Cyber 'farming' to boost income in Venezuela
channelnewsasia.comCARACAS: Zacary Egea works two jobs as a motorcycle taxi driver and courier in economically crippled Venezuela. In his downtime, the 32-year-old plays an online game to earn extra money by amassing so-called non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.Egea is one of many Venezuelans to have turned to NFT gaming to augment their income as the country confronts its eighth year of recession and fourth of hyperinflation.NFTs are one-of-a-kind digital collectables, each with a certificate of authenticity created by the same blockchain technology that underlies cryptocurrency.
It cannot be forged or otherwise manipulated.Egea plays the game Plant vs Undead, in which plants "grown" in an online garden battle zombie-like monsters.
Players invest time in "watering" and otherwise caring for their plants - purchased with cryptocurrency.Each plant is an NFT that can be sold for real-world money.The former policeman made an initial investment of US$300 earned through his more traditional jobs."What do I want to achieve with this?
To save up for a house for my family," said Egea, who shares an apartment with his mother in a poor Caracas suburb."It is a long-term project," he told AFP.Before starting, Egea opened a digital "wallet" with which to transfer his gains into real money.He spent some money on upgrading his computer, then bought a digital sunflower and some cabbages for US$80.These he will farm until he can sell them to buy a digital tree, which, when mature, will be worth as much as US$2,000.In a notepad, Egea keeps a meticulous record of his farming activities and NFT price movements."At 6am, I get up for the game.
