The Web3Port Foundation recently announced the completion of a new round of investment in Balance.fun, which attracted the participation of many well-known institutions, including Animoca Brands, Amber Group, GSR Markets, MarbleX, Mask Network, MetaBlast Group, Bing Venture and Nonagon Capital, among other industry leaders. This is another important layout of Web3Port in exploring new business models empowered by Web3 and blockchain technology.

Balance.fun was created by the team of the world's largest game companion platform E-PAL, and is a Web3 social and gaming platform that combines blockchain and AI technology. By redefining the social and gaming experience, Balance.fun aims to become a key bridge connecting Web2 and Web3 users.

Background

The game companion industry has experienced rapid development in recent years, gradually expanding from a niche game service to a global industry. By providing personalized game interaction experiences and deep social connections, game companion platforms have successfully attracted millions of players, becoming an important part of the modern game ecosystem.

However, the traditional game companion model also faces some fundamental issues, including: low user retention, lack of long-term appeal; difficulty in guaranteeing service quality, affecting user experience; and the labor value of companions not being fully recognized.

With the rise of blockchain and Web3 technology, this industry is undergoing a major transformation:

• Token-driven ecosystem: Leveraging blockchain technology, Web3 platforms can provide economic returns to users and companions through token incentive models, not only attracting more users to participate, but also enhancing platform activity and user stickiness. At the same time, companions can establish personal economic systems by issuing fan tokens, attracting loyal users to participate in the long-term development and revenue growth of the companions through tokens.
• Decentralized identity and trust mechanism: Utilizing on-chain NFT and DID technologies, the skills, achievements and service records of companions can be publicly and transparently displayed, and all transactions, reviews and service records are publicly recorded on the blockchain, which can greatly improve trust and transparency, and ensure the fairness of user payments and service delivery.
• Globalized market expansion: Web3 technology breaks through regional and ecological constraints, providing the game companion industry with a new global development path. Companion platforms can not only serve Web2 game users, but also eliminate cross-border payment and language barriers through Web3 technology, allowing global users to easily join and enjoy the service.

As the world's largest game companion platform, E-PAL has accumulated a huge user base and companion network through years of operations. Under the Web2 model, E-PAL mainly relies on commissions and service fees for profitability. To address the limitations of the traditional model, E-PAL is undergoing a full transformation to Web3, introducing blockchain technology to launch the Balance platform, building a token-based economy and fan protocol-based infrastructure, combining the traffic advantages of Web2 with the innovative potential of Web3 to build a new decentralized gaming platform.

Balance.fun Solution

Balance.fun, created by the E-PAL Labs team, aims to provide an easy-to-use interactive and experiential infrastructure for developers, creators and users in the decentralized world, by integrating AI-driven models, decentralized tools and blockchain frameworks. Developers can easily build and promote games and applications through powerful blockchain and AI tools, while users can enjoy more personalized, diverse and interactive experiences, driving the global large-scale adoption of Web3 technology.

To realize the Web3 user experience infrastructure for mass adoption, Balance.fun has launched a Web3 infrastructure consisting of five interconnected layers, each enhancing the platform's functionality:

• Application Layer: Including human EPALs, AI EPALs, AI-driven battle report system, score-sharing SBTs, game NFT passes, etc.
• Platform Layer: Supporting Web2 and Web3 games, including selected high-quality third-party games and a few self-developed games. The platform also integrates an NFT Launchpad and NFT Marketplace, supporting project parties to issue and sell project NFTs, and providing an NFT trading market, charging platform fees.
• Protocol Layer: Providing tools such as the EPAL Fans Token Launchpad, EPAL Fans Protocol and EPAL FT Trading Protocol. The EPAL Fans Protocol supports game companions to issue fan tokens on the EPAL Fans Launchpad, and the tokens can be traded using the platform token EPT. The EPAL FT Trading Protocol allows free trading of fan tokens.
• Infrastructure Layer: Including Balance ID system, Balance chain, Balance stablecoin and Balance node system, providing key services to support a stable ecosystem.
• Token Layer: Including EPT token and EPT Fans tokens, used to incentivize users, early adopters, investors and companions through tokens and digital collectibles.

