Hamster Kombat is a Telegram-based tap-to-earn game where players manage a virtual crypto exchange and earn coins. Its native token, HMSTR, will be released via airdrop on Sep 26, 2024.

's popularity surge has put a spotlight on the tap-to-earn variety of play-to-earn games. Now, another tap-to-earn game based on Telegram — 

 sector. The game allows each player to manage their own virtual crypto exchange, tapping to earn more coins and completing various tasks and activities to boost their earnings. Virtual coins accumulated in the game will soon be claimable, with the project's planned native token, HMSTR, set to launch on Sep 26, 2024. As of Sep 18, 2024, 

 has reportedly amassed an impressive user base of around 300 million players.

 is a hamster-themed play-to-earn game that was launched on March 25, 2024 on Telegram. Its players collect coins simply by tapping on the screen.

 Each tap earns you virtual coins, which can be claimed through the game's planned native token, HMSTR. 60% of the HMSTR supply is set to be released via 

You can easily start playing the game via the 

 telegram channel. Gameplay starts when you assume the role of a cryptocurrency exchange CEO, which is represented by a cute hamster avatar that can be customized with various skins. You’re given a choice of several exchanges to own. After making your selection, you proceed in the game by tapping on the image of the hamster. The tapping increases your virtual assets and in-game rank. There are also other ways to earn coins or boost your position, which we'll touch upon further in the article.

 encourages active and frequent participation. This concept is similar to other games that encourage user action via frequent, high-involvement tapping, clicking or swapping, e.g., 

 has amassed an impressive user base of 300 million players and thus far hasn’t been implicated in any fraudulent activity. It appears to be a legit game, although some users on social media have raised concerns about the lack of an immediate claim mechanism, as well as inconsistencies in some of the asset counters used in the game.

 is just a game for leisure and fun, and users shouldn't treat it as a definite asset accumulation opportunity. The game's legitimacy regarding payouts will become clearer once the HMSTR token is actually launched and users can claim their virtual coins in exchange for the cryptocurrency.

 is akin to another viral Telegram-based game — 

 also operated without a crypto token of its own, and was just a fun pastime, rather than a serious reward accumulation endeavor. In mid-May 2024, 

 finally launched its native token, NOT, which surged over 270% within a month, rising from its initial price of around $0.007 to $0.028 in June. However, it should be noted that 

 has since declined from its ATH of $0.028 and is currently trading at around $0.0077.

's tapping mechanics, the most basic gameplay in 

 simply requires you to tap on the hamster on the screen to earn coins. You can also boost your taps to earn more coins by leveling up boosters, such as 

which increases the number of coins you can earn per tap, and 

. You can also make use of daily boosters like

 for free (up to six times) when you run out of energy to tap.

 app daily, you’re given the opportunity to complete daily tasks and earn additional coin rewards of up to 50 million HMSTR, as well as exclusive skins. In general, these tasks are as simple as playing the game — you only need to tap on the available daily reward to claim coins. 

: Make sure to join the game at least once per day, for up to three weeks, in order to stay eligible for the daily task rewards for each day.

You can also receive additional rewards by completing task lists. Each task in the list earns you more points. Typical tasks involve joining the game's Telegram channel, following 

 or inviting friends to sign up to the platform.

The Daily Combo lets you win a sizeable bonus of 5 million coins each day upon getting the right combination of three specific exchange upgrades, spread across categories like Markets, Legal, PR & Team, Web3 and Specials. The Daily Combo resets daily at 12PM UTC, so you'll have to achieve the correct combination before the UTC day ends. You can attempt a maximum of three combinations per day, with each attempt limited to a certain number of moves. 

s Daily Cipher allows you to win 1 million coins by figuring out the word of the day using Morse code, a system of dots and dashes used to symbolize letters and numbers. After guessing the word of the day, you then have to tap out its Morse code. You can attempt to solve it up to five times per day. The Daily Cipher refreshes every day at 7PM UTC.

 also features 12 games and two mini games. You’re required to log in to the various game apps in order to earn up to four golden keys per game. The mini games are

 requires you to retrieve one golden key from the sliding puzzle of red and green candlebars within a time limit of 30 seconds. Meanwhile, you can earn more coins by sorting and pairing colored hexagon tile stacks on 

 is available exclusively through Telegram. You can search for 

 button to be directed to the game channel. You don't need to pre-purchase any crypto or connect a

 to start in the game — it's free to join and play.

