Intro

Recently, I stumbled on the concept of 'Crypto Kitties' in a post at Hackernoon. I decided to keep this one in mind and recently, CryptoKitties launched.

What is Crypto Kitties

The basic premise of the Crypto Kitties project (Project) is the following.:

• the Project runs on the Ethereum blockchain
• the creators of the Project will release 50,000 crypto kittens until November 2018 (1 each 15 minutes)
• these cats are called 'Gen 0' cats (generation zero)
• each cat is unique; the owner thereof is recorded on the Ethereum blockchain
• they sell each Gen 0 cat to the public. The market place is part of their website
• cats can be traded between owners
• but cats can also be breeded with each other, either between cats of a single owner or cats of different owners (owners decide)
• the breeding will lead to new variations of cats of different generations (Gen 1, Gen 2 etc)
• all actions require spending Gas

What's the purpose?

The stated purpose of the Project is to create digital collectables. These collectables can be traded online with prices set in the free market. If no one is interested, the Project will die. If it takes off, papers can start to write about 'Tulip Mania' in the trade of ..... digital kitties.....

A quote from the founders:

"Blockchain could be the information age’s biggest advancement since the internet. By enabling trustless transactions and empowering transparency, security, and privacy, the technology holds immense potential for businesses and consumers alike.
Unfortunately, the public perception of blockchain barely brings this up — if the technology itself is even acknowledged. Instead, the peaks of Bitcoin’s valuation dominate most headlines; a successful token offering has an ICO horror story the next article over. This revolutionary technology is misunderstood, often maligned, and its potential is underexploited.

That’s why we’re putting cats on the blockchain 🐈

At the heart of this and all our blockchain efforts is a desire to make the technology accessible to everyone. Abstractions of blockchain are difficult for most to swallow, so we use Cryptokitties to communicate some of Ethereum’s features.

At its core, blockchain is a way for people to prove ownership and trustfully transact. A game based on collectible cats seemed like the most approachable introduction."

So in the end, it's about learning how to work with Ethereum in a playful manner and learning people that Blockchain is about storing information and digital ownership, not just about coin speculation and ICO fever.

What will happen with the Project?

Honestly, no one knows. There are a few parameters that we could consider.

There will only be 50,000 Gen 0 kitties for sale. So as a collectable, there will be scarcity. But will people catch on and want a digital kitty? That remains to be seen but the activity on the Ethereum network suggests that the Gen 0 kitties keep the Ethereum network rather busy just after launch. So they seem popular.

The number of kitties will expand due to breeding, but breeding will be slower each time . Gen 0 cats will breed slower over time and Generations after 0 will be slower than Gen 0 cats from the start. And breeding will costs some Gas so it will take an effort. We do not know whether Gen 0 cats will have more demand than Gen x cats and whether cats that did not breed yet will come at a premium over time.

Second, breeding will lead to new types of cats. Blue eyes, purple eyes, strange striping, halo's (I just made that one up); it could be anything that pops up in cats resulting from a breed. Unique cats could catch a high price. As a matter of fact, I understand that this effect is already playing up with cats being sold for more than $4,000 a piece....

So basically:

• there will be 50,000 Gen 0 cats
• there will be many more cats but against payment of Gas and they wont be Gen 0 cats
• unique cats will probably catch a higher bid but you cannot really know in advance which ones to breed for that
• anything will cost Gas so that will limit the actions from an economics perspective

Should I invest?

Whether you should invest in one or more Crypto Kitties is entirely up to you. In the end, it is nothing more than an token on the Ethereum blockchain with zero utility. But that is not how people work (rational, that is). If this thing does not take off, I demand that everyone refrains from uploading any cat video in the future.

Consider it a Blockchain Tamagotchi with 'first of its kind' appeal and the chance of getting a Gen 0 kitty cheap (they go for a bout 0.009 ETH at the lowest, about $3-4).

Crazier things have happened in life.

I hope you will enjoy the Project