Razer Creates a Bitcoin Clone for the Gaming Industry

The concept of issuing a digital currency has become quite appealing to companies over the past few years. Although no one will be able to successfully imitate bitcoin anytime soon, Razer is planning to launch their own virtual currency. zVault, as this currency is called, will become the preferred payment solutions for gamers. An intriguing concept, that much is certain.

Razer Wants To Take on Bitcoin With zVault

It is rather intriguing to see a gaming hardware manufacturer embrace the concept of digital currency all of a sudden. Up until this week, no one hard any idea Razer would create their own digital currency to shake up the gaming industry. Interestingly enough, the company did just that, as they announced the zVault ecosystem a day ago.

As one would come to expect from a native virtual currency, its number of use cases may remain somewhat limited for the time being. While Razer is a well-respected name in the gaming industry, they will have a lot of convincing to do before game designers and manufacturers accept this digital currency as a payment method. Then again, some companies have already signed up for this service, including IndieGala and GamersGate.

The zVault virtual currency platform will be based on zGold units. It takes 100 of these zGold units to have US$1 worth of purchasing power. This virtual currency can then be used to buy things on various online platform or even within specific games. This latter part is quite intriguing, as it will be interesting to see which ones decide to incorporate this new payment method. Considering how nearly every game has its own economy from the start, introducing zGold might seem redundant.

One of the main questions people have is why Razer would venture in this direction all of a sudden. The plan is to give users who pay in zGold a significant discount on all participating stores, which will be beneficial to consumers. One potential use case would revolve around buying Steam keys through GamersGate for a lower value than buying it in Valve’s marketplace directly. In this regard, zGold will compete with Bitcoin for market share.

However, zGold is not the only aspect of this new initiative. Razer also introduced zSilver, which is an additional “token”. Every purchase made with zGold will grant users the opportunity to earn zSilver, which can be used for multiple rewards. For people who like Razer and don’t want to buy the currency for their products outright, using zSilver can be a solution in the long run. Then again, it is all a marketing tool to lock people into the Razer ecosystem first and foremost.

It has to be said, the zVault name may not be the most marketable one either. It sounds like a very weird concept that may put off a lot of people before they even know what it represents. Everyone who is into gaming and likes Razer may want to check out this service, although it is unclear if it will be available internationally. Those people who use bitcoin for gaming purposes will have little to no reason to switch to zGold, though.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.