Gamified blockchain is built on the Ethereum network

This venture studio created the collectible, breedable cats powered by blockchain that are proving so popular that network traffic has slowed.

Canadian innovation studio Axiom Zen officially launched CryptoKitties on November 28, 2017 as a means of making blockchain technology easier to understand and more accessible for the general public. Powered by Ethereum’s cryptocurrency ether, the game allows users to collect and trade virtual kittens with digital scarcity enforced into their purchase. There are no specific regulations in place that oversee how the game is played but instead all purchases are tracked on the blockchain to thus guarantee all “cryptocollectibles” will not disappear.

Each CryptoKitty is made of a unique genome that, when bred with another, has the potential to produce limitless new characteristics. To keep interest high, the studio is releasing a unique, “Gen 0” CryptoKitty every 15 minutes until November 1, 2018. At it’s initial release, each Gen 0 is priced at the average of the cost of the five previous CryptoKitties with an additional 50 percent value increase. Owners are then free to buy and sell as desired via the marketplace. Earlier reports show the game to be the most popular smart contract on the Ethereum network with it accounting for more than 10 percent of traffic.

The applications of blockchain are becoming increasingly creative, with platforms and purposes ranging from microfinancing journalists and media companies of choice, to a peer-to-peer personal carbon-offset trading company. How could a globally known brand help take cryptocurrency mainstream?