Tips and Strategies to Maximize Your Profits

Tapping on the screen isn't the only (or even most effective) way to maximize your earnings in 

. As highlighted above, there are various ways to play 

. Below are some of the best ways for you to speed up your earnings and boost your profits.

 to earn passive income, even without tapping, by clicking on the 

 button at the bottom of the app to upgrade your exchange across various categories. By selecting the right card combo to upgrade, you can even earn an additional amount of 5 million coins each day from the Daily Combo.

: If you correctly complete both the Daily Combo and Daily Cipher each day, you’ll earn a total of 6 million coins per day. However, the Daily Combo and Daily Cipher aren’t easy to master without some guidance, so Bybit Learn is here to help you. Make sure to check out our daily guides to Daily Combo and Daily Cipher so that you can easily get your hands on 6 million coins each day!

's native token, with a total supply of 100 billion. Of the total supply, 60% is allocated to players via the upcoming 

 airdrop on Sep 26, 2024, with the remaining 40% reserved for providing market liquidity, ecosystem partnerships and grants, rewards for squads and more.

Bullish on this tap-to-earn token? Now you can be one of the early birds to get your hands on HMSTR — even before next week’s 

 has been running since Jul 8, 2024, 10AM UTC, at a floor price of 0.001 USDT. Meanwhile, HMSTRUSDT was 

Tap-to-earn Telegram games are all the rage now in the world of crypto gaming. It all started with 

's meteoric rise, which has now been further propelled by 

 has already surpassed many other prominent SocialFi games with its user base of 300 million. Meanwhile, 

 — the first tap-to-earn game that turned viral — has a user base of just 35 million. Furthermore, the 

teamcontinues to innovate with even more engaging gameplay and rewards, all of which have contributed to its spectacular success thus far.

Beginner

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What Is Hamster Kombat (HMSTR): Tap Your Way to Crypto Riches

AI Companions is a web3 platform that provides highly customizable and emotionally intelligent virtual companions to users looking to interact in the digital age.

We’re living in a rapidly changing digital world where technology has taken over our lives, greatly reducing human interactions. In this digital age, the internet and smartphones have reshaped our routines, dominating communication and daily tasks and leaving large numbers of people in civilized countries feeling isolated and with a deep craving for meaningful social interaction.

 (AI) companions, innovative virtual entities designed to provide immersive interaction between AI avatars and humans. These virtual companions are powered using generative AI technology, which consists of simulated emotional intelligence that’s designed to enhance the connection.

Against the backdrop of this growing demand for virtual AI companions, the 

 project AI Companions was created. It leverages AI, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) and 

 to provide a personalized virtual companionship experience that meets each user's unique preferences.

AI Companions is a digital platform that allows you to create highly personalized virtual beings by leveraging AI, VR/AR and blockchain technologies to build an immersive virtual companionship experience.

 The platform aims to unlock endless opportunities in the rapidly expanding world of virtual companionship by providing a platform where emotions and technology can interact.

Unlike other platforms that offer interactions in the form of chatbots or visual aids, AI Companions’ unique proposition consists of a lifelike human interaction through virtual reality that re-creates what feels like an actual emotional connection. Furthermore, the platform has integrated blockchain technology to ensure security, transparency and privacy when interacting.

At the heart of these AI-powered interactions is the AIC token, which powers the platform’s transactions and seamless operation.

