Over the past decade, cryptocurrency evangelists have told us that Bitcoin represents a new financial dawn.
It is an equally radical but even more fundamental change than the shift from coins and bills to tokens and scans. Yet even though even the most conservative now have cards in their wallets, we are not seeing a mass migration to cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and the like remain on the sidelines, intriguing financial instruments that have certainly made some people fabulously rich through shrewd trading. Yet we are no closer to using Bitcoin to fill the car with gasoline or to buy weekly groceries.
Part of the reason is that there hasn't been a convincing enough driver for us to choose such a fundamental change as a shift from dollars and cents to what are actually ones and zeros. However, esports and games that have hit the mainstream in the wake of broader events over the past 12 months could finally spur a wider adoption of Bitcoin.
A WAVE OF INTEREST IN EXPORTS
The esports market as a whole actually saw a slight dip in 2020, as many major in-person events have been postponed or canceled. However, the result was nowhere near as catastrophic as that experienced by traditional sports. Remote tournaments could still take place and the whole esports concept benefited from a surge of interest for the simple reason that it was pretty much the only show in town.
It has triggered an entirely new population of esports enthusiasts, and the market is expected to grow by around 50 percent between now and 2024, when it will be worth around $ 1.6 billion. That's not to say that families will suddenly be more interested in CS: GO than the NFL or baseball. eSport is aimed primarily at a very specific demographic, namely males between 20 and 30 from developed countries. It appears to be exactly the same demographic group that is more open to crypto and blockchain technology.
CRYPTO AND EXPORT
Cryptocurrency and gaming are no strangers to each other. We have seen blockchain ecosystems like Tron that allow you to make money while you play. And of course, Bitcoin is already a common way to deposit in online casinos as it offers important properties such as security, transaction speed, and perhaps most crucially of all, user anonymity. Now, crypto entrepreneurs are focusing on the world of esports like never before.
Tron continues to be a pioneer in this regard. Late last year, its founder Justin Sun announced that it would be the eSport Dlive streaming service acquired by BitTorrent, which is owned by the Tron foundation. Meanwhile, esports legend Susie Kim, the woman credited with bringing mass popularity to Twitch in South Korea, has launched her own cryptocurrency, SUSIE.
These are just a couple of examples of how links are being forged and strengthened between eSports and cryptocurrencies. Other altcoin established in the eSports space include FirstBlood, which launched its gaming platform in 2016, and MobileGo, an Ethereum-based token that runs tournaments and face-to-face matches on the blockchain principle of smart contracts.
NFT FOR DIGITAL RESOURCES
We said earlier that to really boost adoption, cryptography must bring some new or additional benefit to the table. While MobileGo, Tron, and others definitely make sense, they don't quite live up to that standard. However, the renewed interest in NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, may be exactly the driver we've been waiting for.
Without going too far down the rabbit hole, NFTs are unique and unique digital assets that differ from conventional fungible tokens like Bitcoin or Ethereum due to their scarcity. NFTs have been hitting the headlines in recent weeks, thanks in part to the interest of influential names like Elon Musk and Michael Saylor.
Their applications in digital areas such as the arts are evident, but they could also represent a new frontier in the gaming community. Take a look at Wallem, for example. This 3D AR game makes clever use of NFTs for skins and other game assets, while also rewarding players in Ethereum. The player, who became a YouTube celebrity, became a comedian and a novelist, PewDiePie has always been a strong advocate of cryptography and games. He recently released his NFT he skins which can be purchased and traded in the Wallem universe.
This is just one of the many NFT-related initiatives that have appeared in recent months. For example, Animoca has announced a partnership with Formula E to create a brand new NFT-based racing game, while Enjin is working with Skymarch Entertainment to bring three NFT-based games to market in the coming months.
Esports, gaming, and cryptography are three aspects of the technology known for their rapid development rates. As we progress into the 2020s, however, it appears that their progression tends to intersect with increasing regularity. There are exciting times ahead
