You Can Go on a Digital Treasure Hunt for Bitcoin in Minecraft

Although it may not be the “killer app” for bitcoin that venture capitalists hint at on a regular basis, there are plenty of people excited about the idea of using bitcoin as a currency in virtual gaming worlds. One of the best examples of this idea in practice is a project called Bitquest. The idea is to incorporate bitcoin into a Minecraft server, and the concept comes from a video game company known as Mego Corp.

Bitcoin treasure hunts, a working bank, and more

The concept of a digital treasure hunt for bitcoin is probably the feature that attracts more attention to Bitquest than anything else, but the reality is that the bitcoin integration goes much further than that. I was able to ask community manager fathermocker a few questions about what bitcoin is used for in the Bitquest world, and he explained Mega Corp’s original intentions with the project:

[blockquote]“We believe in Bitcoin and its future, and we’re very excited to increase the variety of things that feature Bitcoin, especially video games.”[/blockquote]

Fathermocker also explained that “bits are featured in the game as the Emerald element, and they can be traded by players using an in-game bank that transfers that money to a Xapo wallet.” “Bits” is a denomination of bitcoin that is equal to 0.000001 BTC. The fact that emeralds can be deposited into a “bank” as bits essentially creates a one-to-one peg between a bit and the in-game gem.

Using the Xapo API

Bitquest takes advantage of the Xapo API to integrate bitcoin into the game world. The API is what allows a Xapo wallet to be “created automatically” whenever a player makes their first deposit of emeralds into the in-game bank. Fathermocker also described the modifications that were made by the Bitquest team in order to bring new features to the game:

[blockquote]“We wrote a custom plugin to enable the transfer of bits using the Xapo API. Also, the players can trade items inside the game with a virtual market in exchange of armor, weapons, spells, and other items. We also reward players that win PvP fights in a custom Fighting Arena, giving them emeralds (bits).”[/blockquote]

Getting paid to play Minecraft

At the end of the day, these game developers from Chile have basically created a way for people to earn real money for playing Minecraft. Players can earn bits in the game by killing mobs, selling items, or even through donation-based treasure hunts. If you’re interested in the concept of bringing bitcoin into a virtual economy, you can begin your quest today by connecting to play.bitquest.co via Minecraft.