Social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic is certainly putting an emphasis on competitive videogaming, or esports, as more people staying indoors are turning to video games to burn through time. Looking towards the future, the use of blockchain technology help bring gaming to another level.
“As blockchain technology becomes more popular and more accessible, the possibilities for this type of technology will become more advanced,” a CBR.com report noted. “Eric Schiermeyer, one of the co-founders of Zynga, is developing a way to make blockchain technology more accessible to game developers. As CEO of Blockchain Game Partners, he’s been working to develop Gala, a foundation that works to incorporate blockchain technology into its games. By doing this, Schiermeyer is hoping to create a world where ‘players can own the things they buy or create, even if the game eventually shuts down.’”
“By creating a network where digital items in a game can be authenticated through a blockchain, players will be able to buy and sell digital items as if they were physical,” the report added.
For the exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors, it brings a couple of opportunities to the forefront—one in blockchain technology, the underlying technology for cryptocurrencies, and the other in esports.
Opportunities for exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors in blockchain include the Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF (NASDAQ: BLCN). BLCN seeks long-term growth by tracking the investment returns of the Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy Index, which is designed to measure the returns of companies that are committing material resources to development, researching, supporting, innovating or utilizing blockchain technology for their proprietary use or for use by other blockchain-focused companies.
Esports, or competitive gaming, will be a sector in 2020 that will continue to garner investor interest as the proliferation of viewers will make the industry a multimedia powerhouse. This should be welcome news for the Global X Video Games & Esports ETF (NASDAQ: HERO) and the VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF (NYSEArca: ESPO).
HERO “seeks to invest in companies that develop or publish video games, facilitate the streaming and distribution of video gaming or esports content, own and operate within competitive esports leagues, or produce hardware used in video games and esports, including augmented and virtual reality,” according to Global X.
ESPO seeks to track the performance of the MVIS® Global Video Gaming and eSports Index (MVESPO). The index is a rules-based, modified capitalization weighted, float adjusted index intended to give investors a means of tracking the overall performance of companies involved in video gaming and eSports.
For more market trends, visit ETF Trends.