As we are finally approaching the mainnet launch of zkHoldem, one of the most frequently asked about questions from our rounder community is how the In-game economy will look like & how can users redeem their CHIP.
In this article, we will dive deep into the zkHoldem In-game Economy, and share more insights into the innovative NFT-based redemption mechanism we have designed that is secure, decentralized & instant.
The Pachinko Way
Before we go into the specifics of the zkHoldem Redemption flow, I would like to take a minute and introduce Pachinko (パチンコ), a prominent gambling industry in Japan & its unique business model from which we drew heavy inspiration.
Pachinko parlors are casino-like venues featuring mostly slot machines, widespread across Japan.
Although cash gambling is heavily restricted in Japan, Pachinko has managed to operate for decades and has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment of this country, thanks to its unique Payout model.
All the machines in a Pachinko parlor operate with Pachinko balls. People purchase Pachinko balls to play the games, and receive more Pachinko balls as their winnings.
Within the parlors, the Pachinko ball can be exchanged for “prize tokens” (特殊景品) . Although these tokens are worth nearly nothing in and of themselves, once the player is off-premise, he/she can sell these tokens for a set price to the vendors not far away from the Pachinko parlor. The vendors then sell those tokens back to the parlor for the same price, plus a small commission.
Since the vendors & the Pachinko parlor are legally independent enterprises from each other, the exchanges among parlor <> player <> vendor don’t violate the law.
The zkHoldem Flow
Now that we are familiar with the Pachinko model, it would be fairly easy to understand how can a similar Economy System work for zkHoldem.
In zkHoldem, the zkHoldem NFT will take place of the prize token, and serve as the medium with which the players exchange $CHIP back to their original asset when they want to leave the zkHoldem ecosystem.
Let’s take a step back, and clear something up first:
What is $CHIP?
$CHIP is the zkHoldem native in-game asset that is non-transferable, stable in value, and used specifically for in-game betting.
You know, just like the chips that you’d use in a casino.
When a player comes to zkHoldem, the first thing they need to do is to purchase $CHIP with their ETH, and then they can use the $CHIP to buy into games and start playing. Given that $CHIP is not tradable on secondary market and it has a fixed exchange rate against ETH, the players don’t need to worry about the its price going down 35% in the middle of a hand.
How do I redeem through NFTs?
After you are done with poker and wish to redeem your $CHIP, you can purchase the zkHoldem NFT with your remaining $CHIP directly on the zkholdem DApp.
The NFTs can be traded on the NFT AMM provided by our partner EZswap, where a deep liquidity will always be available for players to sell into.
Since it’s using a flat bonding curve, meaning the price never changes regardless of the sales, you don’t need to worry about slippage or mev.
The NFT price will be fixed at 95% of its $CHIP value, and the 5% will be used as the service fee for the liquidity provider.
However, since there is 0 rake for games within zkHoldem, so the 5% will be the only fee that the player will experience in their entire journey on zkHoldem.
Hope this article can help you better prepared for the mainnet launch of zkHoldem, and we will share more information leading up to the launch regarding our NFTs, ignition programs and future plans.
Join Us
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zkholdem
Discord: https://discord.gg/jjbSHQVnwg
Website: www.zkholdem.xyz
