A beginner's guide to dCity SIM, the in-game currency of the popular Hive blockchain based game.
The SIM token is the in-game currency of the blockchain game called dCity.
dCity SIM is a Hive layer-2 token, meaning you can not only earn it by playing the game, but also buy and sell it on any of the Hive-Engine front-ends such as Leo DEX and Tribaldex.
Our dCity SIM guide is here to show you that this humble in-game token can also act as your gateway into the world of gamified DeFi.
Nothing shows that the lines between gaming and making money in cryptocurrency has blurred like the dCity SIM token.
Introduction to dCity SIM
We introduce the dCity game itself and the economic driver making everything tick, the SIM token.
Before launching into this comprehensive guide to dCity SIM, let’s kick things off with a couple of introductions.
We start by introducing the game of dCity itself and then a tokenomics overview of the dCity SIM token around which this guide focuses.
Let’s go.
The dCity game
dCity is a Sim City style game that uses NFTs to represent the various pieces of infrastructure within your city.
Each dCity NFT card acts as a certain building, citizen or piece of technology that affects the makeup of your city.
All up, your dCity NFT collection is what makes up your city.
To effectively earn both a SIM and HIVE crypto income playing dCity, your task is to optimise your city.
This is achieved by buying, selling, adding and removing cards to achieve the right balance for your city, across all of the various in-game metrics.
Depending on how it has been built, there are also events that will have either a positive or negative impact on your city.
Every change you make will have an effect elsewhere within your city, ultimately positively or negatively on your SIM income.
The dCity game is best described as being a numbers game, but with the added randomness of society.
Or we like to simply go with gamified DeFi featuring the dCity SIM token as the economic driver that makes everything tick.
The dCity SIM token
As we touched on above, the dCity SIM token is the in-game currency of the game itself.
dCity SIM is a Hive layer-2 token, meaning you can not only earn it by playing the game, but also buy and sell it on any of the Hive-Engine front-ends such as the Leo DEX.
When you play the dCity game, you’re able to buy 1 randomly generated NFT card for either 4 HIVE or 800 SIM tokens.
Doing some quick math, what this means is that 800 SIM x 0.005 = 1 HIVE.
This is the basis for what we’re going to refer to as a soft peg for the dCity SIM price.
It’s not a true peg because there’s nothing defending it other than that simple equilibrium point that when the price of SIM dips below 0.005 HIVE, encourages SIM to be boat off the market to buy cheap cards.
The other aspect to this soft-peg comes in the form of in-game income taxes.
The income tax level varies, based on the average SIM token price over the previous 3 days.
This means that when the SIM price goes down, this tax should go up and decrease inflation.
The opposite being the case when the SIM price goes up.
Now take a look at the SIM chart below and you’ll see something quite interesting.
That’s right, SIM is on sale, trading WAY below the 0.005 HIVE peg.
With the equilibrium point this far from the peg right now, an assumption can be made that new purchases have slowed right down and established players continue to dump their SIM at whatever market price they can get.
Even with income taxes in the 90-100% range, SIM continues to be dumped on the market and there’s just nobody there to soak up that supply.
But this is a trend that can’t last forever.
In the midst of a popularity explosion for play-to-earn games, will we see soon see demand for new NFT cards increase?
If we do, we will quickly see the dCity SIM price rip higher as the equilibrium point is pushed back up toward the soft peg.
Only time will tell.
In the meantime, let’s get into the meat of this guide to dCity SIM.
What is dCity SIM used for?
SIM is the native utility token for the dCity ecosystem.
In this subsection of our dCity SIM guide, we investigate just what you can use all of that SIM you've accumulated in your wallet for.
Use cases for dCity SIM
There are three main use cases for the dCity SIM token:
1. Buy dCity NFTs within the game
This is the most obvious use for the dCity SIM token.
You can utilize SIM to pay for any and all in-game transactions.
For instance, you can use your SIM in the market to buy all your dCity NFT needs (i.e. need workers, go to the market and buy them for SIM).
Note, other coins (primilary SWAP.HIVE) may also be used for market purchases so check the value of each coinprior to purchasing in order to ensure you are paying the lowest fiat equivalent available.
