When an innovative product, service or technology is introduced into the global market, for the very first time, it is very hard to predict the impact that it will end up having.

There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies available in the market today, each of them with their own set of special features. FirstBlood is one of those new cryptocurrencies that has hit the market with the aim to revolutionize the global eSports gaming industry.

FirstBlood is a decentralized eSports platform built on Ethereum. It allows players to test their skills and to bet on games without being subject to downtime , hacks, traditional money transfers , financial regulations , and middleman corruption and fees.

FirstBlood intends to make the eSports industry more transparent and efficient while bringing in a new demographic into the crypto community, thus bringing cryptocurrencies one step closer to mainstream adoption.

FirstBlood Specifically Targets eSports Industry
Newzoo, a market leader in the eSports industry, estimated the global eSports industry to hit $696 million by the end of 2017 and grow to $1.5 billion by 2020.

FirstBlood wants to take advantage of this potential billion-dollar eSports industry and establish itself as the first cryptocurrency to cater to the eSports industry.

FirstBlood is a digital platform that gives eSports players the opportunity to sync their Steam account with the FirstBlood platform and then compete against other eSports players for in-game rewards.

FirstBlood founders believe that the global eSports operators can greatly benefit by leveraging FirstBlood cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to provide their players with enhanced safety and security, instant rewards and it’s unique ‘juror’ system that allows players to review their match results in case of a dispute.

The FirstBlood token launched in September 2016 and currently has a market cap of over $41 million.

FirstBlood started to get the attention of eSports players from around the world after it partnered with Dota 2.

Dota 2 is one of the most popular eSports games that is played between two teams comprising of 5 players each. This is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) eSports game that was developed by Valve Corporation and released in 2013. The game can be played by a single as well as multiple players.

eSports Pseudo-Gambling Maybe Learning from Traditional Online Gambling Industry’s Embrace of Bitcoin

The FirstBlood platform will indicate to players which in-game custom lobby they must enter once the competition window becomes live. Dota 2 players will be able to spend their FirstBlood tokens on themselves and play the game. The winner will end up with the entire bunch of FirstBlood cryptocurrency tokens.

As FirstBlood tokens have real-money value at cryptocurrency exchanges, this also raises the question of if this is gambling, and, if so, is it a legal form of gambling in every territory?

Usually, skill games are exempt from anti-online gambling laws, but would legislators see it that way if FirstBlood gains enough traction?

Ultimately, the nature of cryptocurrencies themselves may work to their advantage, as evidenced by this widespread adoption in the online gambling industry.

Websites offering real-money wagering on online poker, c*****s games, and sports contests were quick to adopt Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. As industry website Beat The Fish notes, online poker sites open to US citizensare able to avoid banking and legal restrictions because they’re technically not doing business with banks. Player privacy is also much greater than charging credit cards and cutting checks.

FirstBlood may avoid legal headaches by following the same path. If Dota players are depositing and withdrawing cryptocurrency, short of shutting down the entire Internet, who could feasibly stop or track them?

FirstBlood Wants to Partner With More eGaming Operators
FirstBlood is looking to partner with multiple eGaming operators and has its platform integrated into popular eSports games. While there are clear positives of using the FirstBlood cryptocurrency, it may not be all that appealing to some of the eGaming providers.
How It Works
FirstBlood is a decentralized application (dapp) that allows users to bet on eSports games. It runs on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and it is powered by 1 ST tokens.

When a user opens the FirstBlood Web or Desktop software and bets on a match with 1 ST , the tokens are sent to and held by the FirstBlood smart contract system that functions as a decentralized escrow. After the match takes place,Witnesses connect to the game API, analyze the results, and communicate the result to the Smart Contract System . If the result is uncontested, the prize will be sent to the winner and a fee is paid to the witnesses for the service provided. If the result is contested, however, the result will be voted on by aJury Voting Pool (JVP) .

Witnesses are users that are running automated witness nodes. Two witnesses are random ly chosen to analyze the results of each match . The results are published on the blockchain and the witnesses are paid a fee for their service . This process is automated, so witnesses do not need to perform any action while reporting the result of a match, but they need to have a 1 st balance and to send a special transaction to the smart contract to signal that they want to participate in the witness pool. The bigger the share of a specific witness in a pool, the higher the chances of that witness being chosen .

The Jury Voting Pool is only called upon when a match result is contested. When this happens, a group of juries is selected from JVP to vote on the match outcome. The Jury must vote manually according to the evidence provided by the players. Once the quorum is met, the prize will be awarded to the selected winner, and Jurys that voted for the final result are rewarded for their service. Juries that vote against the majority may be penalized.