Any blockchain lives or dies on two things: its community and its ecosystem.
The two are closely related, although there are important differences as to how best develop each.
We wrote on the topic of community building and blockchain recently, with the example of our Easy5050 product, and how it can help modernize and streamline fundraising efforts for everyone from large nonprofits to local sports teams.
But to really supercharge community growth, a blockchain must develop an ecosystem which encourages greater involvement, from both stakeholders and potential users.
Of course, this is a two-way street. As the community grows, more members become involved in the sort of development projects which grab the attention of the wider crypto space, and even the general public.
This model is already at work with Peerplays. Indeed, PBSA’s core mission is to support the growth of the Peerplays blockchain by developing cutting-edge software.
We have already seen the launch of BookiePro, a decentralized sports betting exchange, and the previously mentioned Easy5050, as well as the announcement of a revolutionary new streaming product, StreamersEdge.
This development is laying the groundwork as we establish Peerplays as the blockchain for gaming.
The million dollar question
While we are proud of what we have achieved over the past two years, we want to pick up the pace when it comes to new features, products and use cases on the Peerplays blockchain.
That is why we recently announced the launch of Peerplays Grants, a new, $1 million fund designed to incentivize developers to help build out the Peerplays ecosystem.
Here’s how it works.
Developers pitch their idea to Peerplays Grants. The Peerplays community, and then a dedicated committee, conduct a thorough review of the proposal. Those proposals which display genuine potential to create additional value within the Peerplays ecosystem will be awarded funding.
And, for the right projects, there is a substantial pot to award from: $1 million in a combination of BTC, PPY and development and marketing resources. It is a fund designed to inspire developers to think big.
The next Peerplays use cases
Peerplays Grants has three primary objectives.
Firstly, it is designed to provide those developers who would like to spend their time contributing to the Peerplays ecosystem with the resources to be able to do so. In a competitive space, it is important to financially incentivize the best.
Secondly, it will facilitate the extension of the Peerplays blockchain codebase with new components which the PBSA may not be focused upon, but which would nonetheless be useful to the community.
And finally, it aims to extend the reach of Peerplays beyond its own community, out into the broader world of crypto and even to the general public.
So, what might these future projects look like?
Well, really that is up to you. The point of Peerplays Grants is to both incentivize and leverage the creativity of the community.
But we have a few ideas we can see being successful.
As the blockchain for gaming, Peerplays already has a tech infrastructure in place to power the next generation of random number generator casino games. Perhaps you have a new spin you can put on these games that will catch our eye?
Or take a look at the BookiePro code. It was built as a decentralized sports betting exchange, but could just as easily power futures betting on anything from the weather to the result of an election.
And then there are all manner of back-end improvements to the Peerplays blockchain, from API and web service to security and performance enhancements.
Building a Peerplays future
While the PBSA is here to help drive the future of the Peerplays blockchain, Peerplays is, at its core, a lesson in the merits of decentralization.
This is why we have opted to launch Peerplays Grants rather than dedicate these resources to internal projects by further expanding our core team.
We firmly believe that by democratizing the development process, the rewards will be significantly richer. Peerplays already boasts best-in-class technology and functionality; the next step is to launch products that fully utilize this potential.
We envisage a future where the Peerplays blockchain is a fully built out ecosystem used daily by a global audience of millions. The technology was built with exactly this type of scaling in mind.
The next generation of blockchain developers, supported by the PBSA, will be the ones to achieve this.
The future of Peerplays is yours to build.