The vision and mission of AI Companions is to leverage innovative technology to provide users with what feels like an emotionally rich virtual companionship. To achieve this, AI Companions has integrated three core technologies: AI, VR/AR and blockchain.

The platform uses AI to identify and learn your preferences in order to create a personalized partner for you, and even allows you to utilize celebrity or influencer models. Furthermore, the presence of advanced VR/AR features makes the interactions more realistic, and enriches the experience even more.

Security, privacy and integrity are core when offering a product like this. To that end, AI Companions is built on blockchain technology in order to achieve key features, such as data privacy and security, through advanced encryption, user consent management using 

, and an immutable ledger for transparency and accountability.

The platform employs the following monetization strategies to ensure sustainable revenue generation centered on the AIC token.

To ensure maximum flexibility and accessibility, AI Companions uses a subscription model that caters to a range of preferences and budgets. The basic access model is free and allows access to limited features. There’s also a hybrid subscription that combines token-based and cash subscription models. Users stake AIC tokens to access features for the token-based model, while the cash model requires users to pay a monthly fee. The token-based subscription features a 20% fee discount designed to encourage users to pay using AIC tokens.

The “pay per experience” strategy allows users to pay for premium features and personalized experiences using AIC tokens without committing to a long-term subscription. This model allows you to access features such as customized packs, the ability to send virtual gifts to companions and even enhanced experiences such as upgraded VR environments.

AIC, the native crypto token for the AIC Companions platform, is a 

 token launched on BNB Smart Chain. The token powers the AI Companions platform and provides access to diverse features. When subscribing to the hybrid model, you can use the AIC token to pay for discounted fees. You can also stake your AIC tokens to gain additional value through access to premium features and experiences.

To maintain the token’s value, AI Companions will apply a buyback-and-burn strategy. The platform will use some of the profits generated to buy back AIC tokens and 

 some of them quarterly. This will reduce the circulating supply in order to increase the token’s value.

Moreover, the project will manage a treasury reserve designed to support long-term sustainability and growth. A portion of the bought-back tokens will be put in this reserve to ensure liquidity in the future.

The total supply for AIC is 1 billion tokens, distributed as follows:

AIC's price as of Sep 18, 2024 is $0.074 , just 8% lower than its ATH of $0.08177 on Sep 11, 2024, and almost 100% higher than its ATL of $0.03771 on Sep 10, 2024. Its market cap is approximately $66.9 million.

Is AI Companions (AIC) a Good Investment?

After a successful launch in the first week of September 2024, the AIC token has generally been on a positive trajectory during which its value increased by over 115% within a 24–hour period. Such reception from the market indicates that AI Companions is providing an in-demand product in its niche.

Statistics predict that the AI market could hit $1 trillion by 2028, while the VR niche could be worth $57.55 billion by 2027. Projects such as AI Companions that offer innovative products leveraging these technologies are strategically positioned to reap big from this growth. In addition, AI Companions has a strategic and detailed road map designed to steer the project toward sustainable growth, including extensive community building, expansion of the platform’s capabilities, marketing campaigns and increased exchange listings.

As the digital age continues to unfold and AI increasingly shapes our lives, investing in the AIC token, which is the heart of the project, could be profitable due to the increased demand for AI and VR/AR-related products. That said, we strongly recommend you 

 before investing in AI Companions, since crypto projects are prone to volatility. AIC’s price volatility is evident in the extreme swing between its ATL and ATH just a day apart from Sep 10 to Sep 11, 2024.

There's a growing demand for AI companion markets as human interactions diminish due to technological advances. Projects such as AI Companions are timely in filling this void by combining AI, VR/AR and blockchain technologies. AI Companions offers users the opportunity to interact intelligently with virtual entities, making AIC a crypto to watch as its platform seeks to align with the needs of the digital age.

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AI Companions (AIC): The Future of Personalized Relationships

The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 4.75%-5%, its first reduction in four years.

