The ASX made iCandy Interactive can plans to develop a cryptocurrency, but the mobile game maker’s chairman says digital money is the future of gaming.

“The video game industry and cryptocurrencies are [complementary] to each other,” iCandy (ASX:ICI) group chairman Kin Wai Lau told Stockhead.

“There are a lot of micro-transactions going on [among gamers] and developing an efficient way to make micro payments over a network is a big step forward for the video game industry.”

iCandy told investors on Monday that it had pulled back from plans to build a gaming platform called Nitro and its own in-house cryptocurrency called “NOX”.

Mr Lau says the ASX took issue with iCandy’s foray into creating a cryptocurrency — an element he sees as becoming increasingly part and parcel of online gaming, but which the ASX saw as a change of business activity.

“The discussion [with the ASX] was centered around whether by managing cryptocurrency, be it video-games related, iCandy has a change of its activities,” he said.

“We have since decided to focus on iCandy’s key contribution to the Nitro project which is its ability to use its gamers and developers network to publish games funded by Nitro project.”

The ASX has cracked down on companies that change activities, either in the course of business or as part of a backdoor listing, without shareholder approval.

Mr Lau says the new NOX currency will be for game publishers — users will pay for games they use on the site using the new cryptocurrency. iCandy is the exclusive publisher for Nitro.

Game developers — those who make the games rather than those who publish and market them — will be paid in Ethereum — one of the most popular cryptocurrencies.

“Ether is more universal and it’s easier for game developers to convert and pay any [real world] expenses they want,” Mr Lau said.

Cryptocurrency refers to digital money designed to be secure and anonymous. There are about 1000 different types of cryptocurrency — of which BitCoin and Ethereum are the most famous.

iCandy will be backing NOX, because it has the financial muscle to do so, and intends to make money out of the project.

Mr Lau says NOX will go on sale at an exchange rate of 1 ETH to 800 NOX.

iCandy’s publisher fee from Nitro will be 3 million NOX a year, which will equate to 3750 ETH.

At today’s rates, that’s just under $1.5 million.

Mr Lau says the 1:800 exchange rate is arbitrary, but they did consider what people normally spend on gaming sites while setting it.

Their gamers normally spend between US50c to $US5, and one NOX works out at about US25c to US30 cents.

Stockhead