A Bitcoin gaming startup called Zebedee has received $35 million in its Series B Funding round. This comes after they received $11.5 Million in a Series A round in September 2021. It is unclear whether the valuation has changed, but seeing as the user base has increased 10x in the time, it is likely the company is seeing positive growth. 

Possibly more important than the sum of money raised is who is part of the Series B funding round. Square Enix, the company behind the likes of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, Tomb Raider, and Deus Ex is one of the backers for the raised funds. 

Zebedee looks to incorporate Bitcoin into gaming via the Lightning Network. Having already begun testing the idea with the popular first person shooter game CS:GO (Counter Strike) in early 2021, the addition of the gaming giant bodes well for future gaming and Lightning Network development. 

In 2021, Zebedee launched special servers that allowed players to make bets on live matches in the popular online shooter game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). The average transaction was only $0.08 via the Lightning Network but this proved that the concept could work, no matter how small the transaction.

The Japanese company looks to help develop Bitcoin into native gaming by allowing players to earn while playing as well as make bets. 

Destroying the barrier between real world money and video game currency has effects that ripple across many domains. It looks like the technology is available and will take time to develop, and the interest from a heavy weight gaming company willing to put money behind the idea gives a degree of credibility for other companies interested in the space. 

Bitcoin integration into gaming is likely one of the new frontiers and is an area to keep an eye out for, especially for avid investors. 

  • Zebedee is a Bitcoin gaming startup that has raised $35 million in a Series B funding round.
  • One of the startup’s backers in the Series B round is the creator of Final Fantasy, Square Enix.

Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda has been quoted backing the idea saying:

By designing viable token economies into our games, we will enable self-sustaining game growth.

Zebedee Leads the Way for Bitcoin Video Game Integration

The idea of earning and spending digital money as easily and seamlessly as gaming currency has mainly remained only an idea, until now. There is no announced timeline but seeing that the Series A round was only 10 months ago, the company is moving quickly to expand.

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