Philip Rosedale's been talking about it for years, and now it's finally here -- the blockchain-based cryptocurrency for his social VR world High Fidelity can now be exchanged for US$:
High Fidelity users can now convert High Fidelity Coin (HFC) into U.S. dollars. This opens the possibility for people to earn real money creating and selling virtual goods and services within High Fidelity. We see this as a vital step in the emergence of a thriving High Fidelity economy: the flywheel of innovation and creativity in any marketplace starts when creators have positive incentives to contribute to the growing body of content for sale. In time, we hope creators will be able to support themselves by selling items in the Marketplace, charging for the experiences they create, and offering useful in-world services to other creators and performers.
This is noteworthy for at least a couple reasons. Unlike most (all?) other blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, HFC is tied to the US dollar (the rate is fixed at 100 HFC = 1 USD), with supply tightly controlled by High Fidelity the company, to prevent inflation. Also noteworthy that this is among the first (only?) blockchain-based currency connected to a seamless consumer experience. As Philip told me last year:
“In the client you will just have a simple 'balance' and an 'inventory' of things you own," he explains. "If you are asked to pay for something, you may have to enter a password. You won't have to do any fancy cryptocurrency things. The differences with using a blockchain are behind the scenes, and not visible to a casual user.”
This, and the central control on wild fluctuations in value, makes HFC distinctly different from Bitcoin and other crypto, which are used more for speculation, than actual money. As he told me last year:
"If you call something a 'currency' but make it scarce so that it is also a 'speculative investment', which is what has happened with Bitcoin and Ethereum, you end up with more of an investment or commodity than anything else. I think there is great value in a digital currency that has little (or no) speculation value, but a very stable exchange rate. No one else is doing this yet, so we are going to do it.”
Much more here. Users are unable to buy HFC just set, either for US$ or other crypto, so the currency's impact on High Fidelity virtual economy, and cryptocurrency in general, has not yet developed. But soon will.
https://descargar-apks.com
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Posted by: ram kishore | Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 04:14 AM
Sounds like HFC is a classic "fiat-collateralized stablecoin" (a cryptocurrency with the primary goal of maintaining a stable exchange rate, backed by a fiat currency like USD). There are many other cryptocurrencies attempting to do this (like Tether). Fiat-collateralized coins like this really need regular audits to ensure transparency. Otherwise, the stablecoin owner could be running things as a fractional reserve, which is not. a. good. thing.
Coming up with a stable cryptocurrency that really works a big race 2018-2019. Nobody in fintech is exactly sure what the best route is, so lots of folks are approaching the problem in diferent ways (good overview at https://hackernoon.com/stablecoins-designing-a-price-stable-cryptocurrency-6bf24e2689e5).
My new gig is working exactly in this space, so I'm looking forward to seeing how HFC pans out in the future.
Posted by: Pathfinder | Wednesday, August 29, 2018 at 10:19 AM