The Transcipt! Re-cap from Monday’s AMA!
It’s Monday again, and welcome to another Polker AMA. This is Conor as usual. We have a lot of questions to get through today, so thank you to everyone who has submitted questions.
The first questions that we got here are from Cryptoceous Hodleman. I know the release schedule is public but it is complex to work out and it would be helpful for investors to understand how much inflation will occur between now and the end of 2024. The team has repeatedly said they haven’t sold any tokens. Given this, how can the price so consistently be falling then and suppressed whenever anyone buys? Who has the tokens, if not the team, to be able to keep pushing the price down particularly given we are well below IDO price and there are relatively few vesting rewards left and the amount of staked PKR is higher than ever?
So this is a good question. Obviously, we have the vesting schedule out. Let me start with the first part. The circulating supply is going to be an interesting one. Theoretically there are tokens now being unlocked for team and marketing. They have not been touched and we have still not sold any.
Price is the same as any commodity or security’s supply and demand. Right now, we are sort of bottoming out at the end of a bear market.
What is suppressing people from moving from lower market capital coins into more secure investments. Crypto is an extremely volatile market. Macroeconomics are not great either, so people are moving away from higher risk things and into more secure things.
We have a lot of PKR holders staking, so they’re keeping theirs, they have faith in the token, but our people will be selling it as well. Right now, people are moving into Ethereum, into Bitcoin, and that’s completely expected. This is what happens in the cycles so it’s not the end of the world. Yes, we are below the IDO price. The vesting from the private sales is all completed so the only other tokens that are being moved right now will be moved to liquidity on exchanges. So, they are not actually adding to the supply in any way, so it has been pretty stable. I have mentioned before that the PKR website, PKR.IO, not the Polker.Game website, will be updated. There are going to be a lot of use cases for PKR outside of Polker.
I will talk about it more when the website is live, which will be before the end of the month. There will be new things — the PKR DAO is starting to be developed, PKR foundation, and more utility coming for the PKR tokens. So, keep an eye on them!
Where is the team’s funding coming from? How are they bankrolling this project through the bear without selling any tokens? And what is in it for whoever is funding PKR’s ongoing costs while not profitable, given they are not gaining or selling PKR tokens?
The initial funding came from our private sale and IDO. Since then we have been backed by VCs so Polker is a VC and self-funded project, which is why we haven’t had to sell any tokens to support the project either. As you know, selling tokens doesn’t help anyone who’s buying PKR because that would stuff the price. We have people who support the project and are very much invested in us being successful. We are self-funding as well. We know that we have a great product here and that is why we don’t want to destroy the community-held tokens.
From GP — Why is the store not in-game if Spades are not crypto. Have you considered making Spades a crypto token so it’s connected somehow to PKR?
The store is not in-game because we have a few things that will be added to the portal. We may move a few things into the game in the future but we are keeping it how it is for now. Spades are not crypto and we can’t connect them to as there are a lot of legalities and regulations. We have created a poker game that is a fully functional social casino so we are not regulated by any jurisdiction and that is not an easy feat. Everything has been very carefully curated, not something we have just thrown together then hope it works.
Could NFTs in the marketplace also be bought and sold with PKR to give another use case with the coin?
This is something that we can set up in the future. I don’t see any reason why we cannot have a PKR marketplace for the NFTs. The NFTs are on the Polygon POS chain and PKR is obviously on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain but this is something that we can easily handle. I wouldn’t say it is a high priority task, but we can definitely look at having a Pkr marketplace for the NFTs down the road. Um, the next part, okay, this is a, all right, it’s a relatively long question, so I’m gonna hope that this comes across
The way PKR token is now set up does not represent company’s real market cap given that the use cases that give it value are (1) staking with the 10% buyback, (2) probably like 5% of the store PKR purchasing volume (will most likely be low since its the complicated option), and (3) burn of the 10% earned per quarter by credit card purchases (almost nothing until there is more adoption, as well as the buyback.) So only about 25~35% of the game purchases volume will go towards the PKR token and PKR market cap. Where does the other 65–75% of revenue go — all to dev/team and marketing? That is quite a lot. Does it go to the VCinvestors? And how would PKR market cap ever reach Axie’s for example (as it is the number ) if it only represents 25–35% of the company’s real value/earnings? Could you give a clear explanation to all this? If I am wrong in any of these observations please also explain, thanks!
