Verdict

Pros: Fun, made a small fortune, if you’re stuck holding a card the proceeds go to charity

Cons: You could end up not selling you cards, it’s early on and they go quick but that won’t last indefinitely

In summary:

This game is a gambler’s paradise and a conservative investor’s nightmare.

Original Article: Crypto Celebrities Day 1

Written by Jon Raum

Ok. So as dumb as this entire concept sounds, I decided to give it a try. I missed out on the whole Tron dog thing and have never actually owned any crypto dogs, cats, frogs or whatever else is out there. I have a habit of making fun of friends who do. Anyhow, I set judgement aside and went ahead and tried it.

What Is It?

Crypto Celebrities rewards early adopters who get to snap up the best digital real estate and then sell it on for a profit. Blockchain-based collectors’ games such as these create a level of FOMO that can cause assets to change hands for thousands of dollars.

At 4pm EST on Tuesday 23rd January, the Cryptocelebrities site was knocked offline temporarily, believed to be due to high demand.

Buying and collecting celebrity contracts?

How It Works:

Every available celebrity has one smart contract token. If you buy it, you own it — nobody else can touch it unless they pay you double the price you originally paid for the contract.

Some contracts are “official” verified contracts. When a celebrity verifies his or her smart contract, 3-percent of each sale is paid to the celebrity or forwarded to a charity of their choosing.

Celebrity smart contracts are visible on the Ethereum blockchain, and can only be purchased with Ether. Just like cryptocurrencies, every contract acts as a “coin” or “token” and can only be owned by one person.

You can purchase any celebrity contract that strikes your fancy, as long as you’re willing to pay the price. In the same vein, anyone can purchase your contracts as long as they’re willing to send you 2X what you originally paid for the contract.

(note: hard coded value appreciation is 2X from a contract price of 0 ETH to 0.05 ETH, 1.2X from 0.05 to 0.5 and 1.15X from 0.5 ETH and up).

While you might get a bit misty-eyed over not owning Angelina Jolie’s celebrity smart contract anymore, you won’t baulk at the return on investment. And if you want it back, all you have to do is repurchase it for the new price. Either way, you’ll always be visible on the blockchain as having owned the contract — even if you only owned it for a few minutes.

Anyone contemplating snapping up Hollywood’s — or Crypto’s — A-listers would do well not to get too attached. Anyone who wants to buy a celeb off its current owner can do so, and there’s nothing its owner can do to halt the sale. As the Cryptocelebrities website explains: “When someone else matches the current price, they’ll automatically snatch your Smart Contract. You’ll lose the card but you will receive up to double the amount you originally invested in ETH.”

Ok Screw It..

I set up my laptop (it has to be done from a computer) went to the back bedroom so I could try it out without my fiancé sneaking up behind me and judging. Next I went over to the CryptoCelebrities Website and joined in just a few minutes. Simple enough. The following step was to install Metamask Chrome Extension (while still on the CryptoCelebs website, there’s a link for you conveniently) took about 20 seconds. Ok not too bad.

I then sent over some Ethereum from our Exchange account on Binance. The ETH arrived in minutes and we then made our 1st purchase: Dave Chapelle! But Dave was sold before I could even get a screenshot.. damnit. But the fact that you make considerably more than what you paid for the card eases the sting of losing one of your favorite collectibles.

By the time I took a nap and got up to finish this blog post, 3 of my original purchases had already been bought for a profit of 1.9 ETH ($1,974.10)

After making nearly $2000 while I slept, I decided to call my employer and said ‘I’m rich bitch I quit.” I immediately called back and said “ok I’ll be in tomorrow.” But I hung up the phone feeling like I had options. (I don’t) But damnit it felt good, and they should appreciate me more.

The next day (Jan. 25th, 2018) My Eminem card has been sold at least 3 times, my Jay-Z is gone, I’ve owned P-Diddy or Puff A Lot or whatever the hell he calls himself nowadays, Conor McGregor, a few Kardashians and more.

This was actually pretty fun. As ridiculous as it sounds, I made a total of 8 ETH (A little over $8000) in less than 24 hours. Which is more than I would have made in the market with it not doing much yesterday. $8000 dollars. On imaginary trading cards. What in the fuck.. I love the blockchain.

From Bitcoin.com “It’s easy to write these primitive games off as ephemeral and frivolous — which they undoubtedly are — but they make for a fascinating study of human psychology, whilst demonstrating the concept of digital scarcity and the greater fool theory in action.”

Bottom Line: People Are Paying Thousands of Dollars for Crypto Celebrities on the Blockchain. And we got in on the action for a day, and it was a pretty cool experience.

P.S. Don’t touch my Eminem, Jay-Z or Machine Gun Kelly. I already lost Dr. Dre.

– Jon Raum CryptoClarified