Hashing It Out: Lloyd Purser Talks NFTs and Blockchain in Gambling

In the new episode of CoinGeek’s crypto show Hashing it Out, Lloyd Purser, the chief operating officer of FunFair Technologies, spoke about his company’s approach to blockchain and NFTs.

FunFair is Developing an NFT-based Racing Game

In the interview with Hashing it Out’s host Becky Liggero, Purser explained more about FunFair’s vision. FunFair began its business with a blockchain-based casino on Ethereum. As time went on, the company decided to switch its focus because of various issues.

Purser mentioned that most of FunFair’s employees are seasoned veterans from the video game industry. That is why the company decided to put its workers’ qualities and experience to use and make a car racing video game, focused on blockchain and NFTs. The game is still in its early conceptual phase, which is why Purser didn’t reveal much. Still, he explained that NFTs will play an important part in the game – players will be able to buy them and earn them and then use them for various power-ups during a race. He added:

“It’s taking traditional concepts, but with the addition of NFTs and the addition of blockchain technology into the game, which is something that we generally try and do – build mass-market products, using blockchain.”

Pursuer added that he’s interested in the interoperability of NTFS. FunFair is looking for prospects of allowing various other third-party NFTs to be used in the game, as that will allow people to put their pre-existing NFTs into use.

Blockchain Types Don’t Matter a Lot to Users

Liggero proceeded to ask Purser about his experience during the recent iGB Live! event that he attended. During the convention, Purser hosted a blockchain panel together with Premier Chain’s director Nick Hill where the two spoke about blockchain and its use in gambling. Liggero was curious what the other attendees’ mindset was.

Purser explained that the people’s degree of knowledge concerning blockchain varies with some understanding the topic and others asking what NFTs actually are. However, during the iGB Live! there were some interesting questions popping up, concerning the use of blockchain in responsible gambling.

The talk then switched to the topic of whether the blockchain used matters to the customer. Liggero asked whether it’s important for customers to know that or not that much. In Purser’s words, Ethereum is the most popular one currently, which may matter to developers. On the contrary, other less known blockchains offer various benefits such as level of security, scalability, and lower fees. Purser said that as the industry matures, which blockchain is running in the background will matter less and less to the customer..

For users, the blockchain isn’t of great significance, FunFair’s COO explained. That’s why he said that FunFair won’t “shout” which blockchain its racing game is using as it’s not something to concern users with.

“All they care about is that it works, it’s fast, it doesn’t cost them a ton of cash to run, but also that we have the right level of security for them,” Purser said.

FunFair Technologies COO Lloyd Purser

The Gambling Industry Isn’t Quite Ready for a Head-on Blockchain Approach

Lastly, Liggero and Purser spoke about FunFair’s stint with Ethereum and why the company eventually gave up on the online blockchain casino.

FunFair’s COO explained that they tried to introduce this idea way too early and neither the blockchain nor the regulators were ready for it. He pointed out that blockchain’s decentralized nature was very foreign to regulators.

“Decentralized wallets were all non-custodial. We had no access to customers’ funds. There were no remote gaming servers. There were none of the things that regulators are used to regulating,” Purser said.

The casino had a bumpy road ahead of it because of the regulations and FunFair decided it’s best to drop the idea for the moment. Purser thinks that blockchain definitely has fertile soil in gambling but it will take time.

He believes that a gradual approach will be better as it will give time to old-time industry specialists to grow accustomed to blockchain’s unique features. Purser added that regulation can benefit a lot from blockchain as it will help to prevent gambling harm. Purser concluded that he’s interested to see what the future of blockchain and NFTs in gambling will be.