The PKR token will never ever represent the company’s market cap. You know, buying PKR is not buying a stake. It is the utility token. The actual value of the company could be 10 times more than the PKR market cap or it could be 10 times less. They’re not directly correlated. We’ve had recent valuations of the company they’re at, they’re significantly higher than the current market cap of PKR
You’ll see that we will be having a lot more use cases for PKR in the future. As to how the PKR market cap would ever reach Axie’s, I can’t give a direct answer of where the market cap will go. When the new website is live, you’ll see that we have made some reallocations so the current form that we have is not completely correct. Having a DAO will give options if people want to burn 10% of the supply or something; we have enough vote spread, and that’s something we can definitely consider. So the whole tokenomics system is going to be very much separate from the game.
We want to give control to you, our community. We are launching a PKR foundation, which will fund people who are building extra utilities with PKR. They are going to be their own small project that does something. And an amount of the supply will go to them as a reward for building utility that can be completely separate from Polker. The token can be used in such a huge amount of ways. We want people that look outside the box and we also want people that realize that there are a lot of things going on outside the box. Hopefully, people will get a better idea of that once the new website is live. The PKR token will be a lot more fun.
What other use cases for PKR are you thinking of or would be under your scope in the future?
The DAO,which will also allow others the option to create proposals to change the technomics. We have buy-back and burn, the mini-games, and obviously the foundation, where anyone can create their own utility as well. So there’s going to be quite a lot coming up regarding the use cases of PKR.
Is there anything from the original plan of creating a “centralized wallet infrastructure that supports dozens of cryptocurrencies and allows to convert and gamble with any holdings” that is still under your scope today?
This is taken from the PKR website. We have patented solutions which you can go and check online. One of these is a multi-crypto exchange service that we can use in the future. At the moment, we are building a fully non-gambling play-to-earn game. We do have the infrastructure to do other things.
Are you trying to position yourselves as industry leaders so when proper crypto regulation comes, you will try to build properly that initial idea of the integrated wallet + multi-crypto gambling? Maybe with properly set stablecoins? Would you go in that direction with proper regulation and adoption?
As I mentioned right at the beginning, we are a fully-unregulated social casino, which is a very difficult place to be in. It means that we can operate internationally, we can operate on IOS, Android, Mac, and on Epic games. We will be launching on Epic Games store very soon, which is going to be cool. We are not looking into the gambling direction at this moment. This is something that has not been gone from our minds, but, we don’t wanna spread ourselves too thin.
We are focusing on this company, making sure that the Polker game is out successfully and launched on all platforms. Looking at the next 30 months, the focus here is getting the mobile games out.
Given that you have a couple patents, are developing a poker game, have pivoted, give talks, go to events, etc, how are you trying to position ourselves more concretely right now?
There are two successful social casinos already on mobile. These are the World Series of Poker app and the ZyngaPoker app. We are a very similar structure. However, we have a play-to-earn model, we are more gamified, and have graphics that seriously exceed them. So that’s where we are aiming for now. Are we positioning ourselves as industry leaders? A hundred percent. Crypto regulation is coming. It’s something that we follow and we keep ourselves up-to-date. We are always making sure that we’re staying one step ahead of the game so we will make sure that we are positioning ourselves to be going that way. There are a few things that I’m not allowed to speak about that are still under an NDA. Hopefully, I will be able to make some even bigger announcements on that as well within the next couple of months.
How do you want to be seen in the next crypto mass adoption — poker gaming experts, casino gaming experts, p2e experts? What recognition are you aiming for from the industry?
We have built a hugely impressive casino gaming platform. The platform obviously could be used outside. Are we poker gaming experts? The rules of poker are fairly set in stone so I would say yes in a way. But in the end, we are a casino gaming expert, a play-to-earn expert. We have intellectual property within the play-to-earn industry. Obviously, all of our NFT characters can be used outside of the game, but we don’t want to put ourselves in a box. We don’t want to be a casino gaming expert. We don’t want someone to look at us as a play-to-earn expert. Everyone tries to be so niche, but we have managed to build something that is very accessible for a huge demographic. Whether you’re a gamer, a poker player, play-to-earn player, or someone who just likes to visit various casinos, we fit that box for everyone. We haven’t made a tiny little focus group that will only allow a hundred people to enjoy it. We build a platform that really works, and is of interest to all demographics. So yes, I would say that we will be play-to-earn design experts, but we don’t wanna box ourselves too much.
