Binance recently announced its plans to list Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) as the 58th project on its Launchpool. This declaration sets the stage for trading to start on September 26, 2024, at 12:00 UTC.

Under the Launchpool terms, users can lock their BNB and FDUSD to receive HMSTR airdrop over a seven-day period. The airdrop farming will start on September 19, 2024.

Is Binance Trying to Onboard Hamster Kombat Users?

Binance will apply a seed tag to HMSTR, indicating it as a volatile project. To trade tokens marked with this tag, users must pass quizzes every 90 days.

Amidst the announcement, Binance issued a caution.

“Any claims to offer this token for sale before the stated timeline are likely to be false advertising. Please do your own research to ensure safety of your funds,” Binance warned.

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Meanwhile, the Hamster Kombat launch on Binance ignited a storm of backlash, notably on social media platforms like X (Twitter). This is because Hamster Kombat has been plagued by controversies, including its tap-to-earn model, frequent airdrop delays, and internal conflicts.

Critics argue that such projects might fail to meet the high expectations of their vast player base.

“Binance listing Hamster Kombat. This only makes me believe that Binance ain’t special anymore,” crypto enthusiast Joshyy said.

However, Binance’s decision to list HMSTR might be a strategic step towards capturing the massive user base of Hamster Kombat, which boasts over 200 million players. A significant portion of these players are newcomers to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. By listing HMSTR, Binance opens the door to a new wave of crypto enthusiasts.

Furthermore, Binance is expanding its focus beyond individual tokens to the broader Telegram crypto ecosystem. This includes Binance Labs’ investment in Blum, a decentralized exchange (DEX) that functions as a Telegram mini-app.

Not to mention, Telegram’s platform, with its 950 million monthly active users, has become a fertile ground for developers launching mini-apps aimed at this vast audience.

The infrastructure supporting these ventures, the TON blockchain, however, has its challenges. It recently endured two outages during the airdrop of the DOGS token last month. Despite these setbacks, the TON community remains hopeful about the future, especially with the upcoming token generation events (TGE) for Catizen and Hamster Kombat scheduled for September.

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“These levels of user engagement were unimaginable in Web3 before. In September, we anticipate even larger TGEs for Catizen and Hamster Kombat, which could bring tens or even hundreds of millions of users to the blockchain for the first time. The network will undoubtedly face more technical pressures and possibly some unforeseen issues, but we are unwavering in our commitment to building and addressing these challenges as we move toward mass adoption,” TON developers said.