Pokémon Go Creator Niantic Partnering With Fold To Build a ‘Bitcoin Metaverse’

Bitcoin rewards (cashback) startup Fold is working with Niantic, the mobile games studio best known for developing augmented-reality game (AR) Pokémon Go, to create a metaverse that will allow users to earn Bitcoin by collecting satoshis as they play.   

In case you are not familiar with Pokémon Go, here is a brief description from Wikipedia:

“Pokémon Go is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. A part of the Pokémon franchise, the game is the result of a collaboration between Niantic, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.

“It uses mobile devices with GPS to locate, capture, train, and battle virtual creatures, called Pokémon, which appear as if they are in the player’s real-world location. The game is free-to-play; it uses a freemium business model combined with local advertising and supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items. The game launched with around 150 species of Pokémon, which had increased to around 700 by 2021.“

Fold is a Bitcoin company that allows users of its Visa debit card (or pre-paid debit cards it offers) to earn a BTC reward on every purchase.

After they have made a purchase, users can go to the Fold mobile app (which seems to be available only in the U.S.) to “spin the wheel” for a chance to win Bitcoin.

Well, on November 23, Fold announced on its blog thatit was building a new metaverse, “a world where technology unleashes human freedom and happiness” through a partnership with Niantic, and mentioned that it had started “rolling out a limited beta” of the metaverse experience within the Fold App.

Here is what the description of the Fold app in the Google Play store says about the current metaverse experience it offers:

“Fold’s sat stacking game is free for all app users and has increased rewards for Fold Cardholders. Simply tap Play to enter the metaverse and stack as many sats and spins as you can.“

And here is what the blog post said about the metaverse feature of their app:

“To get started, simply open the ‘Play’ tab in the Fold App to discover bitcoin and other rewards hidden around you. The experience is very simple: every ten minutes, a new block appears somewhere around you and, if opened, will trigger an explosion of rewards.

“Rewards include satoshis (smallest unit of bitcoin—think cents to the dollar), extra spins to get more rewards on the Fold Card, time extensions to stay in the game longer and orange pills to protect you from harmful surprises. Beware as shitcoins and poison pills are in your midst threatening to take away your hard earned bitcoin. Have fun getting rich.“

The blog post went on to say:

“The AR experience acts as a natural extension of the Fold App which already gives you the ability to earn bitcoin going about your daily life: buying coffee, going shopping, paying bills, and even paying your taxes. While the experience is open to anyone, Fold Cardholders can collect extra spins and rewards boosts to increase their rewards on the Fold Card.

“The complete experience will drop next year and will enable individuals to find, trade, and hide bitcoin and other rewards throughout the world IRL, and will also give merchants the ability to engage the community with incentives and offers. It all started with someone saying ‘let’s make PokemonGo but for bitcoin’ and ended with ‘let’s build a new way to exchange and share bitcoin with others.’“

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.

Image Credit

Featured image is from a blog post by Fold (titled “The Gang Builds A Metaverse”) published on 23 November 2021

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