Since its 2015 debut, digital evangelists have preached how the Ethereum network will be perfect for applications such as managing supply chains and securities sales. What it is actually used for is buying kittens.
CryptoKitties, an online game that debuted on Nov. 28, is now the most popular smart contract — essentially, an application that runs itself — on Ethereum, accounting for 11 percent of all transactions on the network, according to ETH Gas Station.
That is up from 4 percent on Friday for the network, which uses the distributed-ledger technology known as blockchain.
The game is clogging the Ethereum network, leading to slower transaction times for all users of the blockchain, which is a digital ledger for recording transactions.
“The pending transactions on the Ethereum blockchain have spiked in the last 24 hours, mostly from CryptoKitties traffic,” CoinDesk director of research Nolan Bauerle said in an e-mail.
In the game, players buy cartoon kittens and then breed them with other cats. More than 22,000 cats have been sold so far for a total of US$3 million, according to Crypto Kitty Sales.
One of the cats went for US$117,712, although average sales price hovers about US$109, according to the sales tracker.
Each cat has a unique identity that is logged on the Ethereum blockchain.
Axiom Zen, a company with offices in San Francisco and Vancouver that helps incubate digital start-ups and new products, created CryptoKitties.
“We wanted to make blockchain technology accessible to the everyday user, as we believe this is a key step in otherwise seeing the technology adopted,” Axiom Zen communications manager Bryce Bladon said in an e-mailed response to questions. “We wanted to explore blockchain applications outside of ICOs [initial coin offerings] and cryptocurrencies.”
He also said the company wanted to “leverage the power of fun and games” — hence, the kitties.
CryptoKitties is one of the first blockbuster applications to emerge for Ethereum. The blockchain is already used for transactions in digital currency called ether, the second-largest after bitcoin.
It is also widely used for issuing tokens in so-called ICOs, with which start-ups raise funds.
The game is the first successful non-coin-related application to emerge on the blockchain.
CryptoKitties’ success could be a sign that Ethereum might thrive as a gaming platform.
Indeed, many users of blockchains are the same kind of people who already play PC and console video games, and it could take a bite out of the US$108.9 billion global games market.
If the game’s popularity continues to skyrocket, it could also potentially increase average transaction prices. Since Ethereum’s fee structure is affected by demand, costs could go up for everyone.
The demise of the coal industry left the US’ Appalachian region in tatters, with lost jobs, spoiled water and countless kilometers of abandoned underground mines. Now entrepreneurs are eyeing the rural region with ambitious visions to rebuild its economy by converting old mines into solar power systems and data centers that could help fuel the increasing power demands of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. One such project is underway by a non-profit team calling itself Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning and Technology Accelerator) Lab, which is looking to develop energy sources on about 26,305 hectares of old coal land in
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
Netflix on Friday faced fierce criticism over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery. The streaming giant is already viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices. As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros — the studio behind Casablanca, the Harry Potter movies and Friends — Hollywood’s elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition. Titanic director James Cameron called the buyout a “disaster,” while a group of prominent producers are lobbying US Congress to oppose the deal,
Two Chinese chipmakers are attracting strong retail investor demand, buoyed by industry peer Moore Threads Technology Co’s (摩爾線程) stellar debut. The retail portion of MetaX Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co’s (上海沐曦) upcoming initial public offering (IPO) was 2,986 times oversubscribed on Friday, according to a filing. Meanwhile, Beijing Onmicro Electronics Co (北京昂瑞微), which makes radio frequency chips, was 2,899 times oversubscribed on Friday, its filing showed. The bids coincided with Moore Threads’ trading debut, which surged 425 percent on Friday after raising 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) on bets that the company could emerge as a viable local competitor to Nvidia
RSS