We have  many different opinions on BitCoin. The most common headline reads something like this. Is Bitcoin in a bubble. Bitcoin due to collapse or Bitcoin iwon’t be able to be redeemed. Now I will show you why this is not likely. No charts, no graphs just what is going on in the industry who is getting involved, why they are getting involved and the massive amount of money being spent by just about every sector of the industry. Let me start with a new comer IOTA who does smart contracts who just signed a partnership agreement with Microsoft. In my opinion we have a winner as this is going to be a large sector of the industry. $5.00 a coin. Many think it a scam or a way for the Bankers to take over. In my mind this is the least likely as Bitcoin can’t be manipulated like stocks and bonds. Lets take a look at who is accepting Bitcoin. So much money is being spent on Blockchain technology which is proof it is here to stay. The only question is how long will it be untill the critics atch on.

Up $3.75 this week.

2017 List of Big Companies that Accept Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies

Companies from different Industries, Political campaigns, and many more Services are accepting Bitcoin as a legitimate source of payment moreover, people around the world have also begun accepting Bitcoin as a medium of exchange, since there are many implications to Blockchain Technology

First let me give you an example as to why Companies are wise to accept Bitcoin. I witdrew $200.00 from my wallet and sent it to my exchange to sell. I sold $150.00 worth of Bitcoin that was deposited into my checking account in 5 days. That left me a balance of $50.00. Ten days later that $50.00 had increased to $82.00 since the price continued to climb. Picture the Co. that sells an item for $200.00, thay have made an additional  $246.00 in less than 10 days. I had my own business and I would welcome that type premium on top of my sale price.

It turns out Businesses and Governments from around the World are slowly accepting Virtual Currencies, as they partner up with upcoming Third-party Bitcoin services that act as middleman to facilicate the exchange of Cryptocurrency directly to Fiat Currency

Some companies like Dell and the other big names started accepting Bitcoin due to an aggressive marketing campaign by Coinbase which included having their first $1 million worth of transactions processed for free. This was especially the case in 2014, when Bitcoin prices crashed the following years due to the Mt.Gox hack which prompt many established Companies to stop accepting Bitcoin while some resuming Bitcoin payments the following to years come

My guess is that all these companies have stopped accepting Bitcoin due to lack of consumer use and/or eventually no longer having free transaction processing from Coinbase. Some Merchants may have stopped using Bitcoin due to fees or its long confirmations, but main reason is because not enough people were using Cryptocurrencies for Merchant purchases to matter

Keep in mind, that many of these Services may not directly invest in Bitcoin due to it’s volatile nature which categorizes it as a high-risk investment, as it’s still relatively new technology yet to gain more accepted by not just the general public but also Financial Markets

It would be a huge mistake not to accept these upcoming Digital Currencies as a form of payment especially as it’s widely gaining accepted around the World, with many praising it as ”disruptive tech”.

Usually, these Companies will use Third-party services like Bitpay & Cryptopay to have direct access to the Bitcoin Markets, allowing Merchants a solution to avoid speculating Bitcoin as an investment but instead use it rather as form of payment method

Cryptocurrencies right now are deemed High risk investment, a Business will be reluctant to speculate Bitcoin Market, this is especially true for big Corporations who have too much at stake or small companies that can’t risk their profit by holding Bitcoin

To stay more relevant, Businesses should thrive to offer greater Cutomer service, recognizing Cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange by simply having to partner up with Independent Services that act as an payment processor, but at same time provide a easy solution for both Clients and Merchants to start accepting Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies payments

The following are the list are the companies that accept Bitcoin:

Steam

Valve has partnered with Bitcoin payment service Bitpay to bring everyone’s favorite Cryptocurrency to games platform Steam. It’s the Worlds most popular Online gaming platform with more than 125 Million users, who can now easily buy a game paid for with Bitcoin

Overstock

A company that sells big ticket items at lower prices due to overstocking. You can now buy thousands of Overstock.com products with Bitcoins! They’ve partnered with Coinbase to become the first major retailer to accept the digital currency. So shop away!

