Cashing Out: Earn and Exchange High Fidelity Coins (HFC) for U.S. Dollars
Go to the Bank to trade your HFC for real money
High Fidelity users can now convert High Fidelity Coin (HFC) into U.S. dollars. This opens the possibility for people to earn real money creating and selling virtual goods and services within High Fidelity. We see this as a vital step in the emergence of a thriving High Fidelity economy: the flywheel of innovation and creativity in any marketplace starts when creators have positive incentives to contribute to the growing body of content for sale. In time, we hope creators will be able to support themselves by selling items in the Marketplace, charging for the experiences they create, and offering useful in-world services to other creators and performers.
We believe the High Fidelity marketplace will develop into a rich and varied ecosystem supporting a broad range of digital experiences. For instance, a user might buy an outfit for their avatar then spend an hour on a guided tour of Korea, before meeting up with friends in a nightclub. Along the way, the clothes designer, tour docent, club owner, lighting technician, and DJ will all be rewarded for their effort, and be able to turn their HFC into U.S. dollars.
Starting this week, we’re taking our first steps to create that ecosystem. Now’s the time to get started creating in High Fidelity.
Importing 3D Objects Into High Fidelity
We expect the content put up for sale in the High Fidelity Marketplace to come from a variety of sources. The Marketplace provides a way for users to sell their content with the confidence that their intellectual property will be protected.
Creators who have assets already developed, or who prefer to use go-to applications like SketchUp or Google Poly, can now import them into High Fidelity. We’re officially launching support for these applications and others alongside our trading services now that the entire workflow from creation to monetization is in place.
Check out the High Fidelity documentation on how to add content to the Marketplace.
The High Fidelity Development Fund
We’re also excited to launch our High Fidelity Development Fund today, where members of our community can take on projects to extend the High Fidelity platform. There are dozens of features we’re planning to add, and we’re looking to developers in our community to sign up to create them. Of course, we’re planning to pay them for their hard work — in HFC, which they can convert to legal tender.
Here’s how we see this working: we’ve already set up a public group on Telegram which developers can use to contact us about these projects. We plan to regularly post new opportunities to the channel for people to select and bid for. The aim here is to reward our most dedicated members, to accelerate feature rollout, and to inject more activity into the economy, which in turn will benefit everyone.
In this first wave of the Fund, we’re committing 1,000,000 HFC to fund developers. Use the Telegram channel to bid on initiatives, propose new projects, and suggest new features for the platform. Sign up here to learn more.
What This Means for High Fidelity
Enabling people to convert HFC to real tender is important to us. Our vision is for people to work in virtual worlds creating content, offering novel experiences, teaching lessons, staffing events, having meetings, being greeters, or a myriad of other tip-worthy tasks. And now they can.
At the same time, our 3D import tools will open the door to bringing content which already exists into High Fidelity with the protection of marketplace certification.
Finally, the Development Fund is something we’re excited to see blossom. It will enable us to tap into the power of the community and to reward those who can make our vision happen sooner.
We’ve taken another large step on the path to 1 Billion people in VR.
Frequently Asked Questions
Converting HFC to legal tender
Who can convert HFC to real money?
Every High Fidelity user is eligible to convert HFC to fiat currency. At this time, a PayPal account is required.
How do I start an exchange transaction?
Trades will initially be handled manually by our staff using the following process:
- High Fidelity will publish a calendar through which users can book trading appointments.
- After High Fidelity staff accept and confirm the time slot they will whitelist the user to visit the Trading Room domain to make their trade. The user will be whitelisted based on their provided High Fidelity account name.
- High Fidelity staff will take receipt of HFC from the trading user. Payments will be made using PayPal and paid to the email account specified via the appointment booking form. Time to payment receipt will be based on PayPal rules and guidelines. Payments will be made from finance@highfidelity.com.
How much HFC can I convert?
There is a minimum transfer of 5,000 HFC per transaction. This service is still in beta: and we reserve the right to stop and start or change daily limits or refuse transactions at any time.
Can I buy HFC with real money?
Not right now, but coming soon.
Can I convert HFC to other virtual currencies?
Not right now. We do not currently allow exchange or purchase for other virtual currencies or tokens. We may do this in the future.
What information do I need to make a transaction?
To use this service, you will need to provide us with your real world name, address and email as part of the process. You will need a PayPal account to enable the transaction. You can learn more about setting up an account to receive payments via PayPal here.
If something goes wrong with my transaction, what do I do?
Once initiated, our staff will handle all your customer services inquiries about the actual exchange. High Fidelity will provide you with the transaction code. You may send inquiries about the trade process and the status of any transaction to bank@highfidelity.io.
When is the High Fidelity Bank open?
Bank hours are posted on our calendar. You can visit the bank to receive initial HFC grants and to talk to our banking staff.
Will all these exchanges increase the value of HFC?
No — HFC is a “‘stablecoin” so we will be adjusting the money supply to keep the exchange rate constant.
What is the exchange rate of HFC to USD?
The rate is fixed at 100 HFC = 1 USD.
The High Fidelity Development Fund
How do I find out about projects?
Please sign up to our Telegram group here for the latest requests.
How do I bid on a project?
High Fidelity team members will post details about projects in Telegram, and anyone interested can reply in the public chat with a proposed price and timeline. If the proposal is accepted we’ll again notify in public chat, and communicate 1:1 in Telegram and/or in-world as needed for review and completion.
How do I get paid?
Once the High Fidelity team approves the project in the public channel, you will be able to visit the Bank and receive HFC for the job.
Can I convert the HFC payments to U.S. dollars?
Yes — by following the exchange process, developers can turn their HFC into USD.
I can no longer complete the project, what now?
Please contact us with details and we can reallocate the project to another community member.
I can handle more projects, how do I take those on?
All our projects are communicated on our Telegram group. If you are interested in further work, please reach out here.