What Are CryptoKitties?

CryptoKitties are an addictive blockchain-based game that brings gaming, digital scarcity, and cryptocurrency together. Released in November 2017, CryptoKitties lets players collect, breed, and trade virtual kitties thanks to programmer designs of these cryptographically unique pictures of cats.

This guide is meant to answer any questions about the inner workings of CryptoKitties and how to harness the full potential of this exciting new expression in blockchain technology.

In December 2017, the Canadian business Axiom Zen came up with the idea for CryptoKitties. CryptoKitties has been one of Axiom Zen’s most successful initiatives to date. However, the company is involved in a wide range of activities, including creating software and developing virtual reality.

The company’s creators aimed to develop a game based on Ethereum that would make it possible for anyone worldwide to own virtual cats produced by a smart contract. Every cat breed has one-of-a-kind characteristics, such as fur, eye, and even hair color!

There are also distinct genders of CryptoKitties, each of which is named after a male or female horse. Female CryptoKitties are called Dames, while male CryptoKitties are called Sires.

Imagine it to be similar to the DNA of a human being. Everyone on the earth possesses a one-of-a-kind internal DNA that is never the same as another person, and CryptoKitties are the same way! The term for the piece of software that makes this possible is the Genetic Algorithm, which I shall describe in greater depth in a little while.

Even though it is a game, the only things you can truly do with CryptoKitties are buying them, breed them, and selling them. Nothing else can be done with them.

Some cats are far more scarce than others, and those can fetch very high prices when they are put up for sale. In some instances, people have been known to spend more than one hundred thousand dollars on a single cat.

CryptoKitties have been a big hit among people who are just getting started in the world of cryptocurrencies because it is possible to do everything with them using Ethereum. As I write this, over $20 million worth of CryptoKitties have changed hands, and many people are making a profit off the sale of the offspring that they produce on an ongoing basis.

How does CryptoKitties work?

CryptoKitties has its blockchain-based ecosystem, which I will be getting into shortly. As I described earlier, there are different genders of CryptoKitties that a person can breed with one another, and each egg produced from such an act is a unique cat produced by the smart contract.

These cats have special characteristics, including fur, eye, and even hair color. Since this is the case, it makes sense to breed cats with certain genes together to get offspring with the genes you want.

This is called a genetic algorithm, implemented into CryptoKitties by the programmer behind it. The purpose of doing this is to produce unique offspring repeatedly – there are thousands of combinations that one can create when breeding CryptoKitties.

CryptoKitties are not scarce in any way, and they can be bred over and over again. Each cat is unique in its own right because of the way that the smart contract is written to account for the genetic algorithms it uses. The same cat can only be represented by a single picture at any one time.

Is CryptoKitties a cryptocurrency?

CryptoKitties is a blockchain-based game, but it is not itself a cryptocurrency. It is not possible to mine or mint CryptoKitties. They are based on Ethereum’s smart contracts and are currently traded on the Ethereum blockchain.

People frequently get into the trap of believing that holding CryptoKitties is equivalent to owning a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Litecoin. This is not the case. But that’s not the case!

It is impossible to swap CryptoKitties for any other digital tokens or currencies on third-party exchanges, and CryptoKitties have no value outside of the network. On the other hand, because people are willing to pay money for them, CryptoKitties are technically considered “blockchain assets.”

Tokens based on the ERC-721 standard are used to build CryptoKitties, which are built on top of the Ethereum network. The abbreviation for “Ethereum Request for Comments” is “ERC.”

There are numerous iterations of ERC, with the ERC-20 version being the most common. Tokens based on the ERC-20 standard, however, cannot be distinguished from one another, meaning they are fungible.

The United States dollar is an example of a fungible asset that exists in the actual world. If you give someone a $20 bill as a loan, it is highly unlikely that they will repay you with the same $20 bill they took from you when they paid you back.

It makes no difference which note they offer you because regardless of its denomination, it will have the same worth and can be spent similarly.

ERC-721 tokens are non-fungible. This ensures that every token possesses its identity and can be independently validated. Imagine that you had ownership over a piece of land. The piece of land you own is one of a kind, although there are countless other plots around the globe. There is no difference between this and CryptoKitties!

How are CryptoKitties created?

CryptoKitties create cats by coding, and these cats are then stored on the Ethereum blockchain. Each cat represents a unique entity, and transactions have to occur to confirm their genetic algorithms’ randomness. Verifying these transactions makes it possible for the smart contract to be modified at will.

CryptoKitties buy and sell cats with all currencies on the Ethereum blockchain. CryptoKitties are traded using Ethereum, which is a cryptocurrency itself. To use your CryptoKitty to buy a beverage in a bar, you must purchase Ether from Coinbase or another platform that accepts it as a payment method.

This can be done from anywhere because it doesn’t require you to have physical possession of your CryptoKitty for the transaction to occur. You only need access to the Internet, and you’ll be able to trade your cats in just a few minutes.

If you want to purchase CryptoKitties, you will need a cryptocurrency wallet. Many different kinds of cryptocurrency wallets are available, each with pros and cons.

The Future of CryptoKitties

The future of CryptoKitties is hard to predict because many moving parts are involved in this ecosystem. However, the popularity of CryptoKitties will be around for a while, and people will still be buying, selling, and breeding them in years to come.

CryptoKitties will continue to be built on different platforms because they already have a large fan base. The crypto enthusiast community is huge, and no matter what the future holds for them, I am certain that CryptoKitties will remain an important part of the world’s economy.

The creation of crypto-collectibles, a new type of digital commodity that can be exchanged online, is being pioneered by CryptoKitties, the first step in this process. CryptoKitties encountered initial difficulties with scaling; nonetheless, the transition to a new blockchain has benefited the growth of an entirely new business.

Dapper Labs, the company that developed CryptoKitties, has lofty goals for its Flow blockchain platform. The company has already secured an investment of $11 million and has backing from Warner Music Group and video game developer Ubisoft.

In addition, they have signed contracts with the NBA and Animoca Brands to introduce the properties to their very own crypto-collectibles that run on the Flow blockchain.

The game that started it all will continue to purr contentedly in the center of it all as Dapper Labs continues to develop Flow.

Conclusion:

We have come a long way since the inception of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies entered the market as encrypted digital currencies and are currently used as a secure, decentralized form of transferring value between peers.

A small network of people used Bitcoins as a secure form of sending money around the world. CryptoKitties gave cryptocurrencies another dimension with its unique product offering. CryptoKitties is an Ethereum-based game that allows players to breed and exchange digital kittens.

CryptoKitties, even though users have stated multiple times that the game is dead, has garnered a lot of attention and popularity worldwide. The market analysis, as shown, has been very successful in terms of developing a healthy market.

The main idea behind CryptoKitties is to facilitate a new form of asset-backed investment — something that no one had attempted before in the world of finance. Several factors can explain the reasons for the success of CryptoKitties.