How does the game 'Hamster Smash' fulfill Satoshi Nakamoto's dream?

Author: Ryan Gorman, CoinDesk; Translation: Baishui, Golden Finance

If the media reports and anecdotal information are credible, we are at the forefront of the wave of widespread adoption of Crypto Assets, with a group of people unaware that they are even using this technology, despite benefiting from it.

Click-to-earn games aren’t a new idea, but when applied to Web3, there’s an unprecedented explosion of Cambrian engagement in the industry, and Hamster Kombat is just the beginning. In many cases, rewards can bring a small amount of economic freedom that didn’t exist before.

A glimmer of hope

Iran is currently one of the worst-performing economies in the world, with very bleak job prospects for its residents, and constantly rising prices. This has led to the country adopting Crypto Assets at a faster pace than most countries. Iranians have long been among the top users of Tonkeeper and many other non-custodial Wallets as they seek new and different ways to use money and protect the value of their income.

However, even more surprising is the country’s attention to ‘Hamster Fast Strike’. Take the recent afternoon in Tehran, the capital of Iran, described by the Associated Press as an example.

During the early June heatwave, taxi drivers and cyclists in the capital of Iran madly tap their phones while waiting for the red light. Some pedestrians in Tehran are doing the same thing. They all believe they can get rich.

For these people, wealth is relative to the West when you consider that the currency has depreciated from 32,000 riyals to the dollar in 2015 to 42,000 riyals to the dollar currently. Meanwhile, meat prices soared 70% last year, and the cost of ride-sharing has doubled, according to the Associated Press.

No wonder Iranians seize any money-making opportunity they can find, but they are not the only group using promises to gain huge returns from mini-applications.

Children and Their Games

Since the existence of electronic games, children have been playing them. I played them while growing up, and still do - so do many of my friends. So do you, or if not you, many people who grew up with you. That’s what makes it even more fascinating.

Many people I talk to - colleagues, partners, attendees - have mentioned how much their children love “Hamster Bump”. Some of these children are only 11 or 12 years old and they keep playing.

These children, like many Iranians, frantically tap in various ways, including using massage sticks in some cases to optimize gameplay, and they may not know that Cryptocurrency is the basis for rewards and ultimate Airdrops. But they do know that top players will receive a windfall that would not have existed otherwise - whether they are in Iran, Iowa, or anywhere else in the world.

Yes, the rewards offered are likely to attract over 300 million Hamster Kombat players and continue playing countless other click-to-earn games that go live every week, but that’s not the real point. Just look at how electronic games in the 1980s replaced board games, and you’ll understand what’s happening.

For the first time in history, 300 million people interact with the Web3 platform with the support of Cryptocurrency, transcending all generations, backgrounds, and locations. As the younger generation becomes more inclined towards Cryptocurrency, it is only a matter of time before these platforms surpass existing ones, rather than a question of whether.