Over $2.5 Million Spent on Cartoon Cats in the Blockchain
On November 28, the game CryptoKitties launched, based on the Ethereum blockchain. The main idea is to buy cartoon kittens, each with its own set of traits. The project was created by the design studio AxiomZen.
After purchasing a few animals, players can breed their own kittens and sell them on the in-game marketplace. Developers release new kittens every 15 minutes. According to TechCrunch and data from the CryptoKitty Sales website, users have already spent $2.6 million on the game as of today.
How Much Do CryptoKitties Cost?
- The average price of a kitten is about 50 Ether (around $23,000).
- The very first kitten was sold for a record 246 Ether (approximately $113,000).
- The cheapest kitten costs 0.3 Ether (about $12).
Thanks to Ethereum, the game is decentralized, and users are protected from losing their “kittens” if the project shuts down.
What Is CryptoKitties?
CryptoKitties is a game centered around cute creatures called “cryptokitties.” You can breed and collect them. Each cat is unique and 100% owned by the user—it cannot be replaced, taken away, or destroyed.
Each kitten has a 256-bit genome that includes a set of visual and “genetic” traits. Every new kitten inherits a combination of features from one of its “parents,” according to Digital Trends.
How Does the Game Work?
The game runs on five Ethereum smart contracts written by AxiomZen. Interaction happens through your own Ethereum address. The easiest way to interact is via the Chrome extension MetaMask, which lets you use Ethereum directly in your browser.
You can sell kittens through an auction system, where the price drops until someone buys the pet. AxiomZen takes a 3.75% fee from each transaction on the platform, except those made directly through smart contracts. The company also earns a share from the sale of new kittens.
Impact on the Ethereum Network
The game accounts for about 15% of all Ethereum network traffic. Because of this, it’s difficult to make many transactions—buying and selling cats takes longer than regular operations. The company even increased the “birthing fee” for kittens to help manage blockchain traffic.
“Due to network congestion, we are raising the birthing fee from 0.001 Ether to 0.002 Ether. This will help kittens be born on time. These measures are meant to encourage miners to include the birthing fee in the chain. A long-term solution will be decided soon.”