2. Voting on in-game Governance
Within the dCity game simulation, simply holding SIM give you SIM Power.
The amount of SIM Power you have determines the weight of your vote on certain game related functions.
This SIM Power is calculated by taking the average of your SIM coin holdings over a period of thirty (30) days and there is an added benefit to holding more than 8000 SIM Power as if you do, you are entitled to receive a reward of HIVE daily.
With respect to voting, SIM Power is used in the following ways.
President: Players of dCity elect a President every fourteen days.
You vote by clicking on the City Tab and then the Government Tab, where you find a list of candidates to chose from.
The President may change the taxes charged in-game as it is him alone who decides what taxes to raise, initiate, reduce or terminate.
Lobbying: For Lobbying, you have four (4) choices available on the lobby tab.
As shown on the image below, these four lobbying choices are income tax reduction, ranking rewards, war tax and holding rewards.
When using your SIM Power for Lobbying, you are required to allocate 100% 0f the SIM Power you hold.
Ranking rewards: Voting is also utilized to distribute the HIVE rewards to the various game rankings.
As shown below, the five ranking elements for which SIM Power allocation is available are income, population, popularity, education and creativity.
When using your SIM Power to vote on the various ranking rewards, you are required to allocate 100% of the SIM Power you hold.
3. DeFi on Hive
By clicking on 'Swap' at the top of the dCity page, you are able to use your SIM to take advantage of Tribaldex Diesel Pools.
This is Hive’s new DeFi feature.
By adding SIM and SWAP:HIVE tokens in equal value proportions to this liquidity pool, you are entitled to receive rewards.
Do not worry as the SIM coins added to this pool still count toward the computation of your SIM Power.
It’s also worth considering the separate and distinct diesel pool that is also available for SIM paired with BEE.
[NOTE: We go over dCity SIM + DeFi in more detail below.]
Put your dCity SIM to work
As demonstrated above, there is no reason at all to let your SIM coins just sit in your wallet gathering dust.
There are plenty of uses and some opportunities available for you to use the dCity SIM you have and make them multiply.
But remember one cardinal rule - never invest more than you can afford to lose.
And please, finally remember, while earning your SIM Coins you are playing a game, so try and have some fun.
How do you earn dCity SIM?
Built on the Hive Blockchain, dCity is a city simulation game where you are in control of your city's destiny.
The decisions that you choose to make in playing the game determine such things as your city's population and your potential income.
The income earned by playing dCity, at least initially, is payable to you in SIM tokens.
As we’ve gone over above, SIM is the native utility token within the dCity ecosystem.
With that said, in this subsection of the dCity SIM guide, let's give a look at several ways you can earn dCity SIM.
1. dCity game play
To begin with, you must understand that dCity is an investment style game.
To participate and play, you must purchase dCity NFT's.
It is worthy to note that once purchased, these dCity NFT's belong to you and are freely transferable and sellable.
This 'ownership' of your game assets offers you the option to just play the game for fun, or to develop yourself an investment strategy to maximize your SIM income by trading in-game assets.
That is all it takes!
All you have to do is invest by purchasing some dCity NFT's and the game does the rest for you and you start earning a dCity SIM income daily.
There is absolutely no maximum set on the amount you can invest into the game, and you are free to grow your city as large as you desire.
This is not a game where you are required to do a lot or spend huge amounts of time in, but rather you simply invest and observe your in-game assets grow.
2. Providing liquidity in Tribaldex Diesel Pools
You may also earn SIM tokens through investing by clicking on 'Swap' at the top of the dCity page.
By adding SIM and SWAP:HIVE tokens in equal value proportions to this liquidity pool, you are entitled to receive rewards as a liquidity provider.
Do not worry as the SIM coins added to this pool still count toward the computation of your SIM Power.
How do you Earn HIVE in dCity?
When it comes to playing dCity, the game offers the added benefit of also being able to earn HIVE on top of your SIM.
There are basically three ways for you to earn HIVE Tokens by playing dCity.