How are you going to pay the influencers/streamers? For what kind of marketing the 12% of PKR allocated will be invested?
So currently, as I’ve mentioned, all of the vesting for any part of the team, be it marketing, team, development, nothing is being moved in there. For payments, we have funds from the IDO, the private sales, and investors in the company. Nothing is coming from the tokens. Don’t put too much focus on the tokens that are being allocated. And again, check out the pkr.io website. It will be updated in the coming week and a half.
What I really do not get is why we have PKR to SPADES to COIN. I know you have explained it several times but I still struggle understanding the reason. Is it because it is a gambling game? Why not get rid of SPADES? Since you cannot convert back COINs to SPADES, it would be the same for PKR and would not be gambling either!!?
Spades doesn’t just buy play chips. Spades pay for all of the actions in the game — deploying the dealer, withdrawing your NFT, adding an accessory to your NFT, etc. When you add an accessory to your NFT, that’s an on- chain action. That accessory is not just being added in the game so it looks visual. When you deploy your NFT, that accessory is being added to the actual NFT. So when you withdraw it, you’ll see that that accessory is there.
All of these obviously have fees and it’s on Polygon. The NFT fees on Polygon can be quite high. So, Spades can be used to buy play chips, but they also pay for every aspect. So you can buy Spades with PKR or with card (sic) but then everything else is bought with Spades — whether play chips, withdrawals, deployments, adding accessories. So it’s not just PKR to Spades to coin; it’s PKR to Spades, and Spades to everything.
From Salvo — Could one know the correct distribution of the tokens released so far based on tokenomics, which released the various tokens from May 25, 2022.
Theoretically there are tokens that have been unlocked — the team, development, operations, token sale, marketing All of the token sales were linearly vested. That finished, I believe, April or May last year. The other tokens which could have been unlocked from the smart contract since that date have not been moved. They have been relocked, and all of this can be checked.
In theory, we could have had tokens and sold them but we don’t want to be pushing the price down. We completely had the ability at that point to take those tokens but what good would that have done? It wouldn’t have been good for us. It wouldn’t have been good for you. There’s no interest in us destroying the community. There were no tokens sold and we are keeping this way. We are in the middle of a bear market. The last thing we want to do is to add any sort of confusion or disruption to you guys. You can check everything. Like I said, it is not in our interest. It doesn’t really benefit everyone. Also, we have people who want to fund us right now. So it is not a necessity in any way.
This another AMA question, which could link to questions two and three from GP. Would purchases on platforms such as Epic games allow the purchase of PKR. If that were the case, would it no longer be suitable to opt for the purchase of PKR only for in-game purchase?
We have a separate portal for purchases. Purchases will still be made through the portal and it can still be done using PKR. Epic Games is okay with that so there is not need to worry. I can see your point. Epic Games obviously do charge a percentage if you’re using their platform. Any profit that’s coming through Epic Games will still be used for revenue and buyback and burn. IOS and Play Store also charge fees but the purchase portal will still be used.
When entering the Epic game site, it is explained that the publication of a game involves the division of earnings as a percentage — 88% manufacturing and 12% platform. If it was, would the buyback change? If that were the case, it shouldn’t be called a listing but a collaboration.
The percentage of the buyback is from revenue. That doesn’t change. The App Store and the Play store will charge a fee as well, but revenue from there will also be included in the buyback. We will be listed on Epic Game; it is also a collaboration with Epic Games. We are just waiting on final confirmation with them. The development versions are already there, so the date on when we can download from the store and play the full game live there will come in a relatively short time.
Does the epic game require the exclusivity of the game? What type of contract will you stipulate? If the division of earnings as a percentage described above was real, how would the payment take place so that the capital grows?
