Cats are taking over the blockchain 😸📈

CryptoKitties is the newest craze in cryptocurrency. So many people are buying, selling, and breeding CryptoKitties that the Ethereum blockchain is struggling to keep up with all the activity.

The average cat is trading for $100 in ether and users have spent over $3M total on breeding, buying and selling the in-game items (up from $1M yesterday).

Two days ago, a true believer of cat-based technologies bought the genesis cat (the first cat) for 250 ETH, which is over $100,000. Today, CryptoKitties is the most active smart contract on the Ethereum network, accounting for over 16% of all Ethereum transactions. 😸

CryptoKitties launched on Product Hunt six days ago, where maker Mack Flavelle explained the idea behind it:

“Blockchain technology could be the biggest revolution since the internet, but the majority of projects in this space are unapproachable to muggles. That's something we wanted to change with CryptoKitties. We figured- if you want to speak to regular people speak in regular language. And cats are the regular language of the internet.”

And went on to explain the dynamics of CryptoKitty:

“In CryptoKitties, users collect and breed digital cats. Through breeding, unique cattributes can be unlocked. Each CryptoKitty has a 256-bit genome that dictates its appearance and hidden traits, with 4-billion possible combinations. And we have Fancy Cats - kitties with custom art, including a little treat for Product Hunt fans.”

Right now the best way to try out CryptoKitties is by downloading MetaMask, a chrome extension that makes it easy to interact with the Ethereum blockchain directly from your browser. You're also going to need a little Ether, which you can buy from exchanges like Coinbase.

By leveraging the power of cats on the internet, CryptoKitties is introducing the public to cryptocurrencies and blockchain based technologies. If you want to learn a bit more about how the game mechanics work you can check out Fitz Tepper's excellent post on TechCrunch.

P.S. A big thanks to the CryptoKitties team for creating a lovable tatted-up Ship CryptoKitty (see header image). 😸⛵️

Check Out CryptoKitties

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