Ethereum Games: A New Approach To Well-Worn Money Spinners

In the trading stakes, Ethereum has been Bitcoin’s stalking horse for the past year or two, and cryptocurrency commentators have spent many hours debating if, when and why it might ultimately overtake Bitcoin as the most important currency in the crypto space. The technology is universally accepted as being superior and vastly more scalable, which bodes well for the long term. But until now, Bitcoin has had the advantage of familiarity.

Ethereum-chart-760x400

That is gradually changing, however, as Ethereum starts to make its presence more strongly felt in the online gaming space. Let’s take a look at how it is doing so.

 

Crypto casinos are on the rise

Online casinos have grown up almost alongside cryptocurrencies, so it is unsurprising that they have been among the early adopters. Given the nuances and specific regulatory aspects of the space they occupy, the additional security, transaction speed and anonymity of using a cryptocurrency wallet brings extra benefits. Bitcoin has been the most widely used so far, but 2018 is seeing a change. Players can now enjoy all the most popular games at Ethereum Casino, using their Ether to play a choice of slots, along with casino classics like roulette, blackjack and baccarat.

 

Cryptokitties – where it all began

We can’t discuss Ethereum games without mentioning Cryptokitties. Like the casino games, this is, conceptually, an old fashioned game. As kids, many of us collected cards, whether they depicted sports players, Pokemon or Star Wars characters. Cryptokitties follows exactly the same model, except these are digitally produced. Owners can even combine or “breed” their kitties to make and sell entirely new ones. That’s one thing that was never possible with a Graham Souness Panini card!

 

Press the button

Fomos 3D is a game that launched a couple of months ago and is reminiscent of Reddit’s button experiment from 2015. Here’s the idea: A clock is constantly running down, but players can spend a small amount of money to press a button and extend time. The more people that join the game, the more Ether accumulates. If and when the timer finally expires, the game will be over and it will pay out. There are other ways to win money along the way, and the exact payout is complicated by which team you have joined. The game has been compared by some to an old fashioned Ponzi Scheme, in that it relies on new people joining and investing in order to keep momentum. Will it be a winner, or will it collapse under its own weight? Time will tell, but there is currently almost 22,000 Ether ($10 million) tied up in the game.

 

Ethercraft

No prizes for guessing where this game’s inspiration came from! It’s good old-fashioned battles and quests, but there are additional ways to get involved that have little to do with gameplay as such. Many players are making what could almost be described as an online business out of creating and trading virtual objects, accessories, weapons and so on for other players to buy and use. The game currency is gold, but it is tied to the daily rate for Ether.

 

The surreal world of cryptocelebrities

With cryptocelebrities, we look like we are back in the familiar territory of trading cards. Looks, however, can be deceptive. The thing with cryptocelebrities is that each one is unique, If you are lucky enough to acquire Donald Trump, Kanye West or Katy Perry, you have something nobody else owns. You can buy any cryptocelebrity you wish, which means once bought, you might not have it for long, as someone else can buy it from under you. However, since prices automatically increase, you will be guaranteed a profit.

 

To date, the most-traded cryptocelebrity has been Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin. He has been traded more than 30 times and is now valued at a little over 20 ETH (£10,000).

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