New Project Lets Gamers Play Pokémon Using the Bitcoin Lightning Network
Software engineer João Almeida is bridging the blockchain with the world of Pokémon.
His creation ‘Poketoshi’ is designed to let players come together, use a virtual controller and pay 10 Satoshi for each command: Up, Down, Left, Right, A, B, Start and Select. The idea is to show off the efficiency of the Lightning network and see if the community can beat the game by working together.
— João Almeida (@joaodealmeida94) June 19, 2018
A live stream of the game is up and running on Twitch, although it looks like it’s been a while since a new move has been submitted.
A Satoshi is the smallest unit of a Bitcoin recorded on the blockchain, representing one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin or 0.00000001 BTC.
The Lightning-enabled processor implements payments through OpenNode, a multi-layered Bitcoin payment processor for merchants.
With the implementation of the OpenNode payment channel on the Lightning Network, Almeida’s Poketoshi shows Bitcoin’s integration as a payment option in the online gaming environment.
Effective scaling on the Lightning Network will require all types of use cases and applications. The gaming sector, in particular, presents an interesting use case because of the intersection between crypto enthusiasts and gamers. They can bring enough traffic and attention to help test the strength of a network, as they did last December when the blockchain game CryptoKitties exploded onto the scene and choked the Ethereum network.
Poketoshi also highlights the strength of OpenNode for enterprise-level custom integration that promises PayPal-like functionality. OpenNode is working on plugins for Shopify and other e-commerce platforms to make LN compatible with online stores. They’re also engaged with Point of Sale (PoS) businesses and brick-and-mortar stores to create LN solutions. But one of the most critical layers required to spur adoption of Bitcoin as a payment option involves facilitating fiat conversion. OpenNode is hoping to partner with exchanges to make it happen.
Lightning Labs launched the first Bitcoin mainnet-ready Lightning Network (LN) implementation on March 15. Since that time, developers at Lightning Labs launched the Eclair Wallet on April 4, the first LN mobile wallet for Android users.
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