Internet + Crypto + Cats = CryptoKitties

CryptoKitties is a collectible game based on the Ethereum Blockchain. Launched on November 28th, CryptoKitties account for over 10% of Ethereum contracts by transaction count (at time of publishing, 13.76%). Note that Ethereum has a market cap of $45 billion.

Users can purchase Kitties using Ether. The average price of a digital cat is $89.74. The ownership of this digital casset (get it: cat + asset) is stored in the Ethereum blockchain. Think Pokemon or sports cards, but on the internet. While a Babe Ruth rookie card can get lost and damaged overtime, as long as you remember your login, CryptoKitties don’t!

Lucky Topaz‘s (Kitty #29736) biography: Shalom! I’m Lucky Topaz 1. I’ve never told anyone this, but I once kissed a dog. I like to listen to Frank Sinatra while grooming. Don’t judge me. This will be an amewsing friendship.

How are new kittens created?

The game was started with 100 “Founder Kitties”. To grow the overall number of kitties, there is one new “Gen 0” (generation 0) kitty released every 15 minutes. The price is 150% of the average price of the last five sold.

The earlier the Generation, the more a kitty is worth. The most rare the cattributes (cat &attributes), the more a kitty is worth.

Kittens can be created by breeding them, which the game calls Siring. You can put your own kitten up for sire once you own it. Either you get paid in Ether or the newly formed offspring of your kitten.

How are kittens sold?

Anyone can sell their kittens via an auction, where they pick a starting price and an ending price and the price declines over time until someone buys it.

Axiom (the creator) makes money by:

• Selling the initial 100 kitties
• Ether from the kitties generated each15 minutes
• A 3.75% fee of all auctions or siring (breeding) transactions

Are people playing along?

$1.47 million (3084.42 Ether) has been transacted to buy and sell CryptoKitties. The average price is $71.33 for an electronic kitty that has no physical form in the world we are used to.

Google Trend data Worldwide over the past 7 days for searches of “cryptokitties”

Google search data doesn’t show a slowing demand for searchers looking to learn about this new blockchain-based collectible game!

The biography page of each kitten is unique and filled with “Cattributes”. Above, this is Lucky Topaz’s biography.

I had the privilege of buying Lucky Topaz yesterday for $23. Now, other Gen 1 kitties are being sold for $561.60 (1.20 Ether) and $913 (1.95 Ether).

$23 → $500+ within 24 hours! That’s a pretty ideal return. Unfortunately, I’m not ready to part with Lucky Topaz. For now, I hodl.

Further Reading:

• See the CrpytoKitties’ website here (where you can buy/sell).
• Track the marketplace for Kitties here (see data).
• Read more on TechCrunch here.
• Shoutout to the creators at Axiomzen!

Thanks to Andy Walner.