Online poker, like many other industries, is moving into the metaverse. Although crypto and gambling have formed a loose bond over the last decade, PokerFi is aiming to take things to a new level.
Brazilian pro Renato Maia is aiming to bring the metaverse and NFTs to gaming with a new platform called PokerFi. (Image: AMB Crypto)
The new platform, which is the brainchild of Brazilian poker pro Renato Maia, launched its own cryptocurrency in October 2021. These tokens are currently valued at $0.0006 and, once the poker site is live, they can be used to enter games and earn rakeback.
However, that’s not the only thing Maia has created. The platform’s next innovation will be a digital land auction that will take place on Jan. 12.
PokerFi to offer NFTs and more
Crypto poker sites aren’t new; Phil Ivey has links to a site called Virtue Poker. However, PokerFi is aiming to be more than a gaming platform. The startup’s roadmap outlines a grand plan to offer Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as well as digital land that people can buy.
NFTs and the metaverse are two emerging technologies. NFTs can be described, in simple terms, as digital signatures. In other words, they’re unique digital assets that exist on a blockchain and can’t be changed. Most common NFTs currently take the form of images and can be worth upwards of $1 million, based on their desirability and rarity.
PokerFi’s NFTs will take the form of artwork, including the company’s logo and player images. They’ll have utility on the platform for things like tournament buy-ins. PokerFi NFTs will also earn the holder a share of the network’s profit.
PokerFi founder Maia is also aiming to create a space in the metaverse. The term metaverse made the headlines in 2021 when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg hailed it as the future of digital technology (see video below).
The metaverse is a 3D digital world where people can engage in a variety of activities. For example, Star Atlas is a metaverse game on the Solana network. Players can buy starships, land, and equipment using a native token known as $ATLAS.
PokerFi metaverse brings digital casinos to life
PokerFi is aiming to offer something similar. People will be able to purchase land within the PokerFi metaverse starting on Jan. 12 and, as with other metaverse projects, PokerFi’s native tokens and NFTs will be the currency used to purchase virtual assets (see tweet below).
Have you ever imagine buying a land next to Great Wall? In the pokerfi metaverse it is possible.#financepoker#pokerfi#metaversePokerfi#nftpokerfinance#cryptocurrencies pic.twitter.com/xMA5A9Lpb9
— PokerFi (@FinancePoker) December 30, 2021
Landowners can use tokens to build their own digital casinos that they can rent out, sell, or run as a business (i.e. people can play games inside the digital casino).
Crypto has already found its way into poker, and because of that, a platform like PokerFi seems like a natural progression.
That said, Maia’s plans for PokerFi are certainly ambitious and are designed to take advantage of the hype surrounding the metaverse and NFTs right now. Whether he succeeds or not remains to be seen, but even PokerFi fails to gain any traction, it may be the start of a new era in online poker.
Written by
Daniel Smyth
Dan Smyth is a poker media journeyman who politely reminds CardsChat readers that poker is played all around the world, not just America.
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