Based on this five-layer internet architecture, Balance.fun seamlessly integrates Web2 and Web3 games, simplifying user registration, game access, game asset trading and purchasing through the NFT and DID identity system. Through the Fans Protocol, it helps companions issue fan tokens to establish personal economic systems, enhancing social connections and long-term development with players. By introducing an AI-driven system as a core element, it supports users to create personalized AI virtual companions that can participate in games, learning, entertainment and even productivity tasks, adapting to individual preferences, behaviors and needs, thereby comprehensively enhancing user experience and playability.

Product and Ecosystem Progress

Web2 Companion Platform E-PAL:

Launched in March 2020, E-PAL is the world's largest game companion platform, with over 5 million users and 450,000 Epals (companion users). "E-PAL" has now become the preferred term for global game companions.

E-PAL has supported the launch of games from many well-known Web2 game publishers, achieving great success, and has established long-term partnerships with top Web2 game companies such as Riot Games, Ubisoft, Bandai Namco, Blizzard and EA.

The E-PAL mobile app has over 500K+ downloads on Google Play and over 2K+ users on the App Store with a rating of 4.6+.

Web3 Gaming Platform Balance.fun:

Balance.fun has been launched and currently has some social and gaming functions online. Balance.fun has already collaborated with more than 80 Web3 game companies, and is the only platform that serves both Web2 and Web3 game companies, supporting over 180 games across Web2 and Web3. In its Beta testing phase, the Epal/Balance.fun dual platform has added millions of new addresses and completed nearly 10 million on-chain interactions, with the majority of users coming from the Web2 user base.

Web3 Node Sales:

Key Nodes are the backbone of the Balance.fun ecosystem, playing an important role in supporting decentralized applications (dApps) and services, including Web3 game reward distribution, decentralized data processing and storage, AI training network, DeFi applications and NFT minting and distribution, DAO governance and voting, etc. Node holders will actively participate in network operations, while receiving potential earnings, token rewards ($EPT 25% of total supply) and long-term equity.

The initial price of Balance.fun nodes is $599, with a total of 100,000 nodes. Since sales began in November 2024, over 30,000 Key Nodes have been sold, with a total sales amount exceeding $18 million.

Team and Financing

Team Background

Balance.fun was founded by the E-PAL Labs team. The founding team has impressive backgrounds - Brian Xiong previously founded the visual novel platform Wuxia Dreams, which was acquired by Tencent; Norris Wang has founded multiple projects including Oasis Pastoral (smart farm), UCI Group (real estate), Central Estate (real estate), etc.; Adam Chang is an experienced Web3 entrepreneur with rich blockchain project management experience in GameFi, DeFi and short video platforms, driving the rapid development and success of multiple projects; Lucas Lee was a private equity investor and managing partner of META_W Capital, serving as a director of multiple US-listed companies. The current team has about 40 employees, mostly technical personnel, headquartered in LA, with rich experience in game development, internet operations, community management and business development.

Financing Situation

In terms of financing, E-PAL has successfully completed 2 rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of up to $43 million, reflecting the recognition of investment institutions/investors for E-PAL and the Blance.fun ecosystem.

• In September 2024, E-PAL successfully completed two rounds (Seed Round + Venture Round) of financing led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Galaxy Interactive, with a total financing amount of $33 million. The financing also received support from other investment institutions, including Animoca Brands, K5, CLF Partners, MBK Capital, New Heights Fund, AMBER, MarbleX, Sky Mantra, Tuna, Aptos Labs, IOBC, Leland, Halcyon Capital, Uphonest, Taisu Ventures, Gate Labs, DWF Ventures, BING, WAGMI, Steve Chen (YouTube founder), Michael Kives (K5 / former CAA), and Gracy Chen (Bitget CEO).
• In November 2024, Balance.fun raised over $10 million in node sales from institutional investments, including Animoca Brands, Amber Group, GSR Markets, MarbleX, Mask Network, MetaBlast Group, Web3port Foundation, Bing Venture, and Nonagon Capital.

Tokenomics

The Balance.fun ecosystem has two tokens, the $EPT governance token and the E-Pal Fans token. Through the combination of $EPT and EPAL Fans tokens, the E-Pal platform is redefining the creator economy in Web3, empowering the EPAL and fan community to build a vibrant decentralized ecosystem. As the Balance ecosystem thrives, both the E-Pal platform and users can benefit from the strong utility of $EPT, achieving a mutually beneficial situation.