Microsoft

Users can buy content with Bitcoin on Xbox and Windows store

Virgin Galactic

250,000 US Dollars or 98 Bitcoins (at 2572$/BTC). This is what a Space travel costs with Virgin Galactic, Virgin Group’s company that is specialized in space tourism. Virgin’s founder, billionaire businessman Richard Branson, in an interview for CNBC, stating he invested in Bitcoin in the past and has show support for this Digital Currency by accepting it as form of payment, with BTC you buy a ticket to Space!

Save the Children

Global charity organization, make a donation via bitcoin. One of the World’s leading children’s charity working in 120 countries that provide Education, Healthcare & Disaster relief for children & protect their rights

eGifter

eGifter now accepts bitcoins as a way to purchase gift cards, use it to shop on popular platforms like Amazon

OkCupid

One of the world’s most popular dating sites, will now introduce Bitcoin to millions of people who have yet to hear of it. Bitcoiners can now pay for a list of functions at the OKCupid website, such as PM’ing individuals with priority messages.

Namecheap

Claims that it is the first major Domain name registrar to accept Bitcoin as form of payment, deemed to be a top-shelf American based ICANN registrar with over 3 million domains. Namecheap received some notoriety during the public outcry in the US against the SOPA bill and a poll-winner for best registrar by Lifehacker for multiple years

Wikipedia

The Wikimedia Foundation, which owns and curates Wikipedia, World’s most popular Free Encyclopedia with 4 570 000+ article, announced on its official blog that it is now accepting donations in the digital currency

Peach Airlines

Minimal effort from Japanese aircraft Peach Aviation will turn into the first in Japan to enable clients to purchase tickets utilizing the electronic cash bitcoin. The aircraft, currently belonging to Japan’s biggest bearer ANA and has some expertise in flights from upper east Asia

Tesla

Bitcoin has become the standard bearer for cryptocurrencies that even Tesla accept it as form of Payment, there is already a someone who has used their Bitcoin to order a Tesla Model S via Shakepay

Zynga

Social gaming giant Zynga has announced that it will be accepting bitcoin for in-app payments in selected games, as a “test” with payment processor BitPay

4Chan.org

For premium services, accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment

Mega.co.nz

The Popular but new venture which yet to be released and to be started by the former owner of MegaUpload Kim Dotcom, a Bitcoin enthusiasts with plans of creating a micro-economy out of file sharing economy

Mint.com

Mint pulls all your financial accounts into one place. Set a budget, track your goals and do more. And also a bitcoin financial tracker too and also accepting bitcoin as a payment mehtod. A service brought to you by Intuit, an American software company that develops financial and tax preparation software

Fancy.com

The New York-based e-commerce site allows users to engage in socially oriented shopping through picture feeds and sharing. Users can purchase products that they see directly from the website, which acts as an intermediary between the consumer and the retailer

Square

Payment processor that helps small businesses accept Credit cards using iPhone, Android or iPad. Square market has begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method and also lets small businesses adopt the payment method via their Services

MIT Coop Store

Massachusetts Institute of Technology student bookstore accepts bitcoin payment via Bitpay

Shopify.com

An online store that allows anyone to sell their products, recognises Bitcoin as form of payment with Customer offered easy intergration of Bitcoin Payment Processors

Naughty America

Adult entertainment provider, accepts Bitcoin payment for their monthly membership

Newegg

Newegg, an popular online retailer who specialize in personal Electronics and Computing equipment, accepts Bitcoin

Lionsgate Films

The production studio behind titles such as The Hunger Games and The Day After Tomorrow, is using bitcoin payment method via Gocoin

Badoo

Online dating network, where Users are using Bitcoin payment for premium membership features

RE/MAX London

UK-based franchisee of the global real estate network, accepts bitcoin, dogecoin and litecoin as a form of payment method

Alphabay

World’s Biggest Drug market on the Darknet that accepts only payment via Bitcoin, Ethereum, Zcash & Monero

Stripe

San Francisco-based payments company, which has started accepting Bitcoin as form of payment via it’s Financial Services

