What are the highlights of Balance, the blockchain gaming platform that a16z has invested in twice?
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What are the highlights of Balance, the blockchain gaming platform that a16z has invested in twice?
Balance is E-PAL's blockchain-based, Web3-native gaming service platform designed to bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Haotian
Recently, @Balance_Fun launched a Key Node sale in preparation for its upcoming TGE. I won’t dwell on the benefits held by node owners, investment returns, or the necessity of participation. Instead, I’d like to explore: What exactly does Balance do? Why has a16z invested heavily in it twice? And how does it connect web2 “gaming companion” platforms with the broader web3 gaming industry?
1) Balance is a blockchain-based gaming experience platform launched by E-PAL, a game companion service. In the web2 world, game companionship has become a massive market—users hire others to improve their gaming skills or provide social companionship to enhance gameplay. Over time, these users form a critical mass that generates platform-scale effects, serving as a potential user base and brand amplifier for game developers and operators, thereby unlocking significant economic and commercial value.
In other words, users in the game-companion ecosystem are naturally inclined toward “play-to-earn” behaviors. They’re familiar with points systems, growth incentives, and reward mechanics, making them ideal early adopters for web3 games and tokenomics—essentially possessing built-in Mass Adoption traits.
Balanced is E-PAL’s bridge across the web2–web3 divide: a purpose-built, web3-native gaming service platform powered by blockchain. With E-PAL’s millions of existing users, any game application or service integrated with this platform instantly gains substantial commercial potential—early loyal user cultivation, community building, and an open, decentralized marketplace for players.
2) YGG (Yield Guild Games), as a DAO-based gaming guild, rode the Play-to-Earn wave during the last cycle, creating a GameFi boom that remains fresh in everyone’s memory. Its past success and market performance were undeniable.
YGG’s model was straightforward: leverage its player network to invest in NFTs and related assets from web3 games, then drive a positive business flywheel through core asset rentals and $YGG token incentives—positioning itself as both a gateway to web3 gaming traffic and an early-stage game community incubator.
In my view, Balance occupies a similar market and branding position as YGG—perhaps even surpassing it in terms of global user scale, product coverage, and commercial potential. The key difference? YGG caught the perfect storm of NFTs, GameFi, and the metaverse hype. Balance is simply waiting for its moment. Notably, a16z—who profited handsomely from their early YGG bet—is now doubling down on Balance, signaling clear intent and ambition.
The gaming sector may seem quiet most of the time, but it only takes one breakout hit to ignite the entire market. That’s the moment Balance is preparing for.
3) As far as I know, many platforms—including @Orbiter_Finance (cross-chain bridge), @carv_official (gaming identity and data protocol), and @sophon (RPC node service)—have adopted node sales strategies. Node sales themselves are essentially a monetization outcome of a web3 platform’s tokenomics design.
This approach enables rapid fundraising, binds core users, and creates a shared interest community. Think of it as a private pre-sale before TGE—ideal for projects with clear commercial logic, established user bases, and solid market resources.
Balanced has already raised $30M, backed by top-tier investors like a16z and Galaxy Interactive. The platform boasts 12 million registered users, over two million daily active users, partnerships with more than 80 web3 gaming companies, and support for over 180 games.
Clearly, these strong operational metrics and growth figures have paved the way for the current node sale and the upcoming TGE. As for how well it will perform and how high it can go in the secondary market—that depends on when the gaming sector ushers in the next bull run.
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Haotian | CryptoInsight
