People are now using Ethereum to breed cartoon cats

Even though Ethereum has a totally different major purpose, one of the most popular applications of the moment based on it is CryptoKitties. Yes, you guessed it: it allows players to buy, sell and breed virtual cartoon cats.

Launched on November 28, the app has proven itself so popular that more than 4% of the total transactions in the Ethereum network were made through it, being surpassed just by one app, a token trading platform.

Anybody up for a crypto kitten?

The idea behind the app is simple: you acquire a cartoon kitty, with its unique set of attributes (called “cattributes” in the game). Then, players try generating new kitties, with their own, unique attributes, by “breeding” them with other players’ cats, in their stable.

A market place for kitties was also created, where they can be acquired or sold, with various prices, depending on the above-mentioned attributes.

Moving on to the “crypto” part of the app, it comes in because each of the felines are unique objects on the Ethereum blockchain, according to Quartz. Basically, it is as immutable and real as one unit of ether, the cryptocurrency used on the network.

In cases the makers of the game decided that they don’t want to be in charge and stop the game, players will still own their kittens. Also, there’s a high chance for this to become collectible items, which can eventually be sold for ridiculous prices.

The interest is getting bigger and bigger!

Currently, there is already a growing market for CryptoKitties, one of the felines being transacted for as high as $5,000. Also, a total of $66,000 has been already spend on kitty-based transactions so far.

CryptoKitties has 1,165 players right now, while the number of bred or released cats reached 16,877. The most valuable, Founder Cat #50, has a value of $4,766.60 at this moment, followed by Barnacles Gen 0!! ($916.82) and Chairman Meow ($566.72).

As one Twitter user calls it, the app can be considered a “modern day Pokemon with cats on the blockchain.”