Virtue Poker, one of the world’s most popular poker networks announced on Tuesday that is would begin selling its own tokens on April 25. The poker network is currently powered by ConsenSys, the largest global blockchain technology development studio.
The Virtue Poker system utilizes the power of smart contracts on Etheruem’s blockchain to create a decentralized poker network thus getting rid of most of the obstacles that plague online the online poker industry. These include fairness and the security of player funds which have always cause for concern in poker.
“Virtue Poker represents a bold early step towards revolutionizing the online gaming industry,” says ConsenSys founder and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin. “By enabling players to be in full control of their assets except in the moments that they are held in escrow by a smart contract, and by creating a framework within which shuffles are provably fair, Virtue Poker ups the ante regarding user-friendliness and security for the online poker and gaming industry.”
Virtue Poker uses the Ethereum blockchain to protect player funds, that is, its customers never deposit money onto the platform and, instead, the system uses smart contracts to commit player funds to Virtue Poker’s gameplay without transferring them to a third party. The system’s distributed shuffling mechanism makes this very secure since everything is distributed rather than being kept on a single server that is prone to hacking.
During its token sale, Virtue Poker plans to follow industry best practices to make it fair to all the potential buyers. Also, the tokens will only be sold to consumers who intend to use the tokens on the company’s platform. However, the company will not be offering pre-sale purchases, discounts or bonuses. In addition to this, Virtue Poker will limit the number of tokens a single buyer can purchase for the first sale.
“The lack of transparency and accountability in the practices of many online poker companies presents a great opportunity for blockchain technology to showcase its utility in a manner that will please both players and regulators,” said Virtue Poker CEO and co-founder, Ryan Gittleson. “In keeping with this transparency, and to ensure fair pricing, Virtue Poker will not hold any private sales, pre-sales, and will offer no volume-based bonuses. We want to ensure community growth is at the forefront.”