Innovative Uses for Cryptocurrency
As cryptocurrency continues to rise as an option not only for professionals in finance, but also among ordinary people, it’s time to look at some of its uses. Generally speaking, the digital currency has two primary purposes: investment and facilitating digital transactions. Part of what makes crypto so interesting though is that it is capable of serving so many additional purposes.
Cryptos aren’t simply currencies that are used in speculation and transactions. Rather, they have all sorts of fascinating uses in areas ranging from the world of video games to everyday social media. Below, we’ll take a look at some particularly interesting uses that don’t tend to get enough attention.
Gaming
Ten years ago, the notion of coins and tokens with real-world monetary value being relevant in video games would have sounded completely foreign. Now, there are all sorts of crypto coins that have been integrated with the gaming industry.
Enjin is one of the main currencies that explains this phenomenon, at least as of this writing. This coin allows gamers to buy in-game items, store them in a digital wallet, and trade them either within the same game or –– believe it or not –– in the real world. It essentially enables gamers to obtain and trade virtual assets as real-world value. And it’s only one of many options performing this or similar tasks in the gaming world. Tron, Decentraland and Loom Network are among the other big crypto hitters in gaming.
Fan tokens
Today, cryptocurrency can also be used by sports fans as a way of getting more involved with their favorite teams. This concept has come about courtesy of a platform called Socios, which allows you to buy digital tokens associated with different sports teams. And the idea behind these sports fan tokens is actually quite simple: Fans pay for cryptocurrency, exchange it for tokens, and then use those tokens either to participate in team events, or use as commodities to trade with other fans.
It’s the team events that really make this concept unique. With a team’s personal crypto token, you gain the ability to answer poll questions that affect certain team actions. No, this doesn’t mean you can pick the starting lineup for your favorite team, or make in-game coaching decisions. But it’s still pretty cool to have a say in some smaller team matters!
Social tipping
Another very intriguing use of cryptocurrency comes from Twitter, which released an innovative feature that may just change the face of social media in time. The new “tips” concept will now allow you to reward some of your favored Twitter profiles with small amounts of cryptocurrency. The social media giant has partnered with Strike, and added a small money icon that’ll take you to the page where you can tip the accounts you value, as you like.
Right now it’s sort of a little-known add-on to Twitter. But it certainly sets the stage for a more transactional form of social media grounded in cryptocurrency.
Digital publishing engagement
As old-world digital ad banners become increasingly irrelevant, advertisers are looking for new ways to be more effective. To that end, new types of pay-per-article advertising are being implemented through cryptocurrencies. You can make use of something called an Engagement Token that allows publishers and readers to gain tokens through publishing their own new content. Advertisers buy tokens to place alongside the most relevant pieces. The cryptocurrency enables the advertisers to track engagement, and tell how quickly a piece of content is going viral.
These four examples represent only a small portion of the interesting ways to use crypto that are emerging. But we hope they’ve properly demonstrated just how far the crypto world now extends beyond basic transactions and investment.
