Since we’re in the early days of crypto, I think it makes sense to invest mostly at the platform layer in technologies like Ethereum. Platforms like this will likely thrive even if most tokens built on them end up failing. But while most ICOs at this point are overhyped and overbought in my view, there are some projects with a lot of potential.

I see FunFair, an online gaming and casino platform, as a highly promising albeit risky investment. I think its token, FUN, has a decent shot at growing to 25x it’s current value in the next 5–10 years i.e., over a 1.5 billion dollar market cap.

Now that’s a bold statement so let me back this up with some concrete reasons…

10x better than the competition

Current casinos built on Ethereum are exceptionally costly and slow. This is because every transaction e.g., bets within a game must be validated on-chain which requires processing time and transaction fees. For example, a single dice roll on Etheroll can take 2 minutes and cost over a dollar!

FunFair on the other hand uses a new patented technology called Fate Channels that allows it to only settle the opening and closing of a game on-chain, not all the bets/plays in between. This minimizes transaction fees and maximizes speed leading to effectively zero latency.

The FunFair team has a strong product focus on what it calls the three Fs: Fun, Fair, and Fast. From trying out their demo, I can say it has a fun, seamless UX that makes it feel like you’re walking through a physical casino — minus the stench of cigarette smoke. You can see the showcase at https://showcase.funfair.io/

But even if FunFair beats other Ethereum casinos, this still begs the question, why have Ethereum casinos in the first place?

Solves the Core Problem Faced by Online Casinos

Currently users have no way to trust online casino operators. There’s no guarantee that the odds aren’t rigged or that you’ll ever get back the money you deposited.

FunFair on the other hand runs on transparent contracts that are auditable in realtime and guaranteed to execute as written. Everything is out in the open and the casino operators can’t cheat. Furthermore, users are not forced to deposit their funds into the casino, they can simply wager their existing tokens.

What’s significant here is that this trust edge won’t just let FunFair compete with online casinos but will potentially let it capture market share from physical casinos as well. This is because trust has been the barrier preventing more folks from choosing online casinos. As FunFair co-founder Jez San puts it:

“When you think about how other land based incumbent operations have been disrupted by online equivalents, whether its online shopping, uber taxicabs, ebay and so on, you’ve got to wonder why online casino gaming has had such a mild impact on the land based equivalents, especially when there are so few actual casinos, and they’re often sited quite far from where people live and its often inconvenient to make the trek to get there.”

Strong Team

FunFair’s founders have a proven track record of innovating in the gaming industry. Co-founder Jez San pioneered the first 3D graphics-based games at Nintendo in the 80s before moving into online gaming, starting PKR, which grew into a leading poker site. FunFair’s founders have domain-specific expertise, connections to many industry players, and strong knowledge of blockchain technology. You can tell by reading the white paper that all dimensions of the project from user experience to marketing to legality and regulation are exceptionally well-thought out.

FunFair Token Serves a Purpose and is Deflationary

Sometimes you see neat ICO projects, but it’s not clear if/how the token will reflect the project’s success or even if there’s a point of creating a token in the first place. FunFair minted the FUN token to drive an economy of players, affiliates and operators, and game makers. Players make wages in FUN, casino operators pay for their license in FUN and get their revenue in FUN, and game makers get paid in FUN — among other use cases for the token. There is a finite number of tokens that will ever be produced (~17 billion) and tokens get fractionally burned in transactions overtime. This means the total number of FUN tokens in circulation will diminish, thus increasing the value of each FUN — all things being equal.

Compelling Growth Mechanisms

Beyond a strong product, FunFair has growth potential because it’s serving as a platform on which new operators can come along and license the technology to build their own highly customizable casino and playing experience. Currently infrastructure and operating costs eat a lot of the margins from online casino operators, but since FunFair is serverless it has minimal operating costs.

Clear Roadmap, Progress, and Transparency.

A lot of ICOs are fuzzy on details. FunFair has a clear roadmap which they’ve made solid progress on so far. You can see more at: https://funfair.io/roadmap/ I also like that the founders are very prompt and transparent with answering questions, and there’s an active community on Discord and Reddit.

Closing Thoughts

While there may be loftier projects out there like Aragon and Golem, I think we also need simple, practical use cases like FunFair that serve as a stepping stone to introduce the mainstream to the powers of blockchain tech. After all, when it came to the Internet, we got eBay and Craigslist long before we got self-driving Lyfts and refrigerators that talk to your phone.

I could see FunFair becoming the first dapp (decentralized application) that is widely used by non-technical folk.

Of course, investing in FunFair like any crypto is high risk. If you decide to invest, I’d do so with caution and not risk more than you are willing to lose.

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