On November 28, game developer Axiom Zen released a game called CryptoKitties — in which players buy, sell, and mate cartoon cats with the cryptocurrency ether. By Monday, it was so popular it accounted for 14% of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. By Tuesday, players had spent $5 million on the cats — cats sold numbered 32,000.
It might seem like a silly fad: fake cats sold with fake money. But CryptoKitties shows how blockchain can be used for more than trading cryptocurrency. It can make unique digital collectables—sort of like a limited edition action figure or porcelain figurine, but made of code. CryptoKitties exist independently of Axiom Zen, which means that even if the company dies, the cats live on, forever.
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