- Exchange your SIM for HIVE: Once you have invested and have your City set up to the point you are generating a decent amount of SIM daily, you may exchange your SIM for HIVE. By doing this, in essence, you are paying yourself and are recouping your investment. It is not recommended that you do this every day/week as you must remember the game incentivizes you to hold SIM in-game for better rewards.
- Grow your city to the ranks of the 'Megacities': By entering the ranks of the best 400 in-game cities, you become eligible to receive a share of the 1% of daily rewards (from card sales and post rewards). This reward is paid in HIVE tokens and is done on a daily basis.
- HODL your dCity SIM: If you have sufficient SIM tokens to hold 8000 SIM Power (calculated as a 30 day average of your holdings) you will receive a share of the daily 'Holdings Income' payable in HIVE tokens.
Final thoughts on earning dCity SIM and HIVE
There is a wonderful opportunity available in dCity for one to produce a daily income.
Even for smaller cities with savvy investment strategies.
dCity is all about strategy.
How much dCity SIM per day can you earn?
As we’ve discussed above, dCity is an investment game where you earn by creating a healthy and efficient virtual city.
What you’re essentially is doing is creating a city that mines SIM tokens (the native utility token of dCity), that may be later converted to HIVE or reinvested back into the game platform to build your city.
In this subsection of the dCity SIM guide, we try and answer the question 'how much dCity SIM per day can you earn?'
But you first must have an understanding of the game mechanics.
Relevant dCity game mechanics
As has already been stated, but is of utmost importance, dCity is an investment style virtual city building game.
Income in dCity is paid in SIM tokens and tokens are earned daily based on the represented income of the cards within your City.
To earn income, the cards must have sufficient workers to run them.
To earn SIM tokens in the game you must purchase game cards.
The purchase of these game cards is your investment in the game and ultimately the cards purchased determines how much dCity SIM per day you can earn via gameplay.
The important takeaway from these mechanics is there is no limit to the number of cards you may buy and you are free to grow your city as large as you want.
Daily dCity SIM income via gameplay
Each dCity is different, meaning how much SIM per day earnt is different too.
But as you can grow your city as large as you wish (and as large as your investment pool allows), your daily SIM token earnings have no ceiling.
The only limitation on earning is the amount you have available to invest.
This game requires little player interaction.
Merely a couple of moves here and there to optimize your income.
It is worthy of note that this subsection is discussing only the possible SIM token income you can derive from the game.
Different strategies exist to maximize HIVE token income as well such as maximizing your population.
So what you have with dCity is a game with no limit on the return you may earn.
This is nice as the base idea for this game is to make an investment and not be required to spend too much time playing.
Rather, just sit back and watch your assets grow.
Example of a current dCity’s daily SIM earnings
Large dCities are earning a big daily SIM income.
Click the dCity ranking tab and just take a look at the current top ranking dCity’s expected daily SIM income:
As you can see, the city with the highest daily SIM income is generating 83,723 SIM per day!
As well as this daily SIM income, remember that dCity also offers income in:
- HIVE token by holding 8000 SIM (over a 30 day average period) and additionally by growing the population of your city to the top 400 cities in the ecosystem.
- BEER tokens by purchasing breweries (that token production can be enhanced by purchasing a technology card).
- WEED tokens by purchasing weed farms.
- ENTRY tokens by purchasing stadiums and Gamer/Pro Gamer cards.
As you can see, the daily earning potential from dCity is so much more than just how much SIM per day you can earn.
Final thoughts on how much dCity SIM per day you can earn
Once you make your initial investment in dCity, you will begin earning SIM tokens daily.
The amount of SIM you earn is obviously dependent on this investment, but potentially is without limit.
Let us leave you with the following thought.
When was the last time you got paid a daily income for letting a game literally play itself?
Investing in dCity SIM vs dCity NFTs
We discuss whether you should invest in the dCity SIM token or dCity NFT cards to build an income stream.
When it comes to investing in dCity, there are two ways to build an income:
- Investing in the dCity SIM token.
- Investing in dCity NFT cards.
