Play-to-earn has become a popular concept in the gaming industry, with the emergence of blockchain technology taking traditional gaming to the next level. However, with so many players entering the market, these platforms are set for significant competition in the long run if they cannot bring anything above and beyond the model itself. Aloha DeFi aims to take the play-to-earn model to the next level by merging it with the concept of learn-to-earn to give participants numerous earning opportunities.
Aloha began its journey as a WiFi-sharing platform focused on providing passive income opportunities to users. In practice, the platform allowed users to earn revenue for sharing mobile bandwidth. With all the potential decentralized finance (DeFi) brings, Aloha has since looked to DeFi to provide more passive earning opportunities to its users, acting as a gateway for users into the DeFi world, with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the Surf Invaders game, staking, a DAO platform and learning academy.
Opportunities for passive earnings
The key to the Aloha ecosystem is its NFTs. Participants can look forward to a new set of Aloha NFTs being released every season, with six seasons existing to date. Season releases come with an original theme from "Surf's Up!" to "Cult Fiction" that includes all six characters. Since limited editions exist in each season, all NFTs hold a certain level of rarity that is only believed to increase as the platform grows. Most recently, Aloha has released their latest season of NFTs, each inspired by Quentin Tarantino movies and a part of a robust use case for these NFTs — Surf Invaders.
Surf Invaders is a play-to-earn platform, providing users an entertaining way to leverage their NFTs. The only requirement to get started? Holding an NFT.
The game is similar to Flappy Bird, being easy to pick up and challenging to master. The central premise behind this game is to outrun sea monsters generated in the game, which developers or other players may design. Participants then earn points by performing cool tricks, avoiding other obstacles, and cleaning up plastic from the ocean in an eco-friendly twist. The game is not as easy as it looks, forcing players to test their decision-making skills to reach the top of the leaderboard for a chance to earn a share of the Aloha platform's fees.
NFTs also provide users opportunities to earn through raffles. Through this method, any participant holding 5000 ALOHA tokens in their wallet may be eligible for earnings. The more tokens that a user holds, the more raffle tickets that can be held, and the better the opportunity to earn. Aloha since announced the first raffle would run for two weeks from Oct. 14–31, when the first draw will occur. Raffles are conducted using Chainlink VRF to select the winners.
The learn-to-earn model comes into play in the Aloha Academy, an online educational tool with modules set up to educate the users about blockchain, DeFi, and anything (and everything) related to the Aloha platform. Users will not only add to their existing knowledge, but they'll gain the opportunity to earn a number of rewards as well. Any and all community members are invited to learn with no upfront costs or investments. As a result, anyone can learn to earn.
To bring these opportunities to life, Aloha has integrated both Polygon Network (MATIC) and Chainlink (LINK) into their ecosystem to support their DeFi services and enable multiple earning opportunities. Polygon has continued to be recognized as the gold standard in gaming, and powers the platforms Surf Invaders game and NFTs, with benefits that include low fees and an eco-friendly network. On the other side, Chainlink is the basis for VRF for their raffles.
Riding the development wave
The next 12 months present big plans for the Aloha platform. Over the year, team members are turning their attention to the Aloha Academy, the SHAKA staking platform, the Aloha marketplace, and Aloha 4 Business. Two of these initiatives heavily focus on bringing merchants into the Aloha ecosystem, where a mutually beneficial relationship ensues.
The Aloha marketplace will act as a location for merchants to sell their products and services to users. In contrast, Aloha 4 Business will help small businesses take advantage of the digital currency world and bring locals to businesses with the Aloha Rewards app. Platform users may also expand their knowledge at the Aloha Academy, which recently launched its first course.
When looking back at their progress over the last three years, a member of the Aloha team shares,
"The DeFi space has proven that artificial barriers no longer limit financial services. Anyone can tap into the full potential of financial services now, from anywhere, and Aloha is taking full advantage of decentralized technology to provide a range of DeFi services with multiple earning opportunities."
The developments on this platform continue to prove that NFTs are about more than purchasing a million-dollar Punk, Ape, or otherwise. NFTs are about inclusion and allowing every user to be a part of a new and exciting financial revolution. Aloha aims to bridge this gap, making DeFi and NFTs accessible for everyone while providing endless earning possibilities.
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