PureVPN

Accepting various kinds of Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum & Dash, PureVPN is VPN provider that allow their Users to pay their subscribition fees with Digital Currencies, adding an extra layer of anonymity

Magnificent tea

They are on A Mission To Rid The World Of Terrible Tea, head right over to their site a dedicated Tea club for the most diverse range of tea in the UK to enjoy a cup of your favourite beverage paid with Bitcoin

 You can buy anything from a car to tea bags and this is just a partial list. Just add Virgin Airlines. These are not by any means fly by night Companies who make decesions on a whim. Do they know something we don’t? Here is another list to fill in the blanks.

WordPress.com – An online company that allows user to create free blogs Overstock.com – A company that sells big ticket items at lower prices due to overstocking Subway – Eat fresh Microsoft – Users can buy content with Bitcoin on Xbox and Windows store Reddit – You can buy premium features there with bitcoins Virgin Galactic – Richard Branson company that includes Virgin Mobile and Virgin Airline OkCupid – Online dating site Namecheap – Domain name registrar CheapAir.com – Travel booking site for airline tickets, car rentals, hotels Expedia.com – Online travel booking agency Gyft – Buy giftcards using Bitcoin Newegg.com – Online electronics retailer now uses bitpay to accept bitcoin as payment  Wikipedia –  The Free Encyclopedia with 4 570 000+ article Alza – Largest Czech online retailer The Internet Archive – web documatation company Bitcoin.Travel – a travel site that provides accommodation, apartments, attractions, bars, and beauty salons around the world Pembury Tavern – A pub in London, England  Old Fitzroy – A pub in Sydney, Australia The Pink Cow – A diner in Tokyo, Japan The Pirate Bay – BitTorrent directories Zynga – Mobile gaming 4Chan.org – For premium services EZTV – Torrents TV shows provider Mega.co.nz – The new venture started by the former owner of MegaUpload Kim Dotcom Lumfile – Free cloud base file server – pay for premium services Etsy Vendors – 93 of them PizzaForCoins.com – Domino’s Pizza signed up – pay for their pizza with bitcons Whole Foods – Organic food store (by purchasing gift card from Gyft) Bitcoincoffee.com – Buy your favorite coffee online Grass Hill Alpacas – A local farm in Haydenville, MA Jeffersons Store – A street wear clothing store in Bergenfield, N.J Helen’s Pizza – Jersey City, N.J., you can get a slice  of pizza for 0.00339 bitcoin by pointing your phone at a sign next to the cash register A Class Limousine – Pick you up and drop you off at Newark (N.J.) Airport Seoclerks.com – Get SEO work done on your site cheap Mint.com – Mint pulls all your financial accounts into one place. Set a budget, track your goals and do more Fancy.com – Discover amazing stuff, collect the things you love, buy it all in one place (Source: Fancy) Bloomberg.com – Online newspaper Humblebundle.com – Indie game site BigFishGames.com – Games for PC, Mac and Smartphones (iPhone, Android, Windows) Suntimes.com – Chicago based online newspaper San Jose Earthquakes – San Jose California Professional Soccer Team (MLS) Crowdtilt.com – The fastest and easiest way to pool funds with family and friends (Source: crowdtilt) Lumfile – Server company that offers free cloud-based servers Museum of the Coastal Bend – 2200 East Red River Street, Victoria, Texas 77901, USA Gap, GameStop and JC Penney – have to use eGifter.com Etsy Vendors – Original art and Jewelry creations Fight for the Future – Leading organization finding for Internet freedom i-Pmart (ipmart.com.my) – A Malaysian online mobile phone and electronic parts retailer curryupnow.com – A total of 12 restaurants on the list of restaurants accept bitcoins in San Francisco Bay Area Dish Network – An American direct-broadcast satellite service provider The Libertarian Party – United States political party Yacht-base.com – Croatian yacht charter company Euro Pacific – A major precious metal dealer CEX – The trade-in chain has a shop in Glasgow, Scotland that accepts bitcoin Straub Auto Repairs – 477 Warburton Ave, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706 – (914) 478-1177 PSP Mollie – Dutch Payment Service Intuit – an American software company that develops financial and tax preparation software and related services for small businesses, accountants and individuals. ShopJoy – An Australian online retailer that sells novelty and unique gifts Lv.net – Las Vegas high speed internet services ExpressVPN.com – High speed, ultra secure VPN network Grooveshark – Online music streaming service based in the United States Braintree – Well known payments processor MIT Coop Store – Massachusetts Institute of Technology student bookstore SimplePay – Nigeria’s most popular web and mobile-based wallet service SFU bookstore – Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada State Republican Party – First State Republican Party to accept bitcoin donations (http://www.lagop.com/bitcoin-donate) mspinc.com – Respiratory medical equipment supplies store Shopify.com – An online store that allows anyone to sell their products Famsa – Mexico’s biggest retailer Naughty America – Adult entertainment provider Mexico’s Universidad de las Américas Puebla – A major university in Mexico LOT Polish Airlines – A worldwide airline based in Poland MovieTickets.com – Online movie ticket exchange/retailer Dream Lover – Online relationship service Lionsgate Films – The production studio behind titles such as The Hunger Games and The Day After Tomorrow Rakutan – A Japanese e-commerce giant Badoo – Online dating network RE/MAX London – UK-based franchisee of the global real estate network T-Mobile Poland – T-Mobile’s Poland-based mobile phone top-up company Stripe – San Francisco-based payments company WebJet – Online travel agency Green Man Gaming – Popular digital game reseller Save the Children  – Global charity organization NCR Silver – Point of sales systems One Shot Hotels – Spanish hotel chain Coupa Café in Palo Alto PureVPN – VPN provider That’s my face – create action figures Foodler – North American restaurant delivery company Amagi Metals – Precious metal furnisher

