It was still fresh in my mind that on the day SPS was launched, I read a lot of comments on Hive asking about its utility. The same question has been raised when the development team decided during this 2nd phase in the pre-sale of CL packs using only credits. And so, with the release of the recent update, I hope that our question about SPS utility has finally been answered.
For a small fish like me, among the six utilities mentioned in the updated SPS 2022 Roadmap, I find three of them very interesting: the SPS Foundation, mini edition of new cards, and the inclusion of SPS in the reward pool.
For the tech savvy, the validator node software would be appealing. The update on land expansion is a great news for those who already own a piece of this digital property on Splinterlands. Though owners are given assurance that this will be one of the top priorities next year, they still have to wait for the details of how SPS staking would influence their investment in digital land. The implications of the end of private sale and airdrop, is somehow the most difficult for me to understand.
As a whole, the six items mentioned in the update are all good for SPS and the game economy of Splinterlands. Though subjective, development like this has an intention to inspire SPS holders to find greater value in this governance token. Hoping that such utility and value will be reflected in its price.
Looking back on the days when Chaos Legion was launched, we witnessed the price of SPS appreciated from $0.1991 to $1.1439 for at least three weeks from 21 September to 10 October.
But as the excitement subsided, sentiment towards SPS changed as reflected in its price. The following two months and nineteen days, its price declined from a previous high down to $0.1698 from 10 October to 29 December. Personally, I am not bothered by its price decline not because I own a miniscule quantity of SPS, but because I believe in the potential of Splinterlands as an NFT blockchain based game. I actually see such decline as an opportunity to increase my holdings. As I shared elsewhere, I hope that 2nd or 3rd week of January next year won’t be too late for me to capitalize on SPS current price for that’s the time I will be exiting 50% of my fund from the Philippine stock market. We still have to observe if there will be a reversal of trend as a result of the recent update concerning the six use cases of SPS for this year.
In this article, I won’t be repeating everything written on the official update. I just want to have a simplified and concise guide for my personal reference. As such, details that others would consider important are intentionally excluded.
The Foundation Treasury
The primary goal in the formation of the Foundation Treasury is to support the development and promotion of SPS. As an initial fund, “10% of the total supply of SPS” will be used for this purpose. We are told that currently, the foundation holds around $4M worth of diverse digital currencies excluding SPS.
Reading that holders of staked SPS are the owners of the treasury funds, I find this surprising. I am not sure if my interpretation is accurate. Holders need to wait for further announcement regarding the release of the governance system of the token. Once such announcement is released, the “community” can start their submission of various proposals about the use of treasury funds. Both the ownership and the use of treasury funds serve a great utility for SPS.
Riftwatchers
Another SPS utility will be seen with the production of Riftwatchers, a new mini-edition of cards expected to be released this 2nd quarter of 2022. That will be around April. That’s another significant event, players need to mark on their calendar. What makes this mini-edition interesting is that unlike CL cards, Riftwachers can be bought using SPS directly. This to me is somehow an appropriate response to the sentiment raised by some players during the 2nd phase of the pre-sale of CL packs. Moreover, the income from the sales of Riftwatchers will go straight to the treasury fund. Again, as for me, these two mechanisms related to Riftwachers provide another great utility for SPS.
Inclusion of SPS in the Reward Pool
Currently, in ranked battles, players receive credits in the Bronze league and DEC in the higher league. The inclusion of SPS in ranked battle rewards is the third and final utility that I find personally important to a small player like me. If I am not mistaken, this will be implemented around month of July this year.
In conclusion, though all the six use cases of SPS, which will be implemented this year are beneficial to all holders of this token, I find the formation of a foundation treasury, the issuance of Riftwachers, and the inclusion of SPS in ranked battle rewards most relevant to small players like me.
If reading this article got you curious about Splinterlands and its game economy, why not give it a try? Here's my code: https://splinterlands.com?ref=rzc24-nftbbg
Grace and peace!