Forward thinkers in the gambling space have already identified blockchain as a technology that is going to change the way we do things. The smart ones, such as Karolina Pelc, have already begun the process of exploration and education on how blockchain can better their business.<\/p>\n
Pelc, who was named one of the most influential women in iGaming by iGB, featured on Facebook\u2019s \u201cShe\u2019s Got Game\u201d and most recently nominated as Entrepreneur of Excellence at UK National Diversity Awards, has been working in the gambling industry for over a decade. Her vast experience spans from Casino Dealer to Head of Casino to consulting with C-levels to starting up her own company, SharedPlay.io, where she now serves as the Founder and CEO.<\/p>\n
SharedPlay is in that \u201cexciting pre-product\u201d stage as Pelc describes it, where she\u2019s hiring people and putting together the product road map to fulfill \u201cbig dreams.\u201d During this process, Pelc has been studying the latest trends and technology surrounding the gaming space and blockchain is at the top of her list.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard about blockchain years ago\u2026but I think all those speeches and presentations at conferences for many years were falling on deaf ears because people didn’t really understand and they were scared to ask questions,\u201d Pelc shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I have to say, it’s in the last year and a half, and especially this year, where it all exploded and you can’t really not be interested in this anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the more I read about it, the more I realize that for the first time this year, I think people are starting to see the revolutionary impact that blockchain can bring to the industry and especially to gaming because it is gaming where it’s currently booming,\u201d Pelc added.<\/p>\n
Pelc\u2019s vision at SharedPlay is to redefine how people gamble and she plans to do this through introducing a community element into a real money gaming offering, allowing people to interact with each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis application of blockchain and NFTs in the metaverse sort of environment is just making me think constantly that if this has such success and such application in gaming industry\u2014as the traditional gaming industry\u2014it must be applicable to our industry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must find a way to tokenize certain things and take advantage of all these benefits of transparency and transferability of things,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Using blockchain tech to simplify player referrals is another area that Pelc is studying. The traditional way of inviting a friend is too slow and complex and Pelc wants to facilitate urgency with referrals at SharedPlay. NFTs and proprietary tokens have also piqued her interest and she sees huge value in these blockchain-powered innovations for her product.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at how for the first time ever, the sort of collectible elements of collecting soccer cards or loot from video games and so on, it goes back to the old times where you actually could hold a physical asset and make sure it’s yours and you could exchange it and you could play with it. You could give it to other people,\u201d Pelc explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that was lost when we first entered the online industry and now people are realizing that the NFTs element, the token element, brings this back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my product would be the perfect application, it\u2019s just I am missing that in-depth expertise or research time to figure this out. But I totally plan on doing that,\u201d Pelc added.<\/p>\n
The amazing news here is there are professionals already bridging the blockchain and gaming space who are happy to share their knowledge on elements such as referrals and NFTs and\/or tokens using blockchain tech. Some of these professionals even have products available for someone such as Pelc to learn from or even work with\u2014take Haste Arcade with its player referral feature or CryptoFights with its NFT marketplace, for example.<\/p>\n
Speaking of BSV-powered Haste, a leaderboard concept like they have is also part of Pelc\u2019s vision for SharedPlay, along with creating as much of a gamified experience as possible for players.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our product, we want to go towards more collaborative gamification rather than competitive and we want to create leaderboards or some type of a contest between groups rather than between individual players,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve always been talking about this whole concept of achievements, and they’ve been a little bit useless because players change the brands so often and they abandon their achievements at one and then they have to start over in another one,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the whole just high-level idea of players being able to trade their achievements or sell a missing achievement for someone to attain a special status or whatever,\u201d Pelc added.<\/p>\n
NFT marketplaces, similar to what FYX Gaming offers its CryptoFights players, are a perfect example of how Pelc could facilitate the exchange of \u201cachievements\u201d between games. The BSV blockchain, in particular, features incredibly low fees as in a fraction of a penny, so referring friends and selling items becomes an easy and instant process, totally possible at any price, from anywhere in the world. It\u2019s worth noting that BSV is now the world\u2019s largest public blockchain in terms of major utility metrics, including data storage and daily transaction volume, scaling ability and average block size.<\/p>\n
While all of these blockchain-based solutions\u2014in addition to the whole idea of storing player data on the immutable blockchain\u2014sounds simply fantastic in theory, the perception of blockchain by regulators and operators in the gambling industry is still tainted from the past and education is needed to turn the dial.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time you mention that you want to try something like this, because people don’t know it, they assume that this is something they shouldn’t be diving into\u2026a lot of myths are being repeated over and over again or misconceptions, so I think education would be useful to all of us,\u201d Pelc confirmed.<\/p>\n
More education on blockchain for all stakeholders in the gaming industry and curious minds like Pelc\u2019s will accelerate the adoption of the technology. For those who wish to jump ahead of their competition, the discussions about blockchain\u2019s application in gaming must start happening now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m open for expertise exchange because I do believe in solution specialization. I’m not going around claiming that I’m a blockchain expert and I’m not going to try to build all these things by myself,\u201d Pelc shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone is interested in exchange of ideas, I know the real money gaming product pretty well, I\u2019ve spent 10 years in product roles, so I can probably inspire some people what they can build,\u201d she offered.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I would also want to understand if there’s anything they could contribute and help me brainstorm what is it that we could do with this specifically for my project, which is already a quite innovative space for this to be different. I’d be open to talk and I encourage anyone to reach out,\u201d Pelc added.<\/p>\n