Playing the game: Investment opportunities via cryptocurrencies are real

The world of gaming is losing out on a huge amount of custom due to the cost of high powered gaming hardware, the likes of which is vital for gaming enthusiasts to be able to run the latest and best games the industry has to offer. It's not only the game developers and producers that aren't reaching the full potential of the market, but gamers who are struggling to play online simply because the hardware needs to be of such a high spec, it is out of reach of many people.

For that reason, it is beyond doubt that cloud gaming is the future. Furthermore, like many other industries, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency will play a key role in the development of gaming access.

Blockchain will enable the transition to the cloud and enhance the network effect, whilst cryptocurrency will truly empower gamers by monetising that network and incentivising participants with the draw of profit should they invest in the ecosystem. Gamers rent the computing power of others without having to purchase an expensive new piece of hardware, whilst miners earn from lending their hardware. All seamless and over the blockchain network. Streamlined gaming to the benefit of everyone.

There are similarities between the worlds of investing in digital assets and investing time in gaming, there are natural human senses, motivations and impulses that are very similar when engaging with both activities.

A gamer plays a game because the desire to win and an investor makes a trade because they want to profit. Sometimes, gamers are remunerated for winning, you've only got to look at the explosion in eSports over the past few years, which arguably enhances the desire to win. With investing and cryptos in particular, mainly because they are so volatile at the moment, the potential monetary rewards are what make investing or trading cryptocurrencies the ultimate compulsive trigger, however investors must ensure that they understand the risks involved as well as an opportunity to profit.

Despite the similarities in human motivation, too often people compare gaming to investing as in both instances the person placing their money on an outcome is for the most part making a calculated decision on what they expect that outcome to be. "Taking a punt" on a horse in a race or a number on a roulette table is seen by many as the same as buying or selling a share. But cryptos shouldn't be likened to gaming in the same way that investing in stocks and share shouldn't either. They should be seen as an investment and asset class in their own right. There will be winners and losers (or more accurately successes and failures) in the crypto space with some going onto truly transform and innovate their industries. Of course if an investor has backed a company's token and that company goes onto succeed, then the rewards could be hugely significant for that investor.

For Playkey's token PKT, we spent many weeks at the end of 2017 travelling the globe to present to investors and show them why our business idea and model is worth consideration. Thankfully, our efforts paid off and we saw strong demand for the token sale when we did our ICO, allowing us to raise $15M, demonstrating a huge interest from those who believe we can change online gaming for the better, utilising blockchain technology.

Egor Gurjev is CEO at Playkey