MiHoyo’s official activities are the primary channel for obtaining security discounts. During the 2024 “Lantern Festival” of Genshin Impact, players were able to trigger a double refund of Genesis Crystals by merely topping up 648 yuan in-game. They actually got 12,960 (originally worth 6,480), with a 100% refund rate. The global revenue reached 180 million US dollars on the first day of the event (Data source:) Mihoyo’s Q1 2024 financial report. Southeast Asian official platform Codashop has launched a “Recharge cashback” campaign. Malaysian consumers can get a 15% cash rebate for refilling 500 ringgit (approximately 106 US dollars) (the actual unit price has dropped from 0.015 US dollars per crystalline to 0.013 US dollars), but due to the 9% ringgit depreciation against the US dollar this year, the actual savings have been cut to 6.2%. Turkish accounts, taking advantage of lira depreciation (44% depreciation in 2023), deposited $100 in equivalent crystallization using local payment, costing in truth $56 ($0.009 unit price), but up to 87% of the cross-regional operation account suspension rate (MiHoyo Risk Control log).
Regional gateways offer implicit discounts. Brazilian shoppers employing the Pix instant payment mechanism reduced the fee from 6% on credit cards to 0.8%, and delivery time was compressed to 8 seconds, driving a 37% increase in transaction volumes during Q4 2023 (as per the Central Bank of Brazil). Japanese customers receive a 5% cash return on points when reloading with WebMoney through the DMM website but, after deducting a 10% consumption tax, the effective rate of return is -3.2%. The dangers in the black and gray production channels are significant – in 2023, the “PrimoDeals” platform in the Philippines reported that “1 US dollar could be exchanged for 160 raw stones” (official exchange rate 1:130), but the actual arrival rate was only 22%, and the fund recovery rate was below 4% (as researched by the Philippine Consumer Council).
The payment instruments selected determine the actual cost. The “Game Privileges” channel of Alipay has a fixed exchange rate. The cost of recharging 1,000 Hong Kong dollars (approximately 128 US dollars) in foreign exchange loss has decreased from 2.3% to 0.5%, and the fund arrival hit rate is 99.5%. But if there is a 3.5% handling fee and 2.1% exchange loss, PayPal actually incurred a cost increase of 5.6%. In 2023, the “CrystalFarm” gang in Indonesia hijacked payment pages with the promise of “30% off recharge,” and this infected 12,000 devices with malware, resulting in a one-day loss of more than 850,000 yuan (according to the Indonesian cyber police).
Be cautious of fake offers in social media activities. In 2024, local Bilibili broadcasters lured users to click on the fake genshin impact top up link with the promise of “Invite three people to build a team and get a 40% discount.” It was a phishing software, and the amount involved was more than 2 million yuan (data provided by Jiangsu Cyber Police). The official community work of MiHoYo (such as the overall recharge of “Teyvat Bank”) must be achieved through official means. If the overall recharge reaches 2,000 yuan, 5% more crystals are unlocked, with a triggering success rate of 99.8%.
The technical solution attempts to achieve a balance between risk and efficiency. Mihoyo’s blockchain present system (Polygon Chain) which pilot tested during 2023 lowered the cost of transaction by lowering it to 1.2% compared to 6%, and shortened the arrival duration to 22 seconds from 72 hours. Nevertheless, for restrictions in compliance, only 12% of consumers still availed themselves of its use. TrueMoney in Thailand experimented with lightning network recharge, with a 1.3 seconds arrival time (error ±0.05 seconds), but with a 14% user acceptance rate (a Bangkok University study).
Compliance suggestion: Utilize official double promotions (100% return rate), regional authorized platforms (e.g., Codashop with 6-15% cashback), and operator tie-ups (e.g., Thailand AIS Telecom’s “Recharge 999 Thai Baht and get 500 crystals”). Avoid non-compliant channels that demand discounts exceeding 30% – their account ban rate is over 85%, and they cannot be part of the restricted character card pool (for example, the redemption of “Funina” requires a total compliant recharge of 648 yuan to trigger). Mihoyo data show that compliant users’ LTV (Lifetime Value) is 2.3 times that of non-compliant users, since they can continuously receive version dividends.