Star Atlas Rallies After FTX Implosion

The contagion surrounding FTX’s meltdown last week quickly spread to other top crypto projects. Among them, Star Atlas was not immune to the cascade of events that followed in the wake of FTX’s collapse.

In a shocking announcement, Star Atlas Co-Founder Michael Wagner, revealed that Star Atlas had lost “approximately half” of its liquid cash reserves in FTX. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt quickly spread through the Star Atlas community.

However, almost immediately, community leaders began asking what could be done to buttress the embattled project. A group of almost 300 community members quickly collaborated on possible community proposals that could potentially provide relief. Respondents were asked to answer each question independently, thus each graph represents individual data sets agnostic to other proposals.

Star Atlas Community Pledges Over $1 Million in Support

Star Atlas Consumer Spending — Source: Star Atlas Rescue Survey

While the bad news about the games lost funds may have dissuaded many, the Star Atlas community remains passionate on the prospects the game still had. So much so that collectively, and by conservative estimates, the project could potentially raise at least $1 million dollars alone through community efforts. Several respondents pledged upwards of $50K and $150K in the survey’s comments. Through optimistic calculations, the project could easily gather close to $2 million is the right fundraising vehicle is chosen.

To assess which proposals had the most merit, a study was conducted covering five options —

• Additional token sales
• Land Sales
• Player Habitat Sales
• NFT collectibles
• Discounts on existing Star Atlas Assets

Favorite: Star Atlas Land Sales and Token Sales

Star Atlas Consumer Land Spending — Source: Star Atlas Rescue Survey

Through both community discussion and survey results, Star Atlas land sales are closely tied with token sales as the most popular option for fundraising. Star Atlas recently announced that land sales were a viable option, but they had been holding off for better market conditions and utility. Based on community sentiment, Star Atlas may accelerate the release of its land sales as a community proposal.

Star Atlas Consumer Token Spending — Source: Star Atlas Rescue Survey

Also highly popular, direct sales of the game’s ATLAS and POLIS tokens are a community favorite. The ATLAS token functions as the game’s currency whereas the POLIS token functions as the game’s governance token. ATLAS tokens can be staked to yield POLIS tokens and marketplace fee discounts. The POLIS tokens can be staked to generate more POLIS tokens and POLIS Voting Power, a measurement of how much voting power a player wields. Clearly, the opportunity to purchase both these tokens has significant player interest.

Alternatives: Player Habitats and NFT Collectibles

Star Atlas Consumer Housing Spending — Source: Star Atlas Rescue Survey

Falling not far behind statistically is the potential for customizable player housing. Customizable housing is a staple of any popular MMORPG and Star Atlas is no exception. It would likely take longer for Star Atlas to implement this solution into the game. However, should either of the previously mentioned proposals go forward, player housing could prove to be a coveted asset in the future.

Star Atlas Consumer Collectible NFT Spending — Source: Star Atlas Rescue Survey

While there was some interest in the release of new Star Atlas collectibles, data clearly shows that players would not be willing to spend very much on them. The common rebuke in the survey comments was that these collectibles would likely have no utility in the game, and thus are not valued fairly high by consumers. Star Atlas has seen success in the past with its Rebirth Series Metaposters. However, macroeconomic bear market conditions make additional NFT collectibles an unattractive option.

Least Favorite: Star Atlas Ship Discounts

Star Atlas Consumer Ship Spending — Source: Star Atlas Rescue Survey

 

Star Atlas Requested Discounts — Source: Star Atlas Rescue Survey

Although the first chart in this category looks promising (players willing to spend money on Star Atlas ships), when combined with the second chart, a clear problem begins to arise.

Players would only spend additional capital on ships if they received a significant discount from current prices. This makes sense given the current market conditions. Not captured in the graph are numerous comments reflecting desired of discounts at 70, 80, and even 90%. While these discount rates would reward current buyers, Star Atlas would likely take a significant loss of profits in the long run. This proposal is obviously not likely to succeed.

Where does Star Atlas go from here?

Based on the data from the survey, its clear that core consumer sentiment remains high. Certain proposals, like land sales and direct token sales, see a high probability of achieving both efforts of fundraising and community desire. Other proposals carry merit, but if the intent is to minimize the number of proposals due to cost and maximize gains and returns, then only the best proposals are likely to go forward.

The Star Atlas community, collectively, still has to agree on a desired way ahead and propose that to ATMTA, the company creating Star Atlas. ATMTA may or may not accept the community proposal. ATMTA is currently in talks with interested venture capital firms to secure additional funding, but no announcements have been made confirms partnership deals. Should ATMTA accept a community proposal, it would likely extend the company’s runway by a month or two, depending on the amount raised. Even so, the efforts by the community shine a ray of hope on an overcast future.

Disclaimers:
The author holds assets in the game of Star Atlas.
The author was the conductor of the survey. The author did not modify the results of the survey in any way.
Current market conditions present significant risk in the crypto environment. This article is in no way an endorsement of any investment proposals by the reader.
This article is in no way endorsed by Star Atlas or ATMTA, Inc.