Ethereum’s unexpected future direction | Ethereum Foundation Blog
Ethereum has been preparing for what it believes to be the most exciting digital alliance between IBM and Microsoft since their successful partnership on the IBM PC. We know you are expecting great things from Ethereum, and we are excited to bring you this exciting and unexpected news.
As you know, Ethereum mining is best done on a graphics card. However, purchasing expensive graphics cards on an industrial scale for mining reproduces the centralized mining