 How long do you think it will take for the competitors of these companies to start accepting Bitcoin once they find out how much business is being lost because customers are going someplace else that will accept  Bitcoin.

Here are some of the brightest minds that are investing in Bitcoin.

rt to his early investment in Skype, made headlines for his purchase of 30,000 Bitcoins in 2014 from that same government auction. Then worth about $19 million, that stash would be up to $171 million now. Draper is clearly feeling optimistic about the digital currency market, as he’s gone on to back Tezos, a new cryptocurrency.

Charlie Shrem (Bitcoin early adopter)

Shrem is more infamous than famous. The entrepreneur got in on the early days of Bitcoin and was a member of the Bitcoin Foundation, which was supposed to protect the use of Bitcoin but has seen several of its leaders under criminal investigation. Shrem himself received a two-year prison sentence for charges related to money laundering. But he’s now back with a crypto-investment startup, and while he hasn’t disclosed exactly how much he owns in Bitcoins, he reportedly bought a few thousand back when they worth were little, and those would be worth several millions now.

Tony Gallippi (cryptocurrency executive)

Gallippi is the cofounder and chairman of Bitpay, currently the leading Bitcoin processor, and is said to be among the largest holders of the currency. While he hasn’t disclosed the exact value of his Bitcoin investments, estimates have put it around $20 million.

Satoshi Nakamoto (Bitcoin mastermind)

Nakamoto is the shadowy figure sitting at the heart of Bitcoin, which itself still confounds so many. After inventing Bitcoin with a 2008 white paper describing a software tied to digital currency, Nakamoto retreated from public life. People aren’t even sure if that is his (or her) real name. While one man came forward to say he was Nakamoto, online sleuths disputed the evidence. Theories abound as to who Nakamoto really is, but it’s clear they have a whole lot of Bitcoins at their disposal. A Bitcoin developer estimated in 2013 that Nakamoto had around 1 million Bitcoins. At a valuation of about $6,133 as of this writing, that would be theoretically worth an astounding $6.1 billion. A huge caveat here, though: If Nakamoto were to start selling off their entire supply of Bitcoin, it would rapidly drive down demand for the currency, and therefore the value of the holding.