In this section of our dCity SIM guide, we discuss the merits of each and in which aspect of the game you can make the most money.
Investing in dCity SIM
Your first way to build an income from dCity is to directly invest in the SIM token.
For simply holding SIM, you receive daily holding rewards.
Right now, the SIM holding rewards on offer are as follows:
97.665% APR, paid in HIVE daily seems like quite the deal to me.
On top of receiving HIVE rewards for simply holding SIM, you also have the ability to earn LP rewards in Hive’s newest foray into the world of DeFi.
One of the Tribaldex Diesel Pools currently on offer to SIM investors is the SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP.
This is extremely exciting for active dCity players and HIVE investors alike as it offers a steady APR in a liquid Hive-Engine token when pooled with HIVE.
You can easily access this particular LP directly from the dCity game interface by clicking the swap tab at the top.
As you can see, the LP offers the following rewards:
- Rewards Pool: 23,671,233.177 SIM
- SIM APR: 27.676%
Very exciting indeed.
Investing in dCity NFT cards
Your second way to build an income from dCity is to invest in the dCity NFT cards to build an in-game SIM income from your city itself.
When it comes to buying dCity NFT cards for your city, the strategic possibilities are endless.
Whether assigned when you buy new cards, purposefully acquired in a trade from the market or generated from the game engine due to the makeup of your city, all subtle changes have an influence on your income.
With this guide focusing on dCity SIM rather than the strategic intricacies of building your city, let’s instead focus on investing in dCity cards from a trading perspective.
Click on the market tab at the top and you can find an extremely detailed market for every dCity NFT card available.
By searching through each dCity NFT, you can view detailed bid/ask prices as well as view historical price charts for every card.
But the best part of the dCity market is that you are able to make both offers and bids on cards at whatever price you want.
Say you’re after that Military Industrial Complex for 15,000 SIM instead of the 20,000 SIM you can currently buy it for, simply make an offer.
It’s just like any market where your SIM is held in escrow until someone chooses to fill your order, or you cancel.
Flipping dCity NFT cards like this can be quite lucrative for the patient, savvy investor.
The bottom line to investing in dCity SIM vs dCity NFTs
So after all that, should you invest in dCity SIM or dCity NFTs?
“Porque no los dos?”
The cool thing about playing and trying to generate an income from dCity is that you don’t have to choose between one or the other.
Holding SIM compliments your SIM generating gameplay from the NFT aspect of the game.
But now thanks to Tribaldex Diesel Pools, you can put that SIM to work in the SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP.
You truly can achieve the greatest results and make the most money by investing in both dCity SIM and NFTs.
dCity SIM + DeFi in the SWAP.HIVE:SIM Tribaldex Diesel Pool
The SWAP.HIVE:SIM Tribaldex Diesal Pool is a DeFi opportunity that all HIVE stakeholders can take advantage of.
While many Hive account holders are rightly focusing on DeFi opportunities for Splinterlands DEC, there is another gamified yield farming opportunity that even allows you to keep one side of your LP in HIVE.
In case you missed it, Tribaldex’s addition of Diesel Pools means that zero-fee DeFi is now on Hive.
While the selection of pools, especially pools that offer rewards for those providing liquidity is still quite limited, the SWAP.HIVE:SIM pool is certainly worth a look.
Whether you’re an active dCity gamer or not, by offering LP rewards for a pool featuring HIVE, the in-game currency of SIM is now a valid investment for all HIVE DeFi degens.
In this section of our dCity SIM guide, we discuss the SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP, how and why all HIVE investors shouldn’t sleep on this opportunity.
SIM is massively on sale right now
For newcomers to dCity, what you may not know by looking at a chart is that SIM is meant to be soft-pegged to 0.005 HIVE.
Within the dCity game itself, buying 1 card costs either 4 HIVE or 800 SIM tokens.
So as you can see, 800 x 0.005 = 1 HIVE, which is where the basis behind the peg comes from and why we only refer to it as being soft.
With the price of SIM currently sitting well below the 0.005 peg, players are obviously better off buying new cards with SIM rather than HIVE.
