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“Sea is like Thanos, massive and powerful and is able to take down half of the world,” a V
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âSea is like Thanos, massive and powerful and is able to take down half of the world,â a VC once said. [Read from your browser]( Editor's Letter Dear {NAME} Willson Cuaca, co-founder of East Ventures and an early backer of Tokopedia, once used this colorful analogy to describe Sea Group, Southeast Asiaâs largest internet company: "Sea is like Thanos, massive and powerful and is able to take down half of the world, or in this case, half the startups," said Cuaca, as quoted by PingWest. "Like the Avengers, companies need to band together if they want to ensure their survival and win the war." (No doubt, Sea will have something to say about that characterization.) Two companies that have joined forces are Gojek and Tokopedia - which have announced a merger to form GoTo. Tokopedia was the focus of our [top story last week](. While local ecommerce marketplaces in the region have fallen behind Shopee and Lazada, the Indonesian ecommerce giant has been an exception. By some metrics, itâs standing toe to toe with Shopee, and by others, itâs clearly the number two option in the country. We went into the reasons why it has been able to sustain this momentum. In other stories, we also looked at hot business-to-business ecommerce marketplace GudangAda, which has served up more sensational numbers as it inches closer to profitability. We also explained the buy now, pay later phenomenon in Southeast Asia, visualized the rapid rise of Southeast Asiaâs startup hubs, and more. You can head [here]( to read these articles (youâll need to be a [subscriber](. To infinity and beyond Last week, we published a couple of premium articles explaining the hit blockchain game Axie Infinity and dispelled the notion that it is a Ponzi scheme. We were among the first to write about Sky Mavis, the company behind the game. You can check out our coverage [here]( if youâre interested. Being a bit of a gamer myself, I had to experience Axie Infinity. So, over the weekend, I bought some axies, the digital creatures that you battle with in the game, which didnât come cheap (it doesnât help that you need a minimum of three to get started either). Although I'll need to play it more to form a conclusion, I can say that youâll need some working knowledge of crypto to get started - that, and the cost involved, would deter most gamers. The gameplay itself could be a grind. Thatâs because each axie costs hundreds of US dollars, which means that youâll battle using the same team of axies for a long time. You could, of course, rent axies. Even so, youâd need to invest hours each day into the game to make a decent sum. Thereâs one more option to earn: renting out your axie to those who canât afford it - though I havenât explored this yet. All in all, this appears to be a game that would put off most people - except those who are determined to make money from it. But if given a choice between being a Grab driver or sitting at home and making money from a game, I donât doubt many will opt for the latter. Have you tried Axie Infinity yet? Let me know your impressions! Best regards, Terence Lee
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