EPT Token:

$EPT is the governance and utility token that drives the Balance ecosystem, with a total supply of 10 billion. Its main function is to incentivize various activities within the ecosystem, such as trading, liquidity provision, and application development. $EPT establishes an incentive mechanism between traders, creators, and the marketplace, ensuring that all participants are encouraged to engage in network activities and benefit from them.

The Utility and use cases of $EPT include:

• Game Companion Payment Token: As the primary payment method for all game companion services on the E-PAL platform, enabling seamless transactions between users and companions.
• Fan Protocol Currency: Used for minting and trading fan tokens for companions, supporting the entire fan token economy within the ecosystem.
• Governance Token: Voting rights for platform upgrades and protocol changes, with the ability to submit proposals and obtain voting rights through token staking.
• Platform Service Token: As the payment method for all services on the Balance platform, used to access advanced platform features.
• Gas Token of the Balance Chain
• Balance ID Operations: The token required for creating and updating Balance ID, used to pay for Balance ID advanced features and service fees.

E-Pal Fans Token:

The E-Pal Fans token is a fan token designed specifically for individual EPALs on the platform, allowing each EPAL to issue their own community-driven currency.

In the traditional Web2 model, many EPALs create value for the platform, but their relationship with users is more transactional, similar to a service provider and customer. Through the E-Pal Fans token, this relationship can be transformed into a more creator-fan community model. The E-Pal Fans token provides EPALs with the opportunity to deeply interact with their most loyal supporters and share the long-term value they create together.

The E-Pal Fans token is issued through a Bonding Curve model, adopting a dynamic pricing strategy where the price is directly linked to the market value of the fan token. Fans can use these tokens to access exclusive services provided by their favorite EPALs, while also participating in the process of increasing the long-term value of the EPAL.

Roadmap and Planning

E-PAL was founded in March 2020, with investments from a16z and Galaxy Interactive, and has become popular in North America and Europe, and has begun collaborating with globally popular games such as League of Legends (LOL) and Call of Duty (COD). In January 2024, it became the world's largest game companion platform, with 4.2 million users and 450,000 Epals.

In February 2024, the E-PAL team will shift its focus to artificial intelligence and blockchain, launching Balance.fun, using artificial intelligence to enhance the user experience and reduce costs, while integrating blockchain to provide support for fan tokens using the Bonding Curve model.

In Q3 - Q4 2024, the focus will be on using Web3 tools to enhance the Web2 user experience. The Balance platform products will be launched, supporting Web2 and Web3 games, and providing services for over 150 games. Technologically, they will develop a new generation of infrastructure (including application layer, platform layer, protocol layer, infrastructure layer, and token layer), providing users with AI-driven tools, NFT features, and integrated blockchain solutions. In terms of marketing, they will collaborate with Binance, OKX wallet, and others, launching a pioneer badge minting event to attract a large number of Web3 users. And in November, they will launch the node system and sales plan.

In Q1 2025, Balance will list the EPT token on CEX and announce a token buyback program. At the same time, they will launch the V3 fan token product, focusing on the fan economy to drive traffic.

In Q2 - Q3 2025, they will focus on product features and marketing collaborations, announcing new partnerships with Web2 giants and a brand upgrade strategy; on the product side, they will launch new AI features, Telegram mini-games, and the Balance ID system.

Looking at Balance's overall roadmap, the project team's roadmap is relatively clear, and the strategy and execution of the transition from Web2 to Web3 have been relatively successful, with efforts in technology, product and marketing, financing, and community building to achieve the goal of building Balance into a comprehensive Web3 ecosystem.

Summary

Balance.fun, through the deep integration of blockchain and AI technology, has brought a brand-new experience to game players and companions. As a key investment project of the Web3Port Foundation, Balance.fun has shown strong advantages in market potential, technological innovation, and team execution.

In the future, with the TGE and CEX listing of the $EPT token, the launch of fan tokens, and the further improvement of AI functions, Balance.fun is expected to become a benchmark in the Web3 gaming field. We look forward to its continued breakthroughs and development in the industry.