Can HAVAH give the ICON blockchain network an international shot in the arm?
CJ Lee, the global lead of the interchain NFT platform, certainly seems to think so.
“I want people to understand that the success of HAVAH equals the success of ICON,” he says.
“It’s not a competitor at all, because what ICON needs to do is expand their service globally, and for games and NFTs, HAVAH can play a great role.”
Hyperconnecting the NFT space
According to Lee, HAVAH is an interchain platform specializing in NFTs, helping people move their NFTs from one blockchain network to another.
The platform is currently working closely with not only ICON, but also major global blockchain networks Klaytn, BSC and Polygon.
For NFT holders, the platform helps them find new uses and utility for their digital assets. For NFT service providers such as NFT game companies, it helps them overcome previously insurmountable barriers to expanding their services beyond the walled gardens of their genesis chains.
“If you build on Klaytn, it’s almost impossible to expand your service to BSC or ICON,” says Lee. “But with HAVAH, you can expand your service to other chains in a very easy way.”
For instance, you could take NFTs minted on ICON and move them to the Klaytn network, where you could sell them on the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea.
“I’m sure many ICON NFT holders want to trade their NFTs on OpenSea, but there is currently no way to do it,” says Lee.
Games, NFT-Fi and more
Jointly developed by ICONLOOP — the ICON network’s chief technology partner — and Korean gaming company 2bytes, HAVAH is currently focused on gaming,.
HAVAH recently launched its official website, and just held its first pre-sale of 50,000 network nodes, or “planets.” The network’s mainnet should launch in the fourth quarter of this year.
In addition to games, the platform will feature:
- an interchain DEX where users can exchange tokens from different interchain NFT projects,
- an interchain NFT marketplace where you can trade NFTs minted on different chains,
- an interchain NFT salon where you can show off your NFTs and network with other members of the community,
- an “interchain NFT-Fi” space where you can use your NFTs to access financial services.
Lee explains how this last service might work. Le’ts say you transfer your NFT from the popular ICON-based collection and gaming metaverse GangstaBet to HAVAH. You could then lend that NFT to Klaytn users who want to play GangstaBet, receiving in return $HVH, the native cryptocurrency of the HAVAH ecosystem. You could then put that $HVH to work in several ways, including using it to borrow other NFTs to use in games.
Meanwhile, ICX users will be able to use their crypto to buy NFTs on HAVAH, and even purchase the “planets” that power the network.
Three Games on the Way
Lee says HAVAH is currently working on three initial games for users to enjoy, with release scheduled for early next year.
One is Project P2C, which pits collectors of profile picture NFTs against one another, turning their collections of interchain NFTs into decks of cards, with the specs of each NFTs determining the “strength” of individual cards.
Another title is Space Gears, a sci-fi strategy game where players form robot armies to fight against one another in a bid to terraform Mars.
Finally, there is Project SPQ (“Sexy, Pretty, Quty”), HAVAH’s premier NFT collection of “space popstars.” Made for people looking for their first NFTs, the Project SPQ collection is easy to acquire and designed for use in all of HAVAH’s games.
Like Gala. But better
Lee likens HAVAH’s tokenomics to that of popular blockchain gaming ecosystem Gala Games, with the network selling nodes and operators receiving tokens in return.
HAVAH’s system is even better, however.
“We’re a lot better for the token holders because many of our fees are going into a sustainability fund, a fund for burning, so circulation of the tokens will decrease as the platform succeeds,” he says.
Lee points out that 60% of HAVAH’s token will go to “planet” operators — “planets” are the nodes that power HAVAH’s network.
“So it’s very important to get a planet early,” he says.
ICON SDK’s flagship
HAVAH is the first network to be built using ICON SDK, ICONLOOP’s software development kit that lets enterprises, organizations and individuals to build interoperable, ICON-compatible blockchain networks of their own in a fast, easy and secure manner.
Lee believes HAVAH thus has a critical role to play in demonstrating the potential of not only ICON SDK, but of the ICON network more generally.
“What ICON needs to do is persuade people to use ICON more, to use ICON SDK in more ways,” he says.
“For now, it’s hard to persuade them because they don’t know about ICON SDK. They don’t know if it’s reliable or not. I think HAVAH is a good example of how great ICON SDK is and how easily you can use it.”
He adds, “And by connecting lots of blockchains and services to HAVAH, you’re connecting ICON to those partners, too, because HAVAH and ICON are easily connected.”