Uncle Sam

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that Bitcoin, a software-based currency that’s supposed to be free of traditional currency restrictions, has already provided a lucrative payout for the federal government. As noted above, the FBI seized 144,000 Bitcoins while shutting down the Silk Road marketplace in 2013, which back then made it the owner of the biggest Bitcoin wallet (though not necessarily the entity with the most Bitcoins, as they can be spread across many wallets). The government then auctioned off the Bitcoins. collecting $48 million. It could’ve made a lot more money if it had waited on the sale, but Uncle Sam is still trying to get a piece of the Bitcoin action. The IRS has declared that digital currencies are taxable property, and is waging a legal battle to unmask Bitcoin users who haven’t been properly disclosing their capital gains and losses. Reports suggest that the vast majority of Bitcoin transactions go under the radar. That could mean potentially millions more for the feds to take as their own.

So how much would you worth if you bought $1,000.00 worth of Itcoins 1 year ago.

Here’s How Rich You Would Be If You Bought $1000 Worth of Bitcoin a Year Ago

A souvenir coin of the bitcoin cryptocurrency at MaRSe Bitcoin Center in Moscow.

Vladimir Astapkovich—Sputnik via AP

By Lucinda Shen 

November 29, 2017

For an asset often named in tandem with drug trafficking and the dark web just a few years ago, it’s hard to imagine that optimism surrounding Bitcoin’s potential legitimacy could take the asset to more than $11,000 in value as of Wednesday.

And yet, here we are, with the price of Bitcoin up more than 900% in the past 12 months. Bitcoin’s early use as a way to buy and sell illegal goods via the now defunct online black market Silk Road was once a defining feature of the cryptocurrency. Now it’s just a rebellious phase of the Bitcoin’s growth story.

Recent interest in Bitcoin from institutional investors has certainly given its narrative a different tinge. Earlier this year, the world’s largest futures exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, said it would offer Bitcoin futures due to demand from its clients. Bitcoin investors took it as a good sign. The introduction of futures would in theory increase the number of institutional investors in the Bitcoin world — thereby increasing the market’s liquidity and stability. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and Cantor Fitzgerald are also reportedly planning their own Bitcoin futures exchanges.

So what if an investor had gotten in on the Bitcoin bet before the CME decided to offer Bitcoin futures? Well, if you had decided to go onto a Bitcoin exchange and buy some $100 worth of Bitcoin a year ago, it would be worth about $1,382 today, with Bitcoin prices resting at about $10,255 (Bitcoin exchanges such as Coinbase allow users to buy a fraction of a Bitcoin).

With $1,000, that stake would have grown to $13,820 in the course of 12 months. Invest the cost of a luxury vehicle, about $75,000, and that stake would be worth about $1 million today.

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Don’t get too excited though. Bitcoin’s emerging popularity has also been brought to the attention of the Internal Revenue Service. So if investors cashed out their Bitcoins after holding it for a year, they’d be subject to a capital gains tax, which is typically around 15%. So if investors cashed out a Bitcoin investment that was initially worth $100 but appreciated to $13,820 in a year, their tax could be around $1,923. But a short-term Bitcoin investor, who spent or sold their Bitcoin within a year of first buying it, they’d be taxed at the ordinary income tax rate, which can be as high as 39.6%. Capital gains taxes max out at a lower 20%.

Wall Street Blockchain Investments Top $1Billion Annually

New Study Assesses Efforts to Bring Blockchain to Capital Markets

Thursday, June 23, 2016 Stamford, CT USA — Financial service firms and technology providers around the world will spend more than $1 billion in 2016 in the race to bring blockchain to capital markets, according to a new report from Greenwich Associates.

Financial service firms believe that blockchain (also referred to as distributed ledger technology (DLT)) has the potential to transform global capital markets.  Blockchain technology is revolutionary because it allows, for the first time, a digital asset to be securely transferred from one party to another in near real time, without the need for a third-party intermediary.  

In its latest in a series of DLT focused research, Greenwich Associates assesses the current state of blockchain adoption across banks, brokers, asset managers, exchanges, and leading blockchain technology companies. In March and April 2016 Greenwich Associates interviewed 134 market participants working on blockchain technology. The results of that research are presented in the new Greenwich Report, Blockchain Adoption in Capital Markets.

