There are so many different kinds of cryptocurrencies in the virtual world – Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Mondero, LiteCoin, Ripple… on last count there were more than 1600 different kinds of virtual coins. Each of these are created for different uses and there are only a few coins that can be used in the world of gaming. There is an increased shift of gamers using virtual currency instead of fiat currency. Blockchain technology can also cut the chances of cheating. This is a win-win situation both for the gamer and the developer. The developer can create a micro-ecosystem by creating a virtual coin which the player can earn and then spend to buy more gear from them. There are already a few coins out there that are being used in gaming.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the most commonly and widely used cryptocurrency in the virtual world of gaming or even otherwise. It cuts down the complications of making international transactions through your bank or credit card and is almost instantaneous. Many sites allow the use of Bitcoin for their gaming services. You can read more about their services here. Bitcoin also offers the luxury of anonymity for a lot of players making it more attractive.
Enjin Coin
Enjin is one of the world’s largest social gaming platform. It boasts of over 19 million gamers. They devised the Enjin Coin to reward their fans for playing on their platform and also allow them to trade and distribute virtual goods. In some cases, there’s also the possibility of renting out your character or your weapons to other players. The coin uses the ER-20 Ethereum platform. However, since this use of virtual coins is still in the initial stages, it’s still waiting to catch up with the huge database of players out there.
GTCoin
GTCoin is another cryptocurrency that is built on the Ethereum platform and is run by a company called Game Tester. Players are paid to test games and the payment is quick and seamless. Rewards also include first access to games and being reimbursed for engaging with the platform. The game developers get real time feedback for their games and can further polish the games before finally releasing to the general public. The disadvantages of the coin is pretty much the same as the rest. The value is dynamic and depends on general market trend. As of now, the crypto market is on the rise and even traditional social sites like Redditt are planning to release their own currency.
In short, cryptocurrency has great value in the world of gaming and provides a valuable alternative to traditional forms of payment. There are still some hurdles like legalities as many countries still do not allow the trade of cryptocurrencies. But the ease of use and the relative anonymity that these coins offer the users still outweighs the cons. In any case, blockchain technology is the technology of the future so there’s no reason for you to not start using these coins for your gaming experience.
Bitcoin definitely sees use as an option to buy things and there are video games out there which can be bought with it.
It is good to see having a lot of options for payment but I really wonder how many people using that method. Not so much in my opinion.
It’s great that there are alternative payments, but one of the biggest disadvantages right now for the adoption of cryptocurrency is that cryptocurrency uses a lot of energy, so it could become problematic as we see more companies adopt it. But I mainly see cryptocurrency as being a secondary payment type than a primary type, even years from now. I do think cryptocurrency is a bit over-hyped though.