Karate Combat Unveils Layer 2 on Hedera Network, Pioneering Web3 Integration in Sports and Esports

• Karate Combat’s Layer-2 blockchain platform aims to bring web3 to sports, esports, and entertainment, offering free software licensing for qualifying partners.
• Karate Combat plans to introduce its native $UP token in 2025, with up to 30% of the token supply allocated to $KARATE token stakers.

The world’s leading professional strike league Karate Combat recently announced the launch of the Layer-2 platform on the Hedera blockchain network. Dubbed UP, this Layer 2 blockchain and crypto-native software licensing platform will go live in Q1 2025.

This platform seeks to bring web3 into the mainstream through esports, sports, and entertainment. UP offers a versatile toolkit to drive engagement and adoption across multiple sectors.

The “UP Only Gaming” gaming software stack by Karate Combat already boasts more than 10,000 active players thereby allowing token holders to earn additional tokens by accurately predicting the fight outcomes. Furthermore, the stack includes mobile apps for iOS and Android, a web app, as well a blockchain backend.

Today, Karate Combat revealed that it would license this software stack for free to qualifying sports leagues, teams, esports, fantasy sports, poker tournaments, memecoin projects, and gambling platforms using the UP Layer 2 built on Hedera. Last month, reports also suggested Hedera entering into a partnership with Microsoft.

Partners can clone, customize, and launch their own stack with absolutely no licensing fee. Furthermore, they can issue tokens on any blockchain and later access the Up Only Gaming software by wrapping tokens to UP on Hedera during play. Speaking on the development, Onlylarping, Karate Combat Co-Founder said:

“Karate Combat is already massively incentivized to spread its Up Only Gaming technology to other sports, esports, fantasy sports, crypto projects and more. UP is the enabling technology to not only allow us to provide all the tech for free, but to give grants and our user base to early partners”.

Karate Combat Will Launch a Native Token UP on Hedera

The Layer 2 blockchain has revealed its plan to launch its native token $UP in 2025 next year, as part of its strategy to integrate blockchain technology into sports and entertainment. Furthermore, the UP token treasury will fund a grant program to support early builders in the Up Only Gaming software stack.

Once the $UP token goes live, up to 30% will be distributed to $KARATE token stakers over time, providing further incentives for community engagement. Apart from this token, Karate Combat will also launch H-Stack, an open-source library for deploying Layer 2 blockchains on the Hedera network. To boost DeFi capabilities and strengthen liquidity, 10% of the UP token supply will go towards incentivizing HBAR liquidity pools, decentralized borrowing and lending, and staking of HBAR and other Hedera tokens on the UP platform.

Karate Combat’s expansion is bolstered by a renewed three-year strategic partnership with The HBAR Foundation, Hedera’s key blockchain sponsor. The HBAR Foundation supports the development of decentralized applications in areas such as DeFi, NFTs, and gaming, and will continue to back Karate Combat’s blockchain initiatives, marking their successful collaboration since 2021.