“A majority of the financial service firms and technology providers we interviewed are convinced blockchain will enable meaningful change across capital markets within five years,” says Richard Johnson, Vice President in Greenwich Associates Market Structure and Technology group, and author of the report. 

Although companies have only recently begun to experiment with the blockchain, the study results reveal that significant resources are being spent on the development and adoption of the technology. Banks, brokers, exchanges, and central counterparties (CCPs) are taking the lead, while many asset managers take a more wait-and-see approach. Among firms stating their organizations have some blockchain initiatives underway, 32% have an annual budget in excess of $5 million per year, and a further 15% have budgets in excess of $2 million. Projected across the entire financial services industry, that level of spending will likely top $1 billion in 2016. 

Financial service firms think these investments will yield important benefits. Most study participants believe blockchain has significant potential to reduce operational costs and shorten settlement times. Respondents rank payments as the most promising potential application for blockchain. 

By a wide margin, study participants see vested interests in legacy technology systems as the main impediment to blockchain adoption. Overall, the institutions do not believe unanswered questions about regulatory treatment are holding back innovation. 

“Additionally, study participants say a move to DLT in capital markets could add unquantifiable benefits, such as providing a catalyst for industry transformation, creating new value chains and new markets, and improving regulatory compliance, transparency, and information sharing,” says Richard Johnson.

People have spent over $1M buying virtual cats on the Ethereum blockchain.

Posted Dec 3, 2017 by Fitz Tepper (@fitztepper)

Next Story

Launched a few days ago, CryptoKitties is essentially like an digital version of Pokemon cards but based on the Ethereum blockchain. And like most viral sensations that catch on in the tech world, it’s blowing up fast.

Built by Vancouver and San Francisco-based design studio AxiomZen, the game is the latest fad in the world of cryptocurrency and probably soon tech in general.

People are spending a crazy amount of real money on the game. So far about $1.3M has been transacted, with multiple kittens selling for ~50 ETH (around $23,000) and the “genesis” kitten being sold for a record ~246 ETH (around $113,000). This third party site tracks the largest purchases made to date on the game. And like any good viral sensation prices are rising and fluctuating fast. Right now it will cost you about .03 ETH, or $12 to buy the least expensive kitten in the game.

So now we have people using Ether, an asset with arguably little tangible utility – to purchase an asset with unarguably zero tangible utility. Welcome to the internet in 2017.

In all seriousness, it’s a little bit reminiscent of the beanie baby trend where people were paying insane amounts of money for stuffed animals. But if the popularity continues to increase these people may be able to make a return by reselling or breeding their rare kittens, or they’ll be stuck holding the virtual cryptographic keys to a virtual rare kitten when the market crashes in a few days, like eventually happened with beanie babies.

There are a few cool things about the game though, and putting aside the valuation absurdity it’s actually a cool way for beginners to interact with the Ethereum blockchain.

First off, it’s important to understand that since it’s played on the Ethereum blockchain there’s no central entity managing the game. This means users literally own their kittens. Unlike playing Neopets where everything was stored on a central database and your pet was deleted when the company shut down, CryptoKitties is decentralized and will live forever on the Ethereum blockchain.

The game is run via a set of 5 Ethereum smart contracts written by AxiomZen, and users interact with it via their own Ethereum address. Right now the easiest way to do that is by using the Chrome extension MetaMask which gives you the ability to send and receive Ethereum directly in your browser. You then would navigate to the CryptoKitties site which is essentially an interface to interact with their smart contracts so you can buy sell and breed kittens.

Right now about 15% of all Ethereum network traffic is dedicated to the game, making it the most popular smart contract on the network. For reference, number two with about 8% of network transactions is EtherDelta, the popular decentralized token exchange.

This traffic is making it hard to play CryptoKitties, and a lot of transactions (like buying and selling cats) are taking longer than usual to process and needing multiple attempts.

