Bitcoin
eSports Skins Trading & Bitcoin: The multi-million dollar marketplace you’ve never heard of before?
We have recently contacted Tim Heath, who has over ten years management experience in online gaming and is the CEO of Coingaming.io a platform provider that implements Bitcoin cryptocurrency solutions for the eGaming sector to ask him about eSports Skin Trading and Bitcoin. Below you will find the Q&A session we had with Tim in regards to the topic.
EEG: Tim, please tell us about why the industry should take notice of eSports Skins Trading and Bitcoin?
Tim Heath: eSports and Bitcoin are the most talked about growth industry sectors with many online gambling companies starting to offer traditional fixed odds both pre-match and live betting on eSports related events.
However what many in the mainstream sports book landscape don’t know is that a form ‘betting’ on eSports games is already well catered for within the existing supply chain and is referred to as Skin Trading.
EEG: What is Skin Trading?
Tim Heath: Skin Trading is an economy built around the buying and selling of skins related to game titles by American video game developer and digital distribution company located in Washington called Valve and their popular video game franchises such as CS: GO (Counter-Strike Global Offensive); Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2.
Skin gambling or skin trading has given rise to huge eBay type community marketplaces. These platforms like CS: GO Lounge and OPSkins provide the ability to buy and sell digital items more commonly referred to as ‘skins’, such as knives, guns related to the game Counter-Strike, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2. The players then bet these in-game skins in tote pools, either on the outcome of eSports matches or in casino style jackpots. They generate millions of dollars in betting trades per day.
Regarding the money flow and economics, it’s supply and demand. The rarer the skin, the more players compete for it via bids. You can get skins from opening what is referred to as ‘crates’. They are similar to a potluck or lucky dip whereby you receive a skin of varying value.
You can get a crate at the end of playing a game or randomly, or you can buy one (usually cost around $2 each). Here’s the catch, the crate, however, needs to be opened and to do that you’ll need a key!
You got it the ‘key’ costs money, usually around a few dollars for the keys to crates. You’ve got no idea what the skin’s value is you’re going to get. Once the skin is revealed, you can check at a glance what the going rate for your skin is. You can do this by checking out the skin, in the game marketplace such as OPSkins.
By doing this it will help you to gauge what the value is at this current time as it fluctuates as more skins come into circulation and in the marketplace.
EEG: You mentioned OPSkins as a major provider of skin trading. Just how big are they?
Tim Heath: The stats are big, huge. By the numbers, 1,363,140 players total to date on its central platform www.opskins.com and 9,026 players active in the less 48 hours. You can visit the site to see the real-time stats, the skins listed, over 350k skins sold each week, they go for a couple of dollars to thousands of dollars, with thousands of transactions a day.
Everybody talks about how big eSports betting could become for mainstream sportsbooks. But it’s like an Iceberg; many are just looking at what’s the visible 10% above the waterline, when in fact the majority of the iceberg, 90% is below the surface. Skin trading and the likes of OPSkins are just one of many such platforms, ‘below the iceberg waterline’ in this vertical and filling a need for today’s savvy digital currency bettors that perhaps preferring engaging in this form of ‘betting’ as against mainstream fixed odds offered by sportsbooks looking to target this demographic.
EEG: So what’s the connection with Skin Trading and Bitcoin?
Tim Heath: Firstly if you do a Google search ‘skin gambling’ you get 19,700,000 results returned; bitcoin gambling 5,350,000 results compared to eSports gambling at only 300,000! So that’s a bit of a giveaway on the demand curve.
Pretty much on all these Skin platforms, you shall notice that they widely promote and accept and cash-out daily for Bitcoin as the digital currency of choice to facilitate the trading activities taking place on the platform. You can check out www.bitskins.com
EEG: What about affiliates, is this an opportunity?
Tim Heath: For sure when you consider the search volumes in Google, the number of Reddit groups and the sheer numbers of gamers within the eSports supply chain that are interacting with these platforms every single day.
It’s already happening as you can see the demand for ‘gambling’ via skin trading within and related to the actual video game via the stats we mentioned earlier.
At its heart gaming and skin trading is truly a borderless activity and fulfilment. Therefore given Bitcoin is also a ‘borderless’ payment protocol, it is the natural product fit to service this growing market of digitally connected gamers looking to ‘skin trade’!
Bitcoin
Bitcoin in layman’s terms. How to explain to your granny what bitcoin actually is?
Bitcoin has reached skyrocketing popularity recently. TV talks about it emphasizing on the cryptocurrency rate, Internet bloggers dedicate articles to this digital currency, and business publications shed light on its nature. However, bitcoin remains a mystery for some of us.
Adults tend to show a skeptic attitude towards the phenomenon which roots are not clear at all. Crypto industry is one of the most complicated topics our parents and grandparents face. What is more, not all young people have a notion of bitcoin notwithstanding the continuous Internet access. So, how to explain the notion of bitcoin in layman’s terms?