The SPX index was down by 0.29%, after initially hitting a record high before turning lower following the Federal Reserve's decision to cut rates by 50 basis points. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was up by 3.21%, with Bitcoin rising by 0.13% and Ether dropping by 0.80%, in the past 24 hours.

Today's top performer is TAIKO, which surged 27.4% following the launch of the Taiko Grant Factory Hackathon, offering $100K in prizes for sustainable Web3 innovations.

Taiko (TAIKO), launched in May 2024, is a fully open-source, Ethereum-equivalent ZK-rollup scaling solution designed for decentralized, secure and permissionless operations. 

 starts on September 25, 2024, inviting innovators to build solutions in the Taiko ecosystem. The hackathon focuses on long-term sustainable projects across three tracks: DeFi/AI/DAOs, Gaming/NFTs/SocialFi, and Social Impact/ReFi. Participants are required to deploy projects on Taiko, submit a 6-month grant proposal, and explore sustainable Web3 business models. The total prize pool is $100,000, with $30,000 per track and additional special awards. For details and registration, visit the Taiko hackathon page.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 4.75%-5%, its first reduction in four years. Following the announcement, Bitcoin briefly rose to $61K before falling back below $60K. The Fed expects further rate cuts to bring the benchmark rate to 4.4% by year-end. U.S. equities closed lower after an initial gain, and gold hit a new high before retracing. The dollar index fell to its lowest level since July before recovering. Crypto-related stocks and cryptocurrencies saw volatility, with increased correlations to broader risk assets.

Yesterday, the total outflow for BTC Spot ETFs was $52.7 million, with $8.1 million from GBTC and $44.6 million from non-GBTC funds.

, a decentralized network focused on private, user-owned data and AI, has raised $25 million with backing from Coinbase, Paradigm, and Polychain. Their Telegram bot allows users to mine Vana points, which can be converted into $VANA tokens during the token generation event (TGE). Users can also earn points by completing daily tasks, challenges, and inviting friends.

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Fed Cuts Rates by 50 Basis Points Spurring Positive Price Momentum for BTC and Altcoins

Explore our article to find out what’s the Cipher Code for today’s Hamster Kombat’s Daily Cipher Code.

, where your skills in decoding daily Morse code puzzles can significantly enhance your mastery over your crypto exchange. Every puzzle, released at 7PM UTC, not only sharpens your mind but also offers the chance to earn considerable in-game rewards.

 lies the Daily Cipher, a challenge that invites players to unlock Morse code puzzles. Successfully solving these daily puzzles not only increases your coin stash but also enhances your strategic thinking, crucial for navigating the game’s complexities.

Today’s Hamster Kombat Daily Cipher: Sep 19, 2024

 Daily Cipher for Sep 19, 2024, is as follows:

Ensure each Morse code sequence is entered with precision and slight pauses between letters to confirm correct execution and secure your reward.

 by trying out the following strategies: 

Gain an early advantage by trading HMSTR tokens through Bybit’s Pre-Market Trading. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

The Daily Cipher and the various interactive gaming activities within 

 provide numerous opportunities not only to enhance your coin balance, but also deepen your involvement in the game. Each successfully decoded puzzle contributes to your financial growth and sharpens your analytical abilities, enriching every gaming session with both rewards and intellectual stimulation.

Stay connected for daily updates and expert advice to ensure you continue to excel in the dynamic and exciting world of 

Intermediate

hamster kombat daily cipher code.png

A Guide to Hamster Kombat's Daily Cipher Code (Sep 19, 2024)

Bybit Learn

Tech Deep Dive

From constant outages to heavy VC backing, find out why critics are becoming increasingly concerned with Solana's claims of being decentralized.

