What we can learn from the Metamall-Bloktopia Scuffle
Tags: VR, Nft, Playtoearn, Metaverse

Bloktopia, a name that catapulted to the front of the meta-race when Zuckerberg’s Meta was making headlines, has been a dream investment for public and private investors alike.

Bloktopia is a tokenized decentralized VR Crypto Skyscraper that is built and powered by the Polygon Network. It is arguably the best performing Initial DEX Offering (IDO) of 2021 and has made plenty of millionaires all across the crypto-scene, and is featured in all the articles (https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/these-are-the-best-performing-idos-of-2021) that discuss the leaps that took place in Crypto 2020–21. Bloktopia launched with phenomenal success and has become synonymous with ‘1000x’ and ‘100x’ discussions across the board and has garnered its fanbase amongst smaller investors as well as Venture Capitalists, becoming a star in its own right.

Bloktopia’s success aside, we shall look at the allegations it made in a recent medium post that raised a lot of eyebrows. The medium, post titled ‘CAUTION IS KEY IN THE WORLD OF CRYPTOCURRENCY’ (https://medium.com/@bloktopia/caution-is-key-in-the-world-of-cryptocurrency-b8127bd986bc), points finger at Metamall-a metaverse platform, built on the Solana blockchain, that aims at integrating VR, NFTs, and DeFi. This was followed by a quick and strong rebuttal by team Metamall (https://medium.com/@metamall/lets-save-the-metaverse-from-monopoly-of-bloktopia-9e05629bcb9c).

The Dirt

Bloktopia accuses Metamall of being a copycat and warns the investors of Metamall of potential rug pull (Rug Pull is a theft wherein the developer abandons the project and cashes out on the investments made).



The first allegation of plagiarism is that most of the content on Metamall’s whitepaper is lifted from Bloktopia’s light paper and website, including images and content. Metamall has addressed the issue in its confutation by agreeing that some stock photos or content might have caused the confusion and has since removed the same after undergoing a thorough revision of all its contents on its whitepaper and website.

Further allegations include similar page designs such as the ‘Advertising’ page and ‘Token Utility’page. Using stock images and similar designs is not a healthy indicator, but it needs to be understood that a lot of such designs and related decisions are made by a design agency. If one were to glance through the recent whitepapers/light papers of 2020 and 2021, they would be left only with a handful of templates, because most designs are inspired or drafted on a template.

The allegations then extend to Metamall’s introduction of a wallet feature. Wallet feature has become quite the norm in a lot of projects. It doesn’t seem logical to be considered a red flag by any stretch. An excerpt from Bloktopia’s medium page goes as far as to call Metamall’s tagline “#OWN #BUILD #LEASE #STAKE” as a copy of Bloktopia’s tagline “#LEARN #EARN #PLAY #CREATE”. This makes little to no sense as tech-marketing uses a lot of such 4-worded themes to convey a project’s offering as it helps in better information retention. In fact, the first three words of Bloktopia’s “#LEARN #EARN #PLAY #CREATE” are often used by a lot of companies and industries and have a history of patents (google is your friend).

Bloktopia and Metamall are two projects which aim at expanding the Metaverse, to find similarities in their design template and raise a ‘rug pull’ alarm screams immaturity and insecurity on Bloktopia’s part.

The Fault in our Star-Bloktopia

Bloktopia initially started as a VR Skyscraper project but has since boarded the Launchpad hype train and a lot of its focus is on BLOKPAD. A move much appreciated from a capitalistic perspective but at what cost? Bloktopia despite its success has been marred with altering its vesting terms. Some investors even claim malice in the distribution of tokens, a quick visit to their telegram chat would suffice this claim.



Metamall has further evidenced a telegram chat screenshot, wherein Bloktopia threatens Metamall using investor names and arm-twisting Metamall with not the choicest of words. Bloktopia’s refusal to acknowledge its mistakes, miscalculation, and presumptions has led to many questioning Bloktopia’s integrity on the whole. Bloktopia has so far not substantiated its initial claims made in the controversial medium post, could this all be just another crypto publicity stunt to nip a newcomer in its bud and stop potential competition? It is often forgotten that the metaverse and the larger crypto space are big enough to allow for multiple entities to exist without too much conflict.

Can Metamall outperform Bloktopia?

The short answer is it depends. A better answer is YES.

A project’s capability is often predicted through certain parameters like team composition, vision, backers, token metrics, transparency, community, amongst others. Metamall has proven itself to be amongst the best metaverse projects when judged on the aforesaid parameters. Metamall’s founder Serge Gianchandani holds 12 patents on 3D and VR imagery. Sahan Ray, the other pillar of Metamall has a proven track record of helming and advising companies. They have already raised $4.6 million in their funding rounds. (https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/metamall-successfully-completes-seed--strategic-and-private-sale-rounds-raising-$4-6-million-from-crypto-heavyweights-10867513).

The aforementioned facts look good on paper, but what differentiates Metamall is how they responded to the accusations. They were professional, poised, clear, and reassuring.

Bloktopia’s accusation so far has been unsatisfactory in terms of shreds of evidence and substance. Metamall has in fact turned this whole drama in its favor, the project has clearly benefitted from the publicity provided by Bloktopia.



Maybe it is time to remind those that bawl such accuses, the meaning of true decentralization, and the fact that nobody can claim ownership of the Metaverse.

The WeeHODL Promise

WeeHODL is a venture firm that invests, incubates, and accelerates early-stage Blockchain and Crypto projects. At WeeHODL, our committed team and driven community believe that decentralization is the cornerstone of blockchain technology. Our team is highly selective and we support the early-stage projects in reaching their maximum potential.

Our principles and values align well with that of Metamall and our partnership with Metamall is built on the very same foundation. We have utmost faith in Metamall and its ambition. The team’s dedication, perseverance, and expertise resonate well with the standards that our WeeHODL’s community embraces. We shall back them in their mission to become a fully functional metaverse platform.