Not only is this making it hard to play the game, but this scaling issue is a real concern for the Ethereum network in general. If one viral game that hasn’t even spread beyond the tech world can slow down the network, what happens when the blockchain expands to real world applications?

Anyways, back to the game. Still confused? Us too. Here’s an explanation of how it works:

How to Play

The game was seeded with 100 “Founder Kitties”. There’s also one new “Gen 0” cat released ever 15 minutes, which are listed for the average price of the last five sold, plus 50% – but the sale price declines over 24 hours until someone eventually buys it.

And anyone can sell their kittens via an auction, where they pick a starting price and an ending price and the price declines over time until someone buys it. So for example I could put a kitten up for sale for a one day auction for 1 ETH starting price and 0 ETH ending price, and if someone buys it 12 hours after the auctions starts they’d be paying me .5 ETH.

Kittens can also be created by breeding them, which the game calls Siring. You can put your own kitten up for sire for a specified amount of ether and someone can breed with it, and they get the offspring and you get the ether. Or, you can pay to breed your cat with someone else’s and you keep the offspring and they keep the ether.

It can take anywhere from an hour to a week in “cooldown time” to breed a new kitten. The shorter the time the better, since you can sell the offspring sooner and breed again. This means kittens with shorter cooldown time usually sell for more.

Each kitten has a 256-bit genome that holds the genetic sequence to all the different combinations kittens can have. These include things like background color, cooldown time, whiskers, beards, stripes and so on. Some of these genes can be recessive, meaning a kitten without stripes could still breed one with stripes.

It’s important to note that there’s no “rare scale” established by the game that assigns rarity values to these genetic sequences. That means the community is independently deciding what traits are rare by paying a premium for them. For example, kittens with a gold background have been selling more than kittens with other colors.

Users can only self-customize the name of their kitten, and often use this space to advertise rare attributes like color or generation.

Right now there’s no way to see the actual genetic sequence for a kitten on CryptoKitties’ site, but since it’s all open-source code within an Ethereum contract it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out how to “read” your cat’s genetic sequence and make breeding recommendations based on it. There’s also some randomness built in, which keeps it fun by giving someone with a less rare kitten the chance to breed a rare one.

Each time a cat breeds the generation increases one. So the offspring of a Gen 0 kitten would be a Gen 1, and so on. Earlier generation kittens seem to be selling for more money, both for the intangible rareness factor and the tangible fact that earlier generation kittens usually have shorter cool down times.

Axiom makes money by keeping the ether collected from selling the initial 100 kitties, plus the newly generated kitties sold each 25 minutes. They also take a 3.75% fee of all auctions or siring transactions. If you sell a kitten by interacting directly with the smart contract (and not going through CryptoKitties’ website) you wouldn’t have to pay the 3.75% fee.

What’s Next?

Unlike some viral projects, the team behind CryptoKitties was set on building out this product regardless of this hype. Mack Flavelle, the project lead for the game explained to me that the team has at least a year’s worth of product improvements in the pipeline, the most immediate of which is improving the UI on the web platform.

They also want to work to make the on-boarding process easier, because at the end of the day it’s still not easy for the average person to setup MetaMask and figure out how to buy ether and use it to transact on the network.

The project has a pretty good FAQ here which explains a bit more about the game’s future plans and how it works today. 

Read, learn and follow the big boys and turn $100.00 to a fortune on a well chosen I C O.

One thing more to keep in mind. In 1985 I bought one of the first cell phones for my car. I was so self concious I remember my mom called me one day and I woudn’t pick up the phone. O talked to her on speaker. At that time 1% of the population had a cell phone. Bitcoin/crypto currencies are now at the 1985 spot and today it would be hard to find anyone that didn’t have a cell phone. When we hit 2% the price will double at 4% it will double again and you won’t have lug along a phone the size of a shoe. Their are 7.5 billion people and only 21,000,000 Bitcoins. Do you have any idea what they will be worth when people start to realize that the dollar is faultering and people look for a safe haven?  Find out what the blockchain is and how the Co’s are using it in everythin from smart contracts to the sale of glasses.