This creates demand for SIM, helping to soak up any excess supply being dumped onto the market by established players.
3rd edition cards came and went without bringing SIM supply/demand back into equilibrium around the soft peg price.
Right now, the established players ability to generate SIM which they need to dump on the market far outweighs any demand from new or growing cities.
The SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP will generate demand
The addition of the SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP has the ability to alter this supply/demand imbalance.
Potentially further to the complete opposite direction but soaking up all of the available supply... and then some!
You see, any SIM placed in the LP still counts towards your in-game SIM POWER.
SIM POWER is used within the dCity game itself for:
Earning holding rewards
Governance voting
So if you add liquidity to the SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP, you not only receive all of the above listed benefits, but also earn LP rewards for providing liquidity on top.
Now, as the Hive blockchain doesn’t have fees, all Tribaldex LP rewards must come from the token’s inflation.
Take a look at the dCity swap tab and you can see what’s on offer:
With over 23 million SIM diverted to the rewards pool this year, this will again be all about finding that equilibrium between supply and demand.
Something I’m excited to watch play out in real time.
With 58K HIVE and 54 million SIM currently in the pool, it has certainly gotten off to a cracker of a start.
Without a new player boom like we’re seeing in Splinterlands, any changes we start to see will likely all be from current in-game whales.
If we do start to see a turn in price as the total liquidity added increases, it will be an excellent sign before the eventual new player rush does come.
Don’t sleep on dCity!
Final thoughts on dCity SIM + Defi in the SWAP.HIVE:SIM Tribaldex Diesel Pool
With a current APR of just over 25%, the incentive is certainly there to provide liquidity.
Especially if you’re a dCity player and current owner of a city that generates a huge SIM income you’d normally dump straight onto the market.
With the price of SIM still well below its soft peg, there’s certainly an opportunity to take advantage of the SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP.
While the risk of impermanent loss always remains, the fact the LP is pooled with SWAP.HIVE means that even if SIM rips higher and returns to its peg, you’re simply seeing it sold for HIVE.
A token you obviously want to stack if you’ve remained here through the bear market.
On the other hand, if HIVE outperforms in the short term, your SIM position simply increases while the supply/demand imbalance that we talked about the LP correcting, comes back into line.
Whether you’re a dCity player or not, there’s certainly an opportunity for all HIVE investors to take advantage of dCity’s DeFi markets.
Pros and cons of buying dCity SIM
A look at the pros and cons of buying dCity SIM from an investment point of view.
If you’re new to Hive’s play to earn scene and looking for the in-game token with the best passive income potential, then look no further than the dCity SIM token.
When it comes to buying dCity SIM, there are however a number of pros and cons that you need to consider before taking the plunge.
In this section of our dCity SIM guide, we take a look at both sides of the equation, guiding you toward making an informed final decision on whether dCity SIM is for you.
Pros of buying dCity SIM
SIM is the lifeblood of the dCity game:
dCity is first and foremost a game and the dCity SIM token is the lifeblood of the game.If you’re going to build a city by buying and selling NFT cards, then you’re going to have to buy some SIM to start.
With the price of SIM currently lower than its HIVE peg, you’re currently incentivised to buy new NFTs for your city with SIM.
The SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP is the best Diesel Pool on Tribaldex:
While the SWAP.HIVE:SIM Diesel Pool might not have the highest APR, we’d still rank it as the best DeFi on Hive option currently available.The SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP has the advantage of being denominated in native HIVE on one side and the relatively liquid dCity SIM token on the other.
HIVE makes this LP a much less volatile option than some of the other LPs with layer-2 tokens on both sides.
SIM is currently trading well below its price peg:
Remember, the price of SIM is soft pegged to 0.005 HIVE.dCity has a variable in-game income tax system and the SIM demand lever that incentivises buying minting new cards with SIM over HIVE when price trades below the peg.
With price trading well below the peg and the ability to earn both SIM and HIVE rewards from the game, this could be viewed as the perfect time to buy SIM off the market.