Most financial transactions occur based on a centralized model, where a third party has the authority to manage any issues. However, having one party in charge is a double-edged sword, because if that intermediary is compromised, then all client transactions can be impacted. Cryptocurrencies promise to decentralize control of a network so that there’s not one single point of failure. Does this mean that decentralized crypto is immune? And what qualifies as decentralized?

 network suffered another outage — the 12th this year. The blackout shut down the network for four hours and ten minutes, and stopped a potential 975 million transactions from occurring. In a tweet, Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana Labs co-founder, explained the downtime: “As a result of the long nonce instruction, part of the network considered the block invalid, and no consensus could be reached.”

Stability issues on the Solana network caused its value to dip this year, and raised serious questions about the network’s decentralization.

This article examines the issues surrounding the Solana blockchain, and the ways in which its decentralization (or lack thereof) affects the network’s performance.

Blockchain decentralization is a governance system wherein decision-making rights are dispersed across the charge of shareholders or token holders in the majority. It’s designed to keep the network impartial, secure and accessible.

Blockchain decentralization transfers control, decision-making and supervision from a centralized entity, which could be an individual or a group, to a distributed network. The idea of decentralization is to reduce the need for trust among participants, and to lessen their capacity to influence one another to the detriment of the network’s functionality.

Decentralization is what makes the ”permissionless” and “censorship-resistant” qualities of blockchain networks possible. This means that networks can be accessed by all, and anyone can build on them without fear of undue influence or coercion. Decentralization also ensures the security and stability of the network.

The degree to which a blockchain network is decentralized is apparent in the number of distinct groups responsible for validating transactions, the number of developers building on it, and the distribution of the network’s token.

 is a method of measuring the extent of decentralization of a blockchain. It considers the unique properties of blockchain networks to get a more accurate picture of how decentralized a subject network is.

Created in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, Solana was designed to push past the throughput limitations of mainstream blockchains while keeping transaction costs low. It boasts a theoretical throughput of 710,000 transactions per second, an impressive speed achieved through the implementation of a unique hybrid proof of history (PoH) consensus mechanism that utilizes a proof of stake (PoS) synchronization engine.

However, for many industry watchers, the Solana network’s lightning-fast speed comes at a cost — namely, centralization. Despite counterclaims, detractors continue to pile up evidence that Solana lacks decent decentralization. This has caused many to wonder if Solana is truly decentralized. To answer this concern, let's examine some of the factors and unique characteristics of the Solana blockchain that lead to doubts about its degree of decentralization.

In PoS networks, security relies on staked tokens which power transaction validation. Stakers are rewarded with transaction fees and voting power. Currently, about 77.7% of all SOL tokens in circulation are staked. Since the amount of SOL allocated to the public is comparatively small, the majority of these staked SOL will belong to insiders.

Invariably, this small group of insiders wields considerable network validation power, a situation that seems to make a case for the lack of decentralization of the Solana Blockchain. 

Critics have also pointed out that the Solana Foundation is the only entity developing core nodes on the blockchain, making them a central control point and reducing the network’s decentralization. Validator nodes are a key component of a blockchain network, and are primarily responsible for reaching consensus, verifying, and updating transactions.

To understand the impact of the validator node concentration on the Solana network, it’s important to consider the number of operational nodes and who owns them. Solana scored a relatively high Nakamato Coefficient of 19. Out of the current 1,161 validators, the top 19 validators control sufficient staked Solana (and therefore voting power) to launch a coordinated attack on the network — if they wanted to.

Validation on the Solana blockchain has a higher barrier to entry, due to expensive hardware requirements for running a validator node. Since few people can afford the thousands of dollars these high-end computers cost, the Solana network inevitably tilts toward centralization.

The Solana network's decentralization is further reduced by the high amount of SOL a validator needs to break even. According to rough estimates, a validator will have to stake about $1 million worth of SOL just to break even. To ease this burden, the Solana Foundation has subsidized validators who meet specific criteria to the tune of 25,000 SOL. However, this further reduces the network’s decentralization, as it means they choose many of the validators, rather than validators choosing to operate nodes by themselves.

