PiP World, an educational crypto gaming startup, is launching its first Telegram game Gold Rush in beta on Thursday. The move comes amid the explosion of Telegram gaming, with leading game Hamster Kombat reportedly amassing over 300 million users alongside other games that have drawn in crowds tempted by a token airdrop.
Gold Rush, however, takes the viral tap-to-earn genre driving the Telegram craze and adds an educational spin. Players will be asked to tap their screens over and over, earning in-game coins as they upgrade their trading office—and rising from intern to hedge fund owner.
This is very similar to other Telegram games that incentivize tapping in-game, dangling a future token airdrop in front of players. Such rewards are normally allocated to users according to a variety of parameters, but that’s where the gaming startup’s educational ethos comes in.
In what is being billed as a “skill-based” airdrop, in-game coins will be used for an in-browser trading simulator. Players will wager virtual currency investing in top cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Solana, and Dogecoin—not really, though; it’s purely a simulation—with a global leaderboard influencing your cut of the future airdrop.
PiP World aims to educate people about trading and crypto through gaming experiences. In August, the startup acquired a Roblox stock-trading game called StockRise with the aim of educating a younger audience in the hopes that they’d dive deeper into the PiP World ecosystem. Now the company is creating a Telegram game to expand its educational empire.
The project has yet to confirm when its PiPS token generation event (TGE) will take place, but PiP World expects that the airdrop will occur at the end of October. PiP World has not decided which chain the token will be minted on, however.
“We're currently exploring multiple blockchain options and engaging in discussions for potential grants and collaborations,” Saad Naja, PiP World’s CEO, told Decrypt. “We’re committed to selecting a chain that aligns best with our mission and community need.”
Most Telegram games have opted to launch their tokens on The Open Network (TON), a network aligned with Telegram itself, with Notcoin being the most successful example. Launched in May, Notcoin’s NOT token skyrocketed to a peak market cap of $2.97 billion in the biggest crypto gaming token launch of the year.
That said, Hamster Kombat’s airdrop is scheduled for September 26, with many players hoping it could be the largest airdrop in history. And other notable Telegram games, like Catizen and Rocky Rabbit, will launch their own tokens in the coming days as well.
But players of Gold Rush won’t have to rely on a future airdrop if they’re eager to make some cash. Shortly after the initial beta launch, the game will add a "FlashDrop" feature, which sees players race to complete daily tasks to receive a reward in USDT or TON from a prize pool over $100,000.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor's note: This story was updated after publication to put in the new beta launch date, as well as to clarify the airdrop target.