CoinLab obtains $500k in seed funding

[evoorhees]

Two cool pieces of news in this:

1) CoinLab obtained $500k in seed funding in Seattle.
2) They figured out an interesting new business model for monetizing "free to play" games.

http://www.geekwire.com/2012/bitcoin-startup-coinlab-lands-funding-tim-draper-monetize-games/

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[rasengan]

This is good news on so many different levels! 
Way to go!

[ElectricMucus]

So basically this is a webcl mining software (only available in google chrome beta)  with obfuscated javascript tied in to prevent "free" access to the games.

I have only one question: Where can I short it?

[evoorhees]

So basically this is a webcl mining software (only available in google chrome beta)  with obfuscated javascript tied in to prevent "free" access to the games.

I have only one question: Where can I short it?

It's probably a bit more well thought out than that.

[ElectricMucus]

So basically this is a webcl mining software (only available in google chrome beta)  with obfuscated javascript tied in to prevent "free" access to the games.

I have only one question: Where can I short it?

It's probably a bit more well thought out than that.

Maybe.
But the principle is the same and the question remains.

[DeathAndTaxes]

You can't short it.  It is privately held.

[fornit]

good news: this might actually work out.
bad news: it doesnt help bitcoin more than any other mining operation.

[evoorhees]

good news: this might actually work out.
bad news: it doesnt help bitcoin more than any other mining operation.

False. It shows two important things - that Bitcoin can be used for creative things and that investors are recognizing this. Very good for Bitcoin.

[rasengan]

False. It shows two important things - that Bitcoin can be used for creative things and that investors are recognizing this. Very good for Bitcoin.

Exactly! 

[damnek]

Vessenes estimates that the average gamer will generate 50 cents to $2 per day for the game companies by making that computing power available, working out to more than $15 per gamer per month.

Let's see how their numbers work out when ASIC mining becomes available.

[fornit]

good news: this might actually work out.
bad news: it doesnt help bitcoin more than any other mining operation.

False. It shows two important things - that Bitcoin can be used for creative things and that investors are recognizing this. Very good for Bitcoin.

bitcoin isnt used. its only mining, no actual use of the currency.
the whole "idea" is as far removed from being creative as possible. its the most basic way of earning money off bitcoin and doesnt require any investor to recognize more than the possibility that bitcoin might stick around for a while.

[Gabi]

Wow, great news!

Wurm Online is a nice game btw, a huge sandbox where you can build what you want and also "terraform" the world (dig, level etcetc the terrain, make hills, remove hills, plant trees, cut trees...etc)

[coretechs]

Legal botnet FTW.

[yunk3r]

This is fantastic, and hopefully at one point the game companies might start to accept btc as real payment for games and things.

[Nyhm]

The clever bit is that neither gamers nor game developers have to actually care about Bitcoin, as such. Gamers earn in-game perks for running some widget in their spare time (the mining software to be developed by CoinLab), CoinLab gets the mined Bitcoin, and the game developers that partner with CoinLab get some kind of cut (in USD$). The last part is a bit fuzzy; can anyone clarify the business relationship between CoinLab and game developers? The CoinLab site is currently asking for beta participants, but there is little more information.

All around, this seems a fine way to leverage Bitcoin to monetize freemium games. Yes, they're really just running a mining pool, but the business model they've built around it could gain more mainstream appeal (outside the realm of Bitcoin), which is a very good thing for Bitcoin. I'm also particularly interested in the future of Bitcoin with games, so I wish them the best!

[bearbones]

This is awesome. Great work Coinlab for having a solid idea and the balls to pitch it.

[Piper67]

The other clever bit is that with the drop reward cut looming, it will ensure a pool of mining for the long term.

[EhVedadoOAnonimato]

Vessenes estimates that the average gamer will generate 50 cents to $2 per day for the game companies by making that computing power available, working out to more than $15 per gamer per month.

Let's see how their numbers work out when ASIC mining becomes available.

I thought the same thing.
On the other hand, botnet are probably making some money out of the computers they infect and use to mine, since they don't pay for the electricity.
What I mean is that, maybe CoinLab miners (the gamers) will be spending more electricity on their mining than what CoinLab will generate of revenues, but CoinLab doesn't care, as they are not paying the bill. And the gamers probably don't care that much either, all they want is to play for "free" - actually, they would be tricking themselves or their parents into believing this is free. I don't know how far can this "lie" goes on, though. Once people figure it out, they would probably rather pay directly per time of game. That would be less expensive to the gamers and more profitable to the game companies.

[friedcat]

Legal botnet FTW.

Agreed. Seems like a voluntarily installed botnet to me.

[Nyhm]

The other clever bit is that with the drop reward cut looming, it will ensure a pool of mining for the long term.

Exactly, well put. Sustained mining is, of course, critical to the longevity of Bitcoin. Providing external incentive to run mining processes (such as the CoinLab model) for transaction fees could ensure a healthy distributed base of miners, even after the generation reward dwindles.

Since the reward for mining with CoinLab is tied to in-game credits/perks, the two economies (in-game digital goods and Bitcoin itself) can be scaled independently. That is, even if transaction fee "mining" earns fewer Bitcoin value than today's generation reward, this doesn't strictly mean that the in-game perks are reduced; the two are independent, and gamers still have an incentive to run the CoinLab mining software.

I thought the same thing.
On the other hand, botnet are probably making some money out of the computers they infect and use to mine, since they don't pay for the electricity.
What I mean is that, maybe CoinLab miners (the gamers) will be spending more electricity on their mining than what CoinLab will generate of revenues, but CoinLab doesn't care, as they are not paying the bill. And the gamers probably don't care that much either, all they want is to play for "free" - actually, they would be tricking themselves or their parents into believing this is free. I don't know how far can this "lie" goes on, though. Once people figure it out, they would probably rather pay directly per time of game. That would be less expensive to the gamers and more profitable to the game companies.

As I was responding above, you hit on exactly my point of the two economies. Gamers want to earn in-game perks, and the pure Bitcoin value of what their mining doesn't directly matter to them.

I would tend to believe that, even if gamers are told up front about the electricity cost, that they'd still get behind running the CoinLab mining software to earn "free" perks, just because it gives their gaming rig something cool to do.

Legal botnet FTW.

Agreed. Seems like a voluntarily installed botnet to me.

This is a good example of one primary point of the CoinLab article (original post). A major hurdle to starting a Bitcoin-related business is the stigma of the Bitcoin "brand." Just because users install and run distributed computing software doesn't make it a botnet. I used to run SETI@Home (and prime number factoring, etc) just because I want my computer to be doing something interesting when I'm not utilizing it. This does not a botnet make.