Bitcoin And Esports Are A Natural Match
Maksym YushytsynSince the beginning of the industry, esports and bitcoin have been touted as a perfect match. Portable game item ownership, easy payments, anti-cheating measures, and provable fair games with transparent records are some of the benefits that bitcoin promises the esports market. But why haven't we seen any stadium-sized bitcoin esports tournaments?
Bitcoin and esports have proven to be a natural match, making bitcoin gambling a thing is curtailed by human and technical innovations. There's an issue of convincing players and big gaming companies that Bitcoin delivers the benefits they seek. Even for those who see the blockchain's future and want to build their own bitcoin esports platform from scratch, attracting game designers and builders becomes a challenge. Nonetheless, the future of esports aligns well with the bitcoin market for several reasons.
Provably fair gaming
While the concept of provably fair gaming recorded permanently and transparently on the blockchain has existed for years, it's yet to be understood fully in the esports industry. Provably fair games establish a new paradigm by maintaining fairness mathematically and hashing algorithms. That means the players can independently vet the randomness and authenticity of gaming platforms' mechanisms to generate results.
Before the rise of bitcoin and other blockchain-based solutions, users had no choice but to trust that the game masters were generating results without altering them. However, with bitcoin gaming, all the information about how outcomes are arrived at and the results are stored on a public ledger verifiable by users.
Instead of relying on the game developer's bold claim that their games are third-party verified, users can prove the fairness themselves using hashes and seeds, alongside other independent tools. Today, bitcoin is also at a stage where its focus has moved beyond electronic cash, making it the perfect network for hosting provably fair games.
Other BTC-based cryptos like Bitcoin SV are also expanding to enable unlimited scalability while keeping the blockchain stable, efficient, and secure. Even better, it offers a robust authentication protocol for resolving disputes. This increase in transparency boosts the players' confidence while significantly saving costs.
Easy payments
With bitcoin being the most reliable cryptocurrency on the market, it provides the backbone to trustworthy transactions for trades and payments in the marketplace. Even better, it offers security by eliminating the risk of cheating during tournaments. Bitcoin has also been widely adopted by bookies offering esports betting.
Bitcoin-based esports betting sites are starting to significantly change the industry, with bookies accepting other digital currencies like Ethereum. Even better, casinos are now using contracts for anonymity and automatic payments, as many others continue venturing into esports betting. That allows fans to wager on live streams of DOTA 2, League of Legends, CS: GO, and other popular games.
Creating assets like collectibles and identities
With the blockchain ledger being decentralized and immutable, creating gaming assets like identities and collectibles is made easier. That includes developing loyalty and incentive models that can reward participating players and viewers.
Today, game developers can use decentralized apps (DApps) to set up single gaming profiles with rankings and statistics that are useful across different platforms. The development of tradeable gaming items is also becoming an integral part of the esports market. Players can also use non-fungible tokens to buy and sell stuff on the game or other platforms. That includes trading skins, cards, weapons, and even characters.
Greater autonomy for players
Match-fixing is a major challenge that the esports market has faced over the last few years, as some managers pressure the players to throw games on purpose. That's because players have a high dependency on managers and organizers, as it costs a lot of money to organize tournaments. Fortunately, blockchain technology gives greater control to the players by:
- Reducing the cost of setting up and operating an esports platform.
- Cutting down the cost of organizing and marketing tournaments.
- Ensuring tournament organizers remain above board as blockchain transactions are transparent.
- Making agreements open for everyone to view since smart contracts are available as open-source codes.
Streamlining esports donations
Bitcoin can streamline the process of accepting esports donations in different ways. Using blockchain technology, esports viewers can donate cash to ensure their favorite games flourish through platforms like YouTube and Twitch. Bitcoin improves the transparency of esports donations and avoids putting the players at a disadvantage if the viewer requests a chargeback without justified reasons.
Easier Crowdfunding
Talented esports developers require enough funding to take their promising projects to the next stage. However, new entrants find it difficult to dive into the esports space. That highly affects their funding prospects. Fortunately, bitcoin has a great potential of transforming the crowdfunding process by making it more transparent and faster than ever before. That works well for both new entrants and seasoned esports developers in the market.