This is a good one. No, Epic Games does not whatsoever so we can still have downloads from our own site, from the App Store, or the Play Store. We could launch on any other platform that we want. We are not tied to Epic Game Store exclusively on this. So are we going a heavily centralized path? When you are inside the game, it’s a centralized platform. These are custodial NFTs. Once you withdraw them, they’re yours. So we are a centralized gaming platform that uses decentralized technology. So no, we’re not going down the path of being tied to a certain platform.
From Joe — Why not make it so people can buy PKR with their credit card? Should make Polker wallet integrated into the game.
We have a Simplex link on Pkr.io, and also a link from the game. If you click on it, you can buy PKR directly with Visa, MasterCard, Amex, any other card you can imagine. Fill in your card details and buy PKRdirectly there. There’s no exchange, no decentralized exchange. We work closely with Nuvei and Simplex to integrate this. Should we make a wallet? It wouldn’t be integrated into the game because we don’t use PKR in the game, but we can definitely make a wallet in the future.
Is there no way of creating a PKR wallet integration into the game so that people buying with their credit card can buy PKR tokens?
It’s not within the game but Pkr.io. We partnered with Simplex so we can have a simplified way of getting PKR.
I am struggling to see the need for the token at all at this point. Even if people are in crypto they would probably find it easier just to pay with their card. Like why would you spend your pkr tokens if you think they’re going to go up in value. If 95% of people are just buying spades with dollars then the company really doesn’t need the PKR token.
Just keep an eye on what we are doing with the token. The game development is going one way and the PKR token another way. Poker is a great game but the PKR token is not tied to just Polker. There is a huge amount more utility it will bring, with some that will be announced on the new website. I completely agree that more people will probably buy Spades with dollars. and the company doesn’t really need PKR. PKR is not for us; it is a community token. We’re not trying to hugely inflate the price so we can dump. That was never our plan. Otherwise, we would’ve done that already in 202 but we didn’t sell then. The game development has been our focus, but we are moving forward with new development with the PKR token.
What’s the point of having the risk of crypto if it’s only a small percentage of the game. Please smash my concerns to pieces, Conor.
Joe, I will smash your concerns to pieces. Please remember, I said Polker is a great game. It’s going to have a huge amount of utility and user base. A lot of that will reflect on the token with the buyback and burn, staking, mini games. But there is going to be a lot of utility outside of Polker as well. So keep an eye out. PKR Foundation is coming; PKR DAO is coming,and this is just the beginning!. I hope I smashed the concerns into pieces. If I haven’t, they will be smashed to pieces once you get to see the new website.
Why are you pretending there are no bots in the game?
This was a slight miscommunication. We use bots on the development build. When the developers are putting new features into the game while we’re testing it, we have bots that are just continuously running, sending reports back just in case anything comes up. When the developers built the build that was released last Tuesday (where we unlocked maps through Map 5), the development bots still exist then.
They are there to be honest. They play but once they leave, they don’t have an account so their play chips are not locked anywhere. Once they leave the table, they never return. So if you do earn play chips from them, consider yourself lucky They will not be staying there indefinitely. It does mean that you can continuously play. If there’s no one logged in, you can sit and play. They are not intelligent; they cannot see your cards.
Let us know if you want the option of tables without them, don’t mind them, if you really want them in the game or not.
From Cyptarc Maniac — I would love to hear a definite timetable to release anything, and this time, a deadline that can be held onto because we are still in the dark about any updates and what to expect.
I have mentioned this before, I don’t want to give a fixed deadline because we’ve missed them in the past. We are just doing final, 110% run-throughs.
From Franco Dorsey — The last generation of NFTs in crypto were trash and 99% of them went to zero or are almost dead. Utility NFTs are the only way. Some time ago, there was talk of adding more utility to NFTs here. I know another project where people earn more staking token rewards the rarer their NFTs are. We get like 16% APY now. Imagine people could earn like 30% APR or more with Hologram NFTs. That would be a pretty strong utility and nice passive income
This is kind of the direction we are going already. People holding the NFTs will have easier access to the play-to-earn mini games where you can earn PKR. You don’t need to have the NFT to access the mini-games, if you do have the NFT, you will be able to earn more.
Maybe we can also run staking pools for people or separate pools for NFT. All the accessories currently give you different earnings/different benefits in the game so they already do have quite a lot of utility. We will just be adding a bit more.
