Watch virtual fur fly as ‘CryptoKitties’ go wild

NEVER mind Bitcoin mania taking the doyen of virtual currencies into the stratosphere.

The real online craze to get with right now is to breed virtual cats.

Net-based cousins of the Tamagotchi digital pet launched in Japan 20 years ago, are wowing owners of Ethereum, one of Bitcoin’s main rivals.

With some 50,000 sold for more than US$6.6 million (RM27 million) in total, according to the creators’ website, the critters are steadily collaring the blockchain, the digital virtual ledger on which so-called crypto currencies run.

Ethereum owners use their virtual cash to buy the creatures, then to bring them up and feed them while taking care generally to look after their well-being.

Launched last week, “CryptoKitties” have become all the rage with on Ethereum communitytransactionplatforms and have already account for some five per cent of exchanges, according to specialist data site ETH Gas Station.

The game, a self-running ‘smart contract’ app created by Canada’s Axiom Zen, requires a computer running the desktop version of the Chrome browser or Firefox MetaMask, a digital wallet.

Each kitten has unique characteristics — all logged on the Ethereum blockchain — as well as an unlimited lifespan.

According to its creators, “CryptoKitties are collectible and breedable digital cats.

“WhentwoCryptoKittiesbreed, their offspring’s appearance and ‘cattributes’ are determined by each parent’s 256-bit genome and an element of chance, leading to 4-billion possible genetic variations.”

Prices in this pixels-pet market place Wednesday ranged from 100,000 Ethereum (around RM910) for “Hot Cats Here” — who admits to a “secret indulgence” for steak — to G17 Mouki, going for less than one hundredth of a cent and with a confessed penchant for lasagne and cereal. — Relaxnews