I love playing with a standard deck of 52 cards. I learned card tricks from my grandfather and would show them off at social gatherings. To this day, I still perform the odd party trick to impress my friends. Who doesn’t love a good card trick?
I’m not one for the NFT world. I think it’s a lot like the dot com bubble in the late 90’s early 2000’s. I don’t care to own a bunch of NFTs that I feel will precipitously drop in value once the music stops. However, when Crypto.com (my favourite crypto app) said they’re launching playing card NFTs, I had to see what it was all about. After looking into it, I found out I could make an easy buck or two, so why not? I got to learn a bit about the NFT gaming space in the process.
Crypto.com Plays Poker with NFTs
Here’s the deal (pun intended):
Crypto.com will release one suit at a time, starting with diamonds
In all, they will release 11,000 cards. 1,000 copies of 2 through 10 and 500 copies of Jack, Queen, King, and Ace
Whoever has the best poker hands by September 10th wins CRO. Standard poker rules apply. [ details found here ]
There are 1,000 prizes to be given out. The bottom 400 people get an NFT, which I am not super interested in. The top 600 people get CRO, which I can use to reimburse myself for this ridiculous (but fun) experiment.
How Much I Paid
I bought 3 cards the day they dropped to $10 per card. Ideally, if I want to win one of the two higher prizes (1,200 CRO or 3,000 CRO :: $192 or $480), then I am going to need a pretty good hand. Luckily, I drew two 8’s and a 7. This got me pretty close to a full house. I went to the marketplace a couple of days later and bought another 8, and another 7 for $36.
After everything was all said and done, I spent $66 on imaginary playing cards.
What I Hope To Win
Ideally, my full house (8, 8, 8, 7, 7) is enough to win me one of the top 600 prizes. Any one of which will allow me to more than break even on this game of poker. Even if I am in the bottom 300-600, I will walk away with about $30 in profit. In the best-case scenario, I walk away with about $414 in profit.
Why Do This At All?
I am a sucker for playing cards. I couldn’t resist getting a hold of some of these playing cards and taking part in a fun online NFT game. Plus when I did the math on it, it seemed like there was a way for me to guarantee walking away with more than I started with. A lot of the NFTs on other platforms just feel like people are throwing their money away, whereas I saw a clear 10-day path to making a quick buck.
Additionally, the poker game being played is apparently going to go on for quite some time. As I already discussed, Crypto.com has only released diamonds so far. There are still 3 more suits to go. I imagine that as more suits are released, Crypto.com will ramp up the rewards, as well as the number of ways to win. Getting a hold of a decent set of cards now might pay big later.
Investing in the Crypto.com Ecosystem
I’ve written extensively on the Crypto.com ecosystem in the past. The reason being is that they are a big key to how I’ve managed to Go Full Crypto. I frequently label them my “crypto bank” when giving crypto advice to my clients. If I’ve learned anything from using their service, it is that they create engagement incentives across all of their platforms. Their platforms include the Exchange, the App, the NFT platform, and their blockchain (Crypto.org). By engaging in one, you can earn on another, and so forth.
This whole NFT experiment with the poker game is not just to earn a quick buck. I am investing in the Crypto.com ecosystem as a whole by participating in their engagement campaigns. They frequently tie two or more of their platforms together, in hopes that people will use all of their services. After all, Crypto.com makes money when its users engage with their apps.
Supercharger and NFTs
The most recent example of this happening is with Crypto.com’s latest supercharger event. If you’re not familiar with supercharger, here’s a brief overview.
Supercharger is a passive income scheme that you would regularly see in DeFi, without the complexity and high fees of dealing directly with the blockchain. In other words, it’s DeFi (Decentralized Finance) made simple, through CeFi (Centralized Finance). Make no mistake though, it is a centralized program, put on and paid for by a centralized entity. Crypto.com takes deposits in CRO, and uses that capital elsewhere.
They then give their users an ROI based on how much CRO was deposited into their supercharger account on a 10, 30, or 45 day basis. The 10, 30, or 45 days after the supercharger “charging period” has ended is the reward period. Every day for 10, 30, or 45 days, users get a payout directly deposited into their account.
Now that I’ve explained supercharger, I can talk about Crypto.com’s latest event. Their Axie Infinity Supercharger Booster. Crypto.com will give 10x the supercharger rewards (estimated 80% APY) to 10 different users who participate in the event. This is where the genius of Crypto.com comes in. In order for users to be eligible for rewards, they need to be signed up on the App, the NFT platform, and the Exchange.
The reason why this is genius is because it will allow Crypto.com to associate the accounts, and collect more data. This allows them to have a better idea of how all of their users are using all of their various offerings.
Data & Privacy
Crypto.com is a private company, that is digitally based, operating in the 21st century. I know they’re collecting my data. I’m not naive about this. I wouldn’t be using any of their services if I was uncomfortable with them collecting my data. According to Crypto.com’s Security Page, and industry reports, they are one of the most secure private crypto companies in the space, as measured by independent reputable 3rd party security audits.
I know that relinquishing access to my data and privacy is part of the price I pay for gaining access to the services I want. Since Crypto.com is offering me financial services that are 100x better than my banks, that is a price I am willing to pay. Besides, it is not like they have eyes on my entire cryptocurrency portfolio, what I have on Crypto.com is just a chunk of my entire holdings.
Act Now, Be Rewarded Later
I’ve noticed that by participating in more events now, there are more rewards later. May that be because you have more CRO to play around with, or because they’ve done a surprise promotion for people who’ve engaged in their products. Regardless, I see Crypto.com as a company that is here to stay, and one that will capture a significant market share of the next billion people to come into the world of cryptocurrency.
I don’t see similar companies like FTX and Binance doing the same thing as Crypto.com because I think they’re (Binance & FTX) offering a niche product. That is, they’re offering something to traders, gamers, and investors. Crypto.com is offering general financial services in a way that is familiar to the average individual who is used to using a regular bank account. I intend to profit from their efforts to onboard the next billion users of cryptocurrency.
Offer to Premium Subscriber
If you haven’t already signed up on Crypto.com, they're having a promotion right now (today only). If you use this link to sign up and get one of their metal Crypto Visa Debit Cards, you will get USD $50 worth of CRO, and so will I.
My offer to you is a free 30 minute consultation to go over the Crypto.com with you. I can answer whatever questions you may have, and recommend some strategies for you to grow your wealth.
Cheers,
Keegan
Disclaimer: I am an investor of CRO. I have a bias towards Crypto.com’s signature token (CRO) as well as the use of their platform over other platforms offering something similar. I recognize my incentive to promote their brand and their product but retain the original intention to provide useful actionable advice for readers and subscribers to my newsletter.
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