Metakey review: A guide to this gaming NFT and how to buy it

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Remember Nintendo's Amiibo figurines? The idea was to collect toy figurines of legendary Nintendo characters, and then when you placed them on your Switch or 3DS while playing a certain game, bonuses would be unlocked.

Kids loved it; adults loved it. It should be no surprise then that we're seeing the concept reappear in the latest craze: NFT games.

Metakey is an NFT that, once owned, can grant a player all kinds of fun and functional bonuses for use across hundreds of applications and games. But it's also a promising NFT collectible in its own right. Here's everything you need to know about Metakey.

What is Metakey?

As its name suggests, Metakey is an NFT that unlocks the metaverse — or at least that's the theory. It's not a game itself, but if you have one, it can unlock bonuses in other NFT games that partner with Metakey.

According to its creator — known among the NFT Games community as Matty and famed for his DCL Blogger YouTube channel — codes for "hundreds of applications" can be stored on a single Metakey. So there is no need to own more than one to make the most of its functional use case. However, there are advantages to owning more than one from an NFT collectible and investment point of view.

Metakeys are released in Editions, with four out as of the time of writing. Each Edition has a limited run and is designed by a well-known artist, giving it scarcity and real value as a piece of art. Respected NFT artist Marc-0-matic created the third Edition run, for example.

What can a Metakey do?

The Metakey is as good as its partnerships, but there are some promising signs on that front. Four notable games are partners: Decentraland, The Sandbox, Neon District and Ethermon. The creator spoke about getting guns, items or outfits if you play these games with a Metakey in your wallet.

For example, I've seen a secret area open in Decentraland if you have a specific art NFT from a partner site attached to your Metakey.

It's not just about gaming. You can get airdrops, discount coupons, giveaways and even physical merchandise through owning a Metakey. For example a partner did an airdrop of 3D shoes to Metakey owners. Almost immediately, they could be found on the secondary market for up to $200 — quite the dividend.

Finally, Matty spoke about an upcoming project that allows you to associate an avatar with your Metakey. This customizable character not only benefits cosmetically from airdrops like 3D shoes but can also be used within games.

How does Metakey work?

A Metakey generally functions the same way as Nintendo's Amiibo figurines. If you own one and bring it into a compatible Nintendo game, it unlocks a perk, item or cheat. It's the same with Metakey.

What's not 100% clear is what percentage of the bonuses are value-add freebies gifted to owners versus purchased NFTs from Metakey partners that are associated with the Metakey to enable more expansive use.

For example, when you're playing a game like The Sandbox, does it recognize that you have a Metakey and deliver the goods? Or do you have to make an investment in The Sandbox or partner to have it code its existence into the Metakey?

And what happens when you sell your Metakey? Does any associated partner NFTs you've attached to your Metakey go with it?

How to buy Metakey NFTs

As of 2022, you can buy a Metakey from the OpenSea and Rarible platforms. Four Editions of Metakey – totalling 10,000 tokens – have been released and are sold out. There's no set release date for the fifth.

So far, each Edition has sold for the same amount: 0.2 ETH. That's not cheap, around $207.57 USD at the time of writing. Obviously, the price can fluctuate depending on any given day, but you can expect to pay between $100 and $1,000 for a Metakey.

It looks like ZED may not be available to purchase on an exchange in the US.

You can still purchase ZED by using a decentralized exchange (DEX) instead. decentralized exchanges are web applications that run on blockchains like Polygon and allow users to trade any asset directly with one another.

How to purchase ZED using a decentralized exchange.

1. Find ZED on a decentralized exchange and make sure ZED can be traded for MATIC which is the native asset of Polygon. Popular DEXs on Polygon include QuickSwap, SushiSwap and Balancer.
2. Buy MATIC to trade for ZED using an exchange like Gemini. You will need to purchase enough MATIC to swap for ZED as well as some MATIC to pay for transaction fees which typically cost no more than a cent.
3. Transfer the MATIC into a web 3.0 wallet like MetaMask to connect to the DEX.
4. Trade MATIC for ZED on the DEX of your choice, following the instructions on screen. Make sure to leave enough MATIC in your wallet to pay for gas.
5. Wait for the transaction to finalize and the ZED tokens will arrive in your wallet.
6. You may now keep the tokens in your web 3.0 wallet or transfer them somewhere more secure like a hardware wallet.

You can follow the same process when you want to sell your tokens, or come back to this page to see if they can now be traded on an exchange in the US.

Other crypto games and NFT projects

Is Metakey play-to-earn?

Metakey is not play-to-earn in the traditional sense – think Axie Infinity – as it has no game experience. However, we've seen some examples of how it could be a hold-to-earn token. (I just made that term up, by the way; it's not a thing…yet.) Take the example of the 3D shoe airdrop. By simply being a holder, owners were granted an NFT that had a significant value.

We're also told that there are plans to give holders of multiple generations of Metakey NFTs cosmetic enhancements that will drive the rarity of their token. One enhancement was that if you hold Edition 1, 2 and 3 tokens, then your Metakeys may start getting a lightning display occurring on them.

Will Metakey be a successful NFT?

The concept behind Metakey isn't new. Enjin has explored this concept since 2018, and even longer with Amiibo. It's effective, and it works. However, we'll need to see more partners join the mix if it's going to truly tap into its potential.

The good news is that it's being driven by an individual with real clout in the NFT games space. Someone highly regarded as knowing NFTs as well as anybody and with the connections to pull off the partnerships Metakey needs to thrive.

I'm a little worried about there being an unlimited circulation of keys, which suggests we'll continue to see more Editions arrive in the future. Will that flood the market? Will the artist of the 10th Edition Metakey go viral and suddenly throw out the value of earlier Editions?

Time will tell, but Metakey is an NFT games project to watch.