From CryptoKitties to game portals and gaming rewards to in-game items, distributed ledger technologies are making their way through the gaming industry.
CryptoCup — a World Cup prediction game built on blockchain technology — has officially launched its betting platform, just in time for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow this summer. And it has a neat trick up its sleeve.
CryptoCup allows users to build their own tokens. Why is that important?
Once a player has made their predictions for each of the 64 matches in the tournament, a token is created. Each token holds the player’s predictions and competes for the prize pool. These tokens can also be sold in a secondary market. While the tokens are not a cryptocurrency, they operate on the Ethereum blockchain, and the value can increase or decrease according to market conditions.
“The resulting token is tradable, which means that you can buy and sell tokens during the World Cup, speculating with the current number of points and the future predictions available,” CryptoCup CEO and cofounder Federico Goldberg told me. ” For example, if my token — after 20 matches — is at the top position, and the price for the top position is 30 ETH, I might be interested in selling the token for 10 ETH to another person to cash out early and not risk more. The person who buys the token pays 10 ETH, as they see a great chance to finish in the first position and win 30 ETH.”
A quarter of the pot created from the purchase of these tokens is used to cover platform costs. The remainder is split between the top 10 percent of the pool, with a small payout as consolation prize for the player who comes in last. For every transaction between users, there’s a 5 percent commission fee, which also goes into the prize pool.
At the time of writing, the pool stands at more than 17 ETH, or approximately $9,000.
Doing this on the blockchain makes the game transparent and unalterable. CryptoCup has a gambling license in Costa Rica, which means the game is open to users from any country where sports gambling is legal.
The game also features an express mode that allows players to predict the World Cup tournament’s top four teams.
So will the team behind CryptoCup — which includes advisors such as Greg Colvin, organizer of the fellowship of Ethereum Magicians and core developer of Ethereum Virtual Machine; David Garcia, who led Ripio Credit Network’s ICO; and Santiago Siri, founder of Democracy Earth — expand the idea beyond this summer’s soccer tournament?
“Yes,” Goldberg said. “We will add the Champions League, tennis Grand Slams, golf, NFL, NCAA, cricket, the Premier League, and more.”
CryptoCup’s World Cup betting platform went live on May 21, 2018 and will be open until June 13, 2018, the day before the tournament starts. The 2018 FIFA World Cup runs from June 14, 2018 to July 15, 2018.