Steps to simply and quickly throw light on bitcoin
1. Take physical money for a basic notion
We all understand what physical money is. It can be carried in a wallet and then exchanged for any kind of products and services. Even small children understand it. Everybody knows that money is tangible and can be brought to the shop so it has value.
2. Show similarities with online banking and cards
In fact, the majority of our transactions is conducted by means of e-money. It can be seen on the webpage of your online banking account or on an ATM’ display. Where is e-cash stored? It’s not like a wallet with e-money you can withdraw, give somebody of pay with. As a matter of fact, all our electronic money is stored in IT systems of commercial banks.
3. We already use e-cash
E-cash is only a number on a bank’s computer attached to your account id.
4. Banks are a chain of intermediaries
Banks serve intermediaries that manage an account with e-money. Therefore, by carrying out an e-payment, we in fact allow a bank to conduct it. Then, there appears a record in a bank’s system claiming it does not deal with your id money anymore, and banking accounts of a third party can now be connected to a receiver’s account. To put it simply, we often buy or pay for something not knowing a receiver and in fact send them anything. It’s a bank that is responsible for the whole process charging relevant commission.
5. Bitcoin eliminates intermediaries
Bitcoin is money we know well. The difference lies in the absence of third parties, which merely eliminates commission. Besides, bitcoin can be used as shares. Its price may fluctuate depending on various aspects. Many people even earn on bitcoin by buying it cheaper and then selling for a higher price.
The notion of mining
A logical question may cross the mind: where to find bitcoins? It’s hard to explain that money can be mined, not made. However, try to liken this process to mining of high-valued minerals. The nuance is that here you need a powerful PC, not a shovel or a pickaxe.
Where to park bitcoin
Bitcoin has grown very popular across the globe. Many companies in the countries with legalized bitcoin have already presented an opportunity to pay for their products through digital money, not only physical or electronic. You can exchange bitcoin for a certain product or even purchase real estate. Remember to follow the exchange since it is unstable and fluctuates all the time. It is called volatility.
The online publication Login Casino created a short video describing its phenomenon in layman’s terms for those who have no notion of digital economy. Click here to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49eb9gq0vbg&=&t=9s 
Bitcoin
Login Casino bitcoin marathon has come to an end
Bitcoin Marathon. Marathon from A to Z, organized by the online magazine Login Casino, has come to an end. Over the past few weeks, the leading experts in the cryptoindustry were highlighting the most relevant topics connected with cryptocurrency.
The speakers of our bitcoin marathon were: Maksym Krupyshev, head of game customer service at Cubits, Andrey Ivanov, blockchain projects security development manager at Digital Security, Kristina Kost, founder of the news resource LOFFL.RU, reporting on the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, and others experts.
The way it happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrzX9xyC2HI
The speakers used plain language to tell our participants about what bitcoin and cryptocurrency actually are, what its role in our life is, how and in which spheres it can be applied, what the work with bitcoin should be started with, and which projects are worth being invested in. The experts gave some useful advice concerning the issue of securing your savings, reviewed the major cases, connected with crypto thefts, and shared the secrets of blockchain and ICO project promotion.
Maksym Krupyshev shared his view on what bitcoin is.
“Criptocurrency and fiat currency can work in synergy. Fiat money belongs to the state, and it will be very hard for the state not to have any control over money transactions”, believes Maksym.
Andrey Ivanov, in turn, raised the issue of blockchain project security: “There has been a lot of ICO lately on the market. Some of them are successful, but some are not. As soon as ready money begin to appear there, it starts to be of interest to perpetrators”.
However, if you did not manage to take part in the event during a live broadcast, you can always watch the archive recording in the Login Casino «Library», having authorized yourself on the website.
“We’ve been thinking for a long time over how to help our readers (and now viewers as well) get the access to the broadcast they are interested in anytime, since not everyone can enter the landing during the live broadcast. So, what we came up with was an idea to create a specific Login Casino library – an archive, where all the broadcasts will be stored, and anyone will be able to get an access to them anytime”, told Login Casino.
Bitcoin
The next speaker for Login Casino bitcoin-marathon will be Christina Kost (LOFFL.RU)
Login Casino continues its bitcoin-marathon – a series of online conferences devoted to cryptoindustry. The guest of the next webinar, which is going to be held as a part of the bitcoin-marathon, will be Christina Kost. The topic of the webinar is “Trends and prospects of bitcoin in 2018”.
Christina Kost is the creator of the news recourse LOFFL.RU, which is aimed at covering the main events in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain. Besides, she is the founder of the biggest cryptocurrency blockchain-community CryptoCon in Saint Petersburg.
The speaker is an expert council member of the working party on digital economy to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, and she is also an expert council member in the first blockchain-coworking in Russia – B-CH coworking. She is an organizer of the events devoted to the blockchain industry and an expert in the spheres of ICO and digital economy.
Christina gives her tips for the beginners in ICO: “The first thing to do is to present your project in a proper way, to gather all the market information and then – develop the ways of carrying out ICO, communicate with the experts and companies, which are already in this business”.
Don’t miss the live-webinar with our expert! The broadcast will be on April 10, 2018 at 16:00 here.
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