I guess it had to come to this. Blockchain gamers are making a lot of money and we’re not getting any younger.
And that leads me to consider my debt to society and future generations. Nothing if not forward thinking, I am thinking about my grandchildren. I don’t have any; my children are just little kids.
But I’m positive some of the ‘digital jpgs’ I own will still be around in 100 years time, even when I’m not.
Boy, what a sombre opening paragraph.
Hard facts, positive spin
But it’s this thinking game developers in the blockchain era will have to consider.
Of course, there’s already some discussion around how to handle the social media accounts of the deceased but that sort of framing isn’t sufficiently robust when you consider the value accretion of digital assets over the past year, let alone a decade or a century.
Anecdotal for sure, by I’ve already had a discussion with an older cryptohead who gets his adult son to regularly access the family safe and unlock his wallet to ensure if anything untoward should happen, the wealth can flow generationally.
Certainly I’m not at anything like that level, but starting with my wife, we are going through an educational process, setting up Coinbase and Metamask etc. Next step hardware and multisig wallets.
Yes, it’s a pain but also it’s an opportunity.
And in the context of blockchain gaming - as we’re already seeing with Axie Infinity and Yield Guild Gaming - this new way to play is already impacting the world in a way gaming has never done before.
Financial (gaming) services
Thousands of people are now earning some or all of their living playing a game. Axie Infinity has just tweeted that its players need to adhere to their local (tax) regulations.
Some games are already ahead of the curve. For example, CipSoft’s LiteBringer gives you a rough tax breakdown of your gains. It’s something I expect will become a standard for all blockchain games. If nothing else it will be a new revenue stream.
In that vein, it’s not ridiculous to think game companies will offer their key earners wealth management services, including custodial access that ensures the family of a digital asset billionaire hit by the proverbial bus won’t be hunting around for 12 word recovery phrases hidden in obscure places.
The final step will be blockchain games companies getting banking licences and issuing debit and credit cards backed by the assets in players’ accounts. Mortgages and pensions will follow.
(Blockchain) Gaming; it’s eating the world but soon it’s going to power the world.