How MyDream hopes to democratize crypto-mining while supercharging e-learning
Jewelz token to power AllMine game
One of the big dilemmas in blockchain is the contrast between how widely the technology could be deployed and its current – highly specific – use cases.
This is particularly the situation with the best known blockchain implementation.
Mining for Jewelz is over 300 times more energy efficient than mining for Bitcoin
Bitcoin isn’t a scalable payment system, nor is it used as such, with most people holding it as an investment; recently a very bad one.
And according to MyDream Interactive’s CTO Andrew Leker, there’s more bad news coming for Bitcoin bulls.
“Its success will be its demise,” he predicts. “Its proof-of-work protocol is unsustainable”
Building an equitable ecosystem
Leker isn’t the first person to point out how Bitcoin’s popularity has highlighted its inherent problems, nor is MyDream the first outfit to attempt to offer a radical alternative.
But, working together with MyDream CEO Allison Huynh, few companies have come up with such an ambitious and alternative plan.
Called AllMine, it’s a deceptively simple match-3 game, in which you drag a path across tiles, triggering reactions which give you rewards. Tying this gameplay together with longer term goals are the cute Adoraboos – animal characters who live in your Utopia – which you nurture with those rewards in a similar way to tamagotchis.
Mining for Jewelz is over 300 times more energy efficient than mining for Bitcoin
Of course, the game is just the frontend for the company’s overall vision and blockchain implementation, which will be powered by the Jewelz token and also includes JewelzMiner, a dedicated PC-based mining program. There are plans to enable mining on phones and tablets too.
“With AllMine, we’re democratizing the mining process,” Leker explains.
“Mining for Jewelz is over 300 times more energy efficient than mining for Bitcoin, and because we’re using our patent-pending serial proof-of-work protocol, having a GPU doesn’t give you an advantage.”
Indeed, MyDream will attempt to limit Jewelz mining to one account per individual to stop inequality in the mining population.
Successful first step
While Leker provides the project’s technical direction, Allison Huynh is its creative whirlwind.
“Andrew is very grounded. He’s the Ying to my Yang,” she laughs.
Working together for a number of years, MyDream was originally set up to develop VR technology. Its VR Toolbox has proved to be a popular resource for Vive and Oculus Rift developers, and the 10-person studio is still doing some VR work, even if its focus has switched to blockchain.
But whatever the technology, Huynh’s drive has always been about changing education and e-learning from being a slow, boring, by rote, process to something children (and adults) find exciting, and hence can experience faster and with more nuance.
I think blockchain can be a big disruption in education for everyone
“I think blockchain can be a big disruption in education for everyone,” she argues.
“But just like Angry Birds was for mobile games, and Pokemon Go for AR, we need a tangible first step to get blockchain into the mainstream.”
A foot in the door
Not that AllMine is the end goal when it comes to the educational projects MyDream hopes to eventually release.
Leker admits it’s not “educational per se” although Huynh says it will teach elements of financial literacy. However, she argues what’s important at this stage is to gain widespread adoption, enabling anyone to mine Jewelz.
“Our architecture and algorithm enable us to be in every home…” Leker says.
“…And that’s why we called it AllMine,” Huynh continues.
“We want everyone to be able to mine and understand how the blockchain works, and get rewarded for that.
“Blockchain is here to stay and we want to earn people’s trust.”
You can find out more about Jewelz and AllMine via their website.