I spent last week in Hong Kong at the Token 2049 conference, where I moderated a panel on cryptocurrency investing and caught up with dozens of entrepreneurs and investors in the industry. While the mood was a tad more somber than last year’s inaugural event (where it literally rained crypto), there was one subject people couldn’t stop buzzing about: gaming.
For all the excitement about using blockchains instead of banks or cryptocurrencies for making money, many attendees seemed to be more focused on games as perhaps the biggest opportunity for the technology at the moment.
Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum who spoke at the conference, acknowledged that while he assumed the blockchain would revolutionize finance first, it might catch fire faster in gaming. “A lot of people here in the Ethereum community are here because they want to have large-scale social impact, and gaming is—it’s clearly not the only impact a lot of people want to have, but it’s a place where you have a lot of early adopters, and where blockchain can be proven out very quickly,” Buterin said on stage.
Da Hongfei, founder of NEO, a Chinese blockchain project and Ethereum rival, told me he sees gaming as NEO’s main differentiator from other blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. “We are actively optimizing our product to serve the gaming industry,” he explained. NEO had just announced the first game to use its technology—a Japanese car-racing game called Crypto Fast—and he envisioned possibilities where in-game add-ons like outfits, weapons, ad car upgrades would be digital assets on a blockchain, able to be traded and moved just like cryptocurrencies.
Of course, not everyone who was drawn to the ideals of Bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto would be satisfied seeing a crypto-tokenized Mario Kart become the ultimate iteration of that vision. One conference attendee pushed Buterin on his idea of “social impact”—while games might provide mass entertainment, wasn’t there some greater way to really impact society or change the world? Without hesitation, Buterin responded that he was interested in applying the same principles of digital gaming assets to charitable donations, whereby philanthropy could apparently be incentivized by crypto collectibles—”basically selling badges,” Buterin said. Such badges could also be recognized and carry value to other applications, such as messaging apps, he continued.
The concept, Buterin admitted, has yet to be successfully demonstrated. In the meantime, developers throughout the industry are working to apply gaming principles in myriad different ways. Charles Hoskinson, for one, a co-founder of Ethereum who is now CEO of Cardano, told me he’s working with a team at Oxford University to develop a new blockchain governance system that will rely on game theory—in hopes of avoiding the bitter disagreements that have led to splits in the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains.
CORRECTION: Last week’s Ledger newsletter mistakenly attributed tweets from an Andrew Yang parody account to the real Andrew Yang. We regret the error.
GOT TIPS?
Send feedback and tips to ledger@fortune.com, find us on Twitter @FortuneLedger or email/DM me directly at the contact info below. Please tell your friends to subscribe.
| Jen Wieczner | |
| @jenwieczner | |
| jen.wieczner@fortune.com |
THE LEDGER'S LATEST
Fintech Startup Tally Debuts What It Claims Is the World's 'Only Free Automated Savings Service'by Robert Hackett
A Big Bet on Blockchain and Gaming: Ripple and Forte Announce $100 Million Fundby Jeff John Roberts
FIS to Buy Worldpay in Record $34 Billion Payment Processing Dealby Grace Dobush
DECENTRALIZED NEWS
To the Moon… Six banks to launch stablecoins on IBM network. SEC chairman confirms Ethereum is not a security. Coinbase adds Stellar Lumens—and Stellar appoints a new CEO. Fintech startup Stash raises $65 million. Former Mt. Gox CEO found not guilty of embezzlement.
…Rekt. Tether says it may not be fully backed by dollars. CBOE pulls the plug on Bitcoin futures. CEO who led Stox and Sirin Labs ICOs accused of misappropriating funds. SEC official says stablecoins could be securities. U.S. sanctions financier of Venezuela's Petro cryptocurrency.
BALANCING THE LEDGER
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire joined Fortune's Robert Hackett on the latest episode of Balancing The Ledger. Allaire discussed the strategy behind his SeedInvest acquisition, the impact of the bear market on Circle's valuation, stablecoins and the future of Internet money.
MEMES AND MUMBLES
Satoshi for President? Crypto Twitter had until recently been fairly tepid on Beto O'Rourke, the former Texas congressman and Democrat who last week officially announced he is running for president. That changed with the revelation on Friday that O'Rourke was a member of the notorious hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow. Now, many are hailing the candidate as a potential hero of the crypto movement, wondering what other secrets he is hiding from his past:
FOMO NO MO'
Going off the grid with your Bitcoins: After Jameson Lopp, a well-known Bitcoin software engineer, was "swatted" in 2017 by a prankster who demanded Bitcoin, Lopp took extreme measures to prevent future attacks at his home. The New York Times details the $30,000 worth of precautions Lopp took to essentially disappear—while still maintaining an Internet connection and a bank account. In addition to giving a fake name to his new neighbors and trimming his signature beard to blend in, here are a few other steps Lopp took to get off the grid:
To make new purchases that weren’t tied to him, Mr. Lopp opened a bank account with one of his new L.L.C.s and created a corporate credit card with an online company that did not require him to list his name on the card. To ensure he doesn’t tie too much information to the corporation, he makes most purchases, especially when buying something online, with prepaid debit cards that don’t list his name or his L.L.C....
Mr. Lopp’s motorcycle and Lotus Elise sports car were registered to him through the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. They had to go. When he purchased a new car, he picked a much less flashy model, and he used the L.L.C. to sign the papers. (He also had to get rid of vanity license plates that said BITCOIN.)
To register his car, the D.M.V. insisted on a real name — not an L.L.C. — and a street address. To satisfy the D.M.V. without giving away the address of his new home, he purchased a tiny second property just for this purpose. “It’s the crappiest, cheapest hole in the wall I could find that has a physical mailbox,” he said.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of The Ledger. Find past editions here, and sign up for other Fortune newsletters here. Question, suggestion, or feedback? Drop us a line.
