Web3 Gaming Could Thrive Once Washington’s Pro-DeFi Push Becomes Law

• Many Web3 games feature DeFi functions, NFTs, airdrops, and monetizable experiences.
• Creative or utility-focused NFTs that generate income may not qualify as securities.
• The Web3 gaming market is expected to reach over $300 billion by 2030.

Web3’s videogaming scene is red hot in 2025, and with dozens of new and exciting titles promising incredible in-game economies, asset ownership, monetizable gaming, fierce competitive tournaments, and much more, the U.S. pro-crypto pivot could boost the nascent sector into the mainstream.

Soon, the Trump administration’s push to clarify the classification of cryptos and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), establish crystal clear guidelines on stablecoins, and define what type of activity or token constitutes a security could yield significant benefits for Web3 gaming developers and players.

Latent Potential

Just as the ‘mainstream’ crypto industry has been held back by unclear and overbearing regulations imposed by the SEC under Gary Gensler, every other offshoot of crypto, including Web3 gaming, has felt the pinch.

The Web3 gaming market is one of the more complex ecosystems in the blockchain industry. These games come in a myriad of formats and genres and feature varying types of Web3 features.

These features extend the experience beyond just gameplay enhancements. They blend crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi), governance, and content creation to create titles with bustling marketplaces, monetizable activities, heaps of personalization, and community-driven features.

Player Rewards

The most common feature of a Web3 game is the NFT-based in-game asset, which grants users “true ownership” over their digital items. These are typically required to play in games like Axie Infinity, feature as an optional extra in titles like Off The Grid, or represent ownership of virtual in-game land like in The Sandbox.

Secondly, there’s crypto. Whether native to the game or the network they’re running on, these gaming tokens serve numerous functions within their respective game(s)/ecosystem(s), and they are often distributed as rewards for dedicated and skilled players via airdrops.

New major titles such as MapleStory N or Ragnarok Landverse Genesis have massively monetizable ecosystems with NFTs in the form of in-game land and items, player-created experiences, tournaments, marketplaces, etc.

Many of these activities could constitute securities violations in the U.S., and their developers have opted to avoid the legal headache and restrict the game in certain countries.

Furthermore, upcoming games such as EVE Frontier, which lets players create their crypto and economies in-game amongst other amazing features, will further obscure the thin gray line between gaming and economic activity as play-to-earn (P2E) evolves.

Blurred Lines

Though it has not yet been made official, SEC Commissioner and head of the regulator’s Crypto Task Force, Hester Peirce aka “Crypto Mom”, recently posited that “many” NFTs do not qualify as securities, especially ones tied to creative or utility-driven outcomes.

Therefore, it can be argued that players making profits from the NFTs they’ve created/used in-game may not constitute investment contracts representing economic rights or interests in a business, as profits typically tied to securities are.

However, matters become complicated in games like The Sandbox, where players can monetize virtual plots with LAND NFTs.

These NFTs allow players to host games or events or lease their space for passive income, mirroring real-world property. Major brands and entities such as Atari and HSBC have active plots in The Metaverse.

In addition, leasing land and generating an income without actively managing it confers economic rights akin to dividends or rental income.  Under the SEC’s Howey Test, these NFTs could be classified as securities if they involve investment with profit expectations.

That said, it could be argued that, in the case of The Sandbox LAND NFTs, income is based on player creativity, building experiences that attract other users through individual initiative, reinforcing Peirce’s position.

Airdrops from titles such as Axie Infinity or Cambria, which require players to front crypto to participate and compete for airdrop points, could be viewed as securities by the SEC if they carry investment-like expectations.

Cambria, a Web3 massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), prides itself on being a “risk-to-earn” game in which players must wager their assets to participate in some aspects of the game and, ultimately, stand a chance to earn from the experience.

New Game

Ultimately, crypto is heading in a completely different direction under Trump, and the SEC’s evolving stance on NFTs, Ethereum staking, crypto classifications, and even its own role as an enforcer, sets the stage for a positive time ahead for Web3 gaming.

By deeming protocol-staking non-securities and potentially now viewing NFTs as mostly non-securities, developers may discover renewed confidence in building their Web3 games exactly as they envisioned.

They could do so without worrying if a threatening Wells Notice from the SEC would be sliding into their mailbox.

It’s a new era for crypto, and therefore a new one for Web3 gaming.