In Brief:
- Fold collaborated with Niantic for its AR game ‘Fold AR’.
- The game is Pokemon Go-themed, where players can collect rewards in Bitcoin.
- The rewards include Satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin.
A crypto debit card firm Fold in collaboration with Niantic, made an augmented reality (AR) game where players can earn rewards in Bitcoin. ‘Fold AR’ is a new AR Pokemon Go-like game that is themed around cryptocurrency.Â
Will Reeves, Fold CEO, revealed the details of this new game stating that it runs with the metaphor of ‘mining’ Bitcoin. So instead of capturing cute monsters, the central idea involves finding cubes of binary code and tapping them like Minecraft blocks until they fetch a prize.
The prize consists of Bitcoin in the denomination of Satoshis, a very small unit currently worth around 1/20th of a penny. The game also incorporates power-ups for Fold, also card purchases via an app that lets you spin a wheel that may reveal Bitcoin rewards. Players can also do extra spins to get more rewards on the Fold Card.
There are also time extensions that will allow users to stay in the game longer. Fold has made its game more appealing by introducing a few surprises here and there like shitcoins and poison pills that will take away your hard-earned coins. Also, there are orange pills to protect you from harmful surprises.
The AR game is just a natural extension of the Fold App, which already offers the ability to earn bitcoin by going about your daily life: going shopping, buying coffee, paying bills, and even paying taxes. The experience is open for all, with more perks for ‘Fold Cardholders’ who can collect extra spins and rewards to boost their rewards on the Fold Card.
In the next phase, Fold will unleash the complete experience that will enable individuals to trade, find, and hide bitcoin, along with other rewards. Further, it will also give merchants the ability to engage the community with incentives and offers.
In Fold’s blog post, the company framed the whole concept in an amusing way as – It all started with someone saying ‘let’s make PokemonGo but for bitcoin’ and ended with ‘let’s build a new way to exchange and share bitcoin with others.’
Along with Fold, Niantic also ramped up its investment in the metaverse, just after receiving a $300 million investment from Coatue yesterday. The company intends to use the funds to build the real-world metaverse. Partnership with Fold is a step further to achieve its goal.
