Yamzu Bets on Blockchain as eSports Game-Changer

A startup called Yamzu wants to win the competition to bring blockchain to the eSports industry.

Based in Sweden, Yamzu has been operating a platform since 2016 that allows gamers to compete against one another and to set up eSports tournaments. Now it plans to transition to a blockchain system and launch the presale stage of an initial coin offering (ICO). ESports refer to a multiplayer online video games played competitively for spectators, often by professional gamers, though amateurs can also play on some platforms.

After the company sells its Ethereum-based tokens, which will go by the abbreviation YMZ, eSports players will be able to use them to pay for merchandise and receive them as prizes. Yamzu will take a 12.5 percent administrative fee on all payments made through its system.

The main challenge in moving from traditional eSports to blockchain is explaining how the industry works to investors who have never played games.

The blockchain system will become the basis for Yamzu’s entire platform and will be used for setting up professional tournaments and validating data about scoring and wins. The ICO will run from Aug. 29 until Sept. 29 and will have a hard cap of 13 million euros. Each Yamzu will have an exchange rate of 0.1 ether (ETH).

According to Asiad Majeed, founder of Yamzu, the company realized about one year ago that a platform offering prizes to winning players would benefit from a secure payment system. The decentralized nature of blockchain can ensure that transactions can be trusted.

Moving From Points to Tokens

Today, Yamzu’s approximately 10,000 users get “Yamzu Points” to exchange for euros, but Majeed tells ThirtyK that using traditional technology to manage those points creates the potential for errors or fraud.

He adds that the transition from points to tokens will be nearly invisible to users. “It will be like flipping a switch. The gamers won’t have any trouble adapting to the new system.”