Giving a new spin to online gaming, a city based entrepreneur has launched a first-of-its-kind cryptocurrency that can be used for playing rummy and poker. The currency — world gaming coin — created on blockchain technology, costs Rs 2 per coin (approx). The founders hope to secure licences soon to expand its gambit. Though online gaming industry is entirely unorganised, insiders say pro-gamers spend anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh per year on poker, casino, rummy and cricket betting.At present, gamers pay through debit/credit cards or mediating sites that charge three-five% cut at the time of deposit, a dollar as commissioning fee and also a cut at the time of withdrawal (when the player makes profits). However, most players are cheated by intermediating sites. After being duped by one such site, the co-founder of the coin, Prashant Surana, chanced upon the idea of cryptocurrency. “I wanted to cash out of the system during an online poker game on the pretext of our country not being part of some agreement. But the mediating site refused to pay me. I ended up losing Rs 40,000. So, I decided to develop a gaming currency. There is problem with using Bitcoin, Litecoin or any other cryptocurrency for payments as these are highly volatile and the value can change drastically within a short span of time,” Surana said. “The world gaming coin will give the player complete control over his/her money and will also charge less commission,” Surana added. Such cases of fraud are aplenty. Another gamer Suyash Shah said: “About two years ago when I started playing online rummy, I had nobody to consult before making payments. In the first two times, the payment went smoothly, but the third time I lost Rs 20,000 which I had transferred to a mediating site.” Industry insiders say that other innovations in online gaming and gaming tools are also in the pipeline. “A lot of young startups are now exploring augmented reality in games, apart from virtual reality. The fact that the movie industry in the city is a huge consumer of visual graphic skills, similar to the one required for gaming, has ensured that a lot of skill exists,” said Ramesh Loganathan, professor (co-innovation) at IIIT-Hyderabad.
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