What’s up with the blockchain space? A new blockchain game and the BlackRock ETF

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On this week’s episode of CoinGeek Discussions, Dark 2 Light Founder Alex Fauvel and media personality RiceTVX joined the discussion to talk about the Unbounded Capital Summit, the Dark 2 Light game launch, and the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF filings. Tune in to hear all of this and much more!

The Unbounded Capital Summit

Zachary Weiner kicks things off by telling us he’s just back from the Unbounded Capital Summit in New York City. For those who don’t know, Unbounded Capital is a BSV blockchain-friendly fund focused on micropayment technology.

Weiner says Brenton Gunning, a key force behind the RUN protocol, will launch the Aldea blockchain soon. He says it’s a lot like Bitcoin, but it will aim to make it easier to build customer-facing applications.

Dark 2 Light

Fauvel and Shirish are guests on this discussion—both are involved in the Dark 2 Light game in different capacities. While Shirish is the technical guy on the team, Favel is the Founder. He says Dark 2 Light encourages us to ask questions and speak our minds. It’s both a party card game and is about to be released as an online game that utilizes the BSV blockchain.

Like many game developers, the Dark 2 Light team aims to keep the blockchain in the background. They feel it’s better if it isn’t mentioned at all and the users just enjoy the game. Once again, we see evidence that Bitcoin can be used as plumbing as its inventor intended.

Shirish, who has a history as a game developer, says he immediately saw the value in the card game and in taking it to a Web 3.0 platform. He’s focused on the online platform where single players play against thousands or millions of others. The questions will require yes/no answers, and he believes this could be a great way to understand people’s true opinions. The game launches just over a month from the time of this CoinGeek Discussion episode.

Shirish says each question is “like an on-chain object that accrued data over time.” The blockchain can be a universal source of truth, proving the data’s integrity.

Favel tells us that someone who types a question first owns it. For popular queries like “Do you believe in God?” people could make a pretty penny by getting in there first and collecting subsequent micropayments. BSVers familiar with the ecosystem can likely see the similarities with SLictionary. Each card has a QR code that links back to the on-chain question, so lots of card game players will be enticed to answer it in the online game.

Favel also explains how the data accrued could be fed to AIs, enabling them to answer yes/no questions better. There will also be NSFW categories, and people’s identities can be protected to allow them to answer these privately. As for how to deal with bots, KYC-verified accounts and rate limiting are some suggestions. He explains all of this in more detail in the conversation, so be sure to tune in and listen to it.

BlackRock and COPA v Wright

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application caused quite a stir earlier this year. It mentioned Dr. Craig Wright by name and detailed how BlackRock reserved the right to decide what Bitcoin fork is legitimate.

RiceTVX weighs in on this point, saying he won’t say what fork Bitcoin is yet. That said, he acknowledges that BTC is very far away from what Satoshi Nakamoto originally released.

The BlackRock ETF filing caught his attention, and he noticed someone had been stacking BSV coins; could it be the financial giant hedging its bets? Perhaps the firm is very aware of the ramifications of the COPA v Wright trial. He feels it has the financial firepower to influence BTC Core developers and gain control of the network through buying up mining operators, etc.

Weiner agrees that BlackRock has the money to truly dig deep and understand Bitcoin. He notes that it has its tentacles in every part of commerce. For this reason, among others, he feels they’d be more likely to conduct themselves in a way that allowed them to take over a company legally rather than expose themselves to holding native bitcoins. Furthermore, he agrees that the outcome of COPA v Wright is significant.

Greg Ward points out several cases outside of COPA v Wright that inform the outcome of this trial. He notes both that BlackRock is trying to make Bitcoin accessible as an investment and that Larry Fink is well-schooled on blockchain technology and speaks about it in terms of international settlements, smart contracts, etc. The BlackRock CEO can see beyond the investment vehicle narrative and must be aware BTC can’t do the things he speaks about.

RiceTVX says BlackRock must be bagging lots of BTC to back up its ETF. This could lead to a “ludicrous” valuation that staves off the dreaded chain of death for some time. He says the legal system is corrupt, and if BlackRock wants BTC to be Bitcoin, they can make it happen. The COPA v Wright trial will happen in the U.K., and other jurisdictions don’t have to agree. “It’s a game, and half of it is rigged,” he says.

CryptoVoyager disagrees that the outcome of the trial will be limited to the U.K. He points out that London is a huge financial center, and other jurisdictions will study the verdict closely. Companies like BlackRock will certainly not just ignore it. He also points out that Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) must be sure they’ll win as they are risking a lot—there could be a class-action lawsuit against them and other exchanges by everyone who bought Bitcoin since the split.

To hear more about COPA v Wright, the recent Cobra legal verdict, the Mark Cuban hack, SBF parents’ getting sued, and more, tune into the discussion on X.

Watch: Unbounded Capital Summit 2022 showcases what’s possible with a scalable blockchain