Blockchain based trading cards are all the rage, with one estimate placing the transaction value of ethereum games at $10 million a day. While the vast majority of these games are derivative and ephemeral, that’s not to say they can’t provide short-term entertainment. The latest addition to the Crypto Kitties stable is Crypto All Stars, which promises to bring all your “favorite Twitter shitposters” to the blockchain.
Also read: People Are Paying Thousands of Dollars for Crypto Celebrities on the Blockchain
Pyramid Scheme Meets Proof of Ego
This week’s must-have blockchain game is next week’s relic, so the odds of Crypto All Stars standing the test of time seem remote. In the here and now though it’s a shameless but amusing take on the meme birthed by Crypto Kitties back in December. The project of Twitter trader Crypto Randy Marsh (who naturally includes himself as one of the cards), the game features many of the cryptoverse’s loudest luminaries including Crypto Cobain, Bitfinexed, and Ari Paul. Thanks to their desire not to be usurped by their peers, many of the “celebs” have already bought their own cards several times over.
There are many ways to make money in the cryptosphere, and appealing to traders’ natural vanity is a clever ploy. For the proles who don’t possess these “legendary” shitposters’ follower count or portfolio, there’s the satisfaction of at least getting to own one of the Crypto All Stars’ unique contracts…until the next sucker buys it off you at least. The prospect of witnessing crypto OGs slapping down $10,000 of ETH at a time to prove they’re the whales they purport to be is strangely satisfying.
For “players” who feel that 5 ETH for The Crypto Dog(avatar: a dog wearing sunglasses) is a tad pricey, there are cheaper bargains to be had in Ether Tulips, Crypto Kitties, Crypto Titties, Tron Dogs, and many more blockchain trading games. Open Sea marketplace has thousands of the virtual cards for sale. Ether Tulips is about to launch player battles, while strategic card based MMO Neon District is launching soon. Given the amount of ether wasted weekly in ICO exit scams and pyramid schemes, games like Crypto All Stars are arguably one of the better uses for the ethereum network.
Kai’s been playing with words for a living since 2009 and bought his first bitcoin at $19. It’s long gone. He’s previously written white papers for blockchain startups and is especially interested in P2P exchanges and DNMs.
