Dmarket – decentralized marketplace for virtual goods

https://dmarket.io/

Dmarket is a Ukraine based startup which plans to bring decentralized marketplace for virtual goods in the gaming world.  The white paper is listed here. Dmarket is a fully decentralized application on blockchain platform leveraging. Currently , they are leveraging Ethereum ERC-20 tokens for the ICO, and later will be incentivizing users through their own tradable Dmarket Token.At the moment, the system is being developed on Etherium, but in the future this platform will be revised and possibly replaced with a more economically robust one.

The final product might not be based on Ethereum. The team is still reviewing the following platforms for deployment EOS, Tezos, Aeternity, Exonum and a Bitshares fork as a possible base for DMarket.

Dmarket is currently running its ICO. On its 2nd day today August 20th , of ICO  Dmarket has already raised $8.5 million. ICO is divided in 2 phases, phase 1 starts August 17 to August 20th 2017 and phase 2 starts sometime in November 2017. Phase 1, value of 1 ETH = 1,000 DMarket tokens and during Phase 2 , value of 1 ETH = 750 Dmarket tokens. US Citizens or residents, unfortunately are not allowed to participate in this ICO.There are bonus percentages for participating in the ICO based on how early you participate. Current DMarket Tokens will be ERC-20 Tokens which will be distributed. As per the Token Sale Policy, the DMarket Tokens shall be sent to the User’s personal respective cryptocurrency wallet by the end of DMarket Tokens Sale phase #2 as defined in the whitepaper and on the Website. Which means the DMarket Tokens will be assigned in November 2017. 

After the Token sale period, all contributors will receive an ERC-20 exchangeable DMarket Token on the Ethereum network. After the launch of the main DMarket network, it will be exchanged 1-to-1 with a native DMarket coin.

CEO/Co-founder Volodymyr Panchenko has previously founded skins.cash , 2nd biggest virtual items marketplace for games. Alexander Kokhanovskyy has 17 years of gaming industry experience. 

The company is a competitor to existing digital distribution platforms like Steam. Steam made $3.5 billion revenue in 2016 alone. Steam did not allow direct monitory gains for trading virtual goods. Thats when the Founder Volodymyr built Skins.cash , so that gamers can indirectly monetize their virtual item skins through steam api integration. Based on that experience, the founder wants to replace Steam with the power of crypto-currency and blockchains.

At the moment, the team is reviewing the following platforms: EOS, Tezos, Aeternity, Exonum and a Bitshares fork as a possible deployment plaftorm for DMarket.

Dmarket plans to build an eco-system where games, developers and entrepreneurs can securely evaluate and trade virtual goods. The buy and sell orders will be deployed through smart contracts.

courtesy: dmarket white paper 

Future Dmarket Coin would be used for following 4 purposes:

  1. Currency to buy and sell in-game items.
  2. Delivering sales commissions to the original owners of the property.
  3. Buying premium accounts for wholesale or individual users.
  4. Purchasing big data analytics.

The good:

  • One of the first company to use crypto-currency as a renumeration for buying and selling virtual goods.
  • Crypto-currency is a game changer in gaming industry.If the platform and api’s are built as per expected, this can significantly disrupt this market.
  • Dmarket will provide a immutable blockchain based history or trail of an virtual good. This is a first of its kind value proposition. And can build a new trend of valuable virtual goods owned by a celebrity or a major player etc.
  • First, libraries and integration will cover most popular engines, such as Unreal, Cry Engine and Unity 3D.
  • Blockchains will eliminate significant frauds and security breaches in the centralized models.

The bad:

  • Team is still not sure on the deployment technology platform. Also, the considerations like EOS and others are still under development, this will bring more unpredictability on the scalability aspects and the platform development timeline.
  • ERC-20 token will be replaced 1-1 with Dmarket Token, this will cause dumping of Ethereum in the market. Also, its still not clear how the Dmarket Token supply will be regulated later.
  • Brand awareness would be an important challenge. Hopefully the team will have people on ground in North America for that.
  • The way the ICO is structured with 2 phases is pretty confusing, not sure the reason for the same.
  • New users might feel hard to circumnavigate through crypto-currency model of buying and selling and conversion to Dmarket token.
  • Competing with existing integrated platform like Steam and replacing it with Dmarket will be a big challenge. Understanding that Steam is built and owned by Valve.
  • At the moment, the system is being developed on Etherium, but in the future this platform will be revised and possibly replaced with a more economically robust one. This will be a expensive transition.

 

 

 

 

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to toolbar