yield Guild Games (YGG) token holders looking to earn a passive income, the YGG vault is the best place. Accordingly, the YGG vault is home to a plethora of staking protocols relative to various activities within the ecosystem. YGG token holders can stake their assets and receive an interest rate dependent upon the yield performance of the related activity. For example, users can earn rewards in a YGG vault of which the yield is based on the performance of the Axie Infinity breeding program, YGG scholarship program, etc. Operating similarly to SubDAOs, each YGG vault has its own management parameters, including vesting periods, lock-in periods, and available rewards. 

In the future, the Yield Guild Games (YGG) development team plans to implement an all-in-one index vault comprising all yield-generating activities within the project. For example, yields would represent the SubDAO index performance alongside merchandise, rentals, treasury growth, and subscription revenue in the ecosystem. Although the team has published several intentions for this, there is no confirmed date for implementation at the time of writing.

Just like the fundamental operations of the YGG DAO, the distribution of YGG token rewards in YGG vaults is through automated smart contracts. As a result, there is cryptographic security to prevent a centralized “single point of failure”. Also, the YGG vault token rewards vary in the rewarding asset. For example, some staking contracts reward users with native YGG tokens. Conversely, other contracts may reward users in Ethereum (ETH) or stablecoins (i.e., DAI, USDC, etc.).  

Exploring Yield Guild Games and the YGG Token – Summary

Yield Guild Games (YGG) is a novel project profitably intertwining the nuances of the blockchain industry. The YGG model blends aspects of decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible token (NFT) assets, and metaverse gaming with a community-centric focus. Further, Yield Guild Games is an attractive project not only to play-to-earn gamers but to NFT investors looking to earn a passive income. Moreover, Yield Guild Games facilitates a YGG scholarship program and localized SubDAOs to offer a platform benefiting new and existing users.

As a unique revenue-sharing model within a growing metaverse gaming economy, Yield Guild Games is at the forefront of emerging NFT guild projects. Plus, it is becoming increasingly popular for people to turn to play-to-earn (P2E) gaming platforms during times of economic hardship. In many places, income from blockchain gaming can far exceed local wages. However, education and self-awareness are key to profitability in the crypto industry. To learn about the reasoning behind market fluctuations, read our “Understanding Crypto Crashes” article next! Or, see our “How to Invest During a Crypto Bear Market” article to learn about investing in all market conditions. Check out our Moralis and Moralis Academy blogs, full of free educational material to help start your crypto journey today!