With a $314.2 million investment in Solana Labs (through his trading firm Alameda Research), FTX Chief Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and a few other VCs have a significant stake in the project. This has led to fears of Solana being a venture capitalist-funded project that sacrifices decentralization and security for transaction speed. In fact, the VCs control virtually half of the staked SOL, creating a single point of control that increases vulnerability and detracts from its claim of decentralization.

As previously mentioned, the latest Solana outage was on June 1, 2022, when the network went down yet again due to a bug in the "durable nonce transaction feature," according to Solana Labs developers. Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated event, as the network has been hit with a string of outages. This latest one, which lasted for four-and-a-half hours, was the fifth blackout in 2022 alone. 

Solana developers have always given a reason for each outage, ranging from attackers attempting to overload the network with excess transactions to bots running rampant and bugs in the network’s systems. 

But is there a link between Solana's perceived lack of decentralization and these outages? 

While the outages are likely due to unresolved bugs inherent in the network's novel hybrid consensus mechanism, the ease with which node validators restarted the network after the outages exposed an uncomfortable degree of centralization. 

In circumstances similar to Solana’s network outages, another incident inadvertently exposed the soft, centralized underbelly of the Solana ecosystem. 

Trouble started when the whale risked auto-liquidating the 5.7 million SOL deposited as collateral for a $108 million stablecoin loan — in this case, a mix of USDC and Tether — if the slipping SOL price dropped to $22.30. The forced liquidation threatened to wipe out all of the SOL in the liquidity pool and trigger massive liquidations, potentially crashing the Solana network (again). 

Reacting hastily, the protocol unanimously proposed a solution dubbed “SLND1.” This fix sought to hijack the whale’s account, and strategically liquidate the collateral in an orderly manner, in order to avert another Solana meltdown.

However, the Solend team was forced to rescind the decision — in the face of a strident public outcry that questioned the validity of a vote suspiciously concluded within a mere 24 hours. A protocol that could make such a critical, game-changing move without adequate input from all users still has a lot of decentralizing to do. 

Solana is often referred to as the “Ethereum Killer.” Ethereum, however, is still a more popular blockchain than Solana, behind only Bitcoin.

By several indications, Ethereum proves to be more decentralized than Solana. The first is the percentage of Ethereum insiders who own assets, compared to that of Solana.

According to Messari, a mere 15% of Ethereum tokens are allocated to insiders, and the other 5% are for foundations and incentives. So, in total, 80% is available for public sale. Solana has essentially half of its tokens allocated to insiders.

However, just like Solana, Cardano also falls short of being decentralized in its governance. Both blockchains are still heavily influenced by their parent companies — Solana by Solana Labs, and Cardano by IOHK, a Hong Kong software development company. 

One point where Cardano seems to be more decentralized than Solana, however, is in its validation system. Cardano has over 852,000 delegators on its blockchain, while only about 1,811 validator nodes support Solana. Cardano seems to have made more of an effort to create transparency and decentralization.

Ripple is believed to be heavily centralized, as the project's creators hold the majority of XRP. This means they also have a significant amount of decision-making power. Ripple can easily make changes to its blockchain without a system consensus, as the company has complete access to nodes. Ripple also decides when to create new nodes.

Solana’s 1,811 validators number over twelve times the 150 validators on the Ripple blockchain network.

Investing in SOL is easy. With Bybit, one of the fastest-growing crypto exchanges in the world, you can easily buy, sell, trade, stake and hold SOL. To buy Solana, follow these few easy steps:

Among all other cryptocurrencies tagged as "Ethereum Killers," Solana is one challenger that has vastly improved transaction processing times. However, the network has come under fire for being too centralized. Solana’s string of outages may create renewed motivation to continue improving their network.

Is Solana Decentralized? Outages, VC Ties and More Worries

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards