Hey, have you heard of 'to-earn' games? Like, you can make money by playing games or walking? That sounds awesome!

Yeah, I know! 'To-earn' games like Axie Infinity or STEPN were really popular. At first, it seemed like easy money, but they didn’t last.

Wait, why didn’t they last? If you can earn money by playing or walking, that sounds perfect!

It does sound good, right? But the problem is, these games depend too much on new people joining all the time. Without enough new players, the whole system falls apart.

Like a pyramid? New players paying for the older ones?

Exactly! For example, Axie Infinity was super popular at one point. People even made money by playing it. But then, too many people joined, and the in-game currency lost value. It became hard to earn enough.

So the more popular it got, the harder it was to make money? That sounds backwards.

Yeah, kind of. The in-game inflation was a big issue. Also, a lot of people joined hoping to make quick money, but when the currency value dropped, they couldn’t get their money back.

Ouch! That must’ve hurt for people who invested a lot.

Totally. And it’s not just Axie. STEPN, a move-to-earn game, had a similar issue. People bought NFTs to play, but once too many people joined, the value of its tokens dropped.

So, it doesn’t really matter if it’s play-to-earn or move-to-earn. They all fail the same way?

Pretty much. These projects need new users to buy into the system to keep it going. But once the excitement dies down, it’s hard to keep it sustainable.

Wow, so is there any future for 'to-earn' projects? Or are they all doomed?

There’s still hope, but they need better business models. If they can find a way to make the games fun and rewarding without depending on constant new players, it could work.

That makes sense. So, for now, easy money isn’t really so easy.

Exactly! If something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Always be careful with these projects.

Thanks, Amy. I guess I'll stick to regular games for now!