Cons of buying dCity SIM
Possibly better returns elsewhere:
While the SWAP.HIVE:SIM Diesel Pool may offer the best DeFi returns on Hive, there are plenty of other pools on other blockchains offering much higher returns.As with every tradeoff in both crypto and life, this of course comes with the added risk of having to take your assets outside the safer, more decentralised Hive blockchain ecosystem.
If the potential returns are putting you off buying dCity SIM, make sure you weigh up all of the risks involved with pacing assets on another blockchain.
The current supply/demand imbalance may remain:
There’s no denying that there is a current imbalance between SIM supply and demand, causing price to hold well below its soft peg.The current established players' ability to generate SIM, which they continue to dump on the market, far outweighs any demand from new or growing cities.
While there are mechanisms in place to bring the price of dCity SIM back to its peg, there are no guarantees that in reality, it will.
Do the pros of buying dCity SIM outweigh the cons?
So the time has come to sway one way or the other.
Ultimately this isn’t a question that this LeoFinance Crypto Guide can answer for you and you’re going to have to come to a conclusion yourself.
We’ve helped lay out all the facts around dCity SIM and the tokenomics brought about by playing the game designed to influence price.
We can say that with both play to earn gameplay and DeFi on Hive options, there’s no doubt that buying dCity SIM has certainly become a very real option for investors.
Use the information found within this guide to dCity SIM to make an informed decision.
Should I buy dCity SIM in 2022?
A starting point for investors looking to answer the question "Should I buy dCity SIM in 2022?"
The Hive blockchain has a number of opportunities for investors of the most varied profiles.
Blockchain games are no exception and after the meteoric success of Hive based games such as Splinterlands, more and more gamers and investors are looking for the next game (and in-game token) that will make it big.
In this section of our dCity SIM guide, we look at this question from different perspectives to try and help investors make an informed choice on whether they should buy.
If this is your first contact with the dCity SIM token, make sure to read the other sections of the guide to better understand the context of this final section.
Play to earn games are on the rise
Even if you are only looking to simply buy the SIM token as an investment rather than play, it's important to know that dCity is first and foremost a blockchain game.
While it still has not achieved the same level of success as the likes of Splinterlands, there is no denying that play to earn games are getting a lot of attention right now and dCity might as well be the next game to make it big.
Especially if you consider the number of new users coming to Hive because of Splinterlands.
They are mostly gamers so it's not hard to believe that they would be interested in games such as dCity as well.
dCity SIM has use cases other than gaming
Yes SIM is the token of the dCity game and it's needed if you want to play the game itself.
But even if you only want to approach buying dCity SIM from an investment perspective, it may be extremely worthwhile.
As you may well know, you can also use it in Hive’s very own answer to DeFi, by providing liquidity on Tribaldex Diesel Pools.
By becoming an LP, this will allow you to receive yield for holding SIM, even if you are not playing dCity at all.
As an added bonus, all SIM within the SWAP.HIVE:SIM LP counts towards your in-game Sim Power.
Meaning that if you ever do decide to play, you will be able to start your city off on the right foot.
SIM is cheap to get in right now
Whether you are interested in the game itself or you want to buy some dCity SIM purely as an investment, now may be a good time to do so from a purely price point of view.
The price of SIM is soft pegged to 0.005 HIVE and, as you can see on the chart below, it's currently trading considerably below this level:
This maybe a good entry opportunity for players and investors who believe in the long term potential of SIM and dCity.
Final word on whether I should buy dCity SIM in 2022
The combination of all the attention that blockchain games are getting, the increasing flow of new users to Hive (mostly gamers brought by Splinterlands), may be the perfect storm that dCity SIM needs to explode.
As a much more passive game than Splinterlands, combined with the highly favourable DeFi on Hive opportunities offered via SIM, dCity currently sits right on the precipice.
Not to mention the current low price of the dCity SIM token, creating a very interesting opportunity for investors looking to add a new Hive layer-2 token to their portfolio.
As always, it's very hard to predict what is going to happen in the world of crypto, so you should treat this and every other section of our guide to dCity SIM as a starting point to make an informed decision.
Do your own research and never invest money you cannot afford to lose.
LeoFinance Crypto Guides.
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