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Mystic Dave on the blockchain use case that may actually make sense

When I was kindly invited to be part of the panel at Scotchain 17 in Edinburgh, I have to say I did not anticipate such a big, interesting and stimulating event. So, once again, well done to all of those involved. 

My talk on the blockchain was recorded and you can watch it here. I was also invited to take part in a great panel session and I just want to pick up on one particularly interesting point that came up. During the panel, we were asked where blockchain might gain traction in a mass market. I said that I was sceptical about financial services being the first, for two reasons: most “blockchain” efforts I have seen involve shoehorning some form of shared ledger solution into the shape created by an existing (optimised) system and second because it is, thankfully, a heavily regulated sector and therefore marketplace participants will be naturally wary about betting the house on a radical new technology. Instead, I chose e-sports on the basis that it is a big business where the trading of virtual assets is core to the attraction. I wonder if that sounded a little outlandish to the audience. I hope not, because now I read that in-game assets won by elite e-sport “athletes” are about to become a very interesting kind of tradable memorabilia.

The logic for this is inescapable. These are wholly-digital assets, just the sort of thing that the blockchain is good at dealing with. And these assets are subject to the same double-spending discipline as Bitcoins are: that is, if you can double-spend them then they are worthless but it you can’t double-spend them they have huge value.

The system will utilize smart contracts and blockchain technology to provide a unique signature and history of any virtual item in-game item earned. For example, when elite esports athlete Michael “Flamesword” Chavez earns a flaming sword of mega-death in his latest league battle, that item will have the ability to become a valuable – and easily tradable – asset. In other words, you could be using the unique item your favorite player had equipped in their biggest matches.

From The esports memorabilia scene is big -- and blockchain may make it huge | VentureBeat

xxx

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