Cryptokitties is paving the way for Western blockchain projects to enter Eastern markets.
Cryptokitties is a blockchain-based distributed App (dApp) that allows players to adopt, raise, and trade virtual cats on the Ethereum network. As this viral platform attempts to expand beyond the US, it is finding out that China is the gatekeeper to the Asian market.
Perhaps you missed it, but the game is already fairly popular, with users having spent over $12,000,000 on digital felines. Talk about the cats meow. ZING!
Think: Beanie Babies meets Blockchain
Lets be clear: Cryptokitties are not currency. Instead, think of them as digital assets with values that are determined by the market. Each kitty is unique and non-fungible. Therefore they rely on their uniqueness and scarcity to create value.
The first Cryptokitty was born and adopted on December 2, 2017. Moving forward, a new cat was born every 15 minutes. This continued until November 2018, after which no new generation zero Cryptokitties were generated. Now, the population increases solely through breeding.
From the site:
There are two ways to breed a new Kitty: breed two of your own Kitties together, or breed with a public sire…. If you breed a Gen 3 and a Gen 4 Kitty together, you get a Gen 5 Kitty. If you breed two Gen 3s, on the other hand, you get a Gen 4.
There’s no theoretical limit to how many Cryptokitties can exist. Anyone willing to pay the transaction fees for breeding two cats, can create a new one.
Axiom Zen, the San Fran based company that launched the game in 2017, is now ambitiously pursuing expansion into Asia. Co-founder Benny Giang, believes Asia to be a huge untapped market, and sees China as their biggest hurdle. Yet growth in this arena will required a nuanced strategy and cultural sensitivity.
“As Cryptokitties launched… the company saw competition and copycats (pun intended) from China moving quickly into the market” Tech Crunch reported. “Just as Cryptokitties launched in China, Xiaomi launched Cryptobunny, while Baidu (the Google of China) launched Cryptopuppy.”
Ultimately I see this wildly popular game as a fun speculation platform with cute mascots. If the company behind the dApp is able to successfully penetrate the Asian market, this could pave the way for other game-like dApps developed in the US to follow a similar roadmap.
What do you think about the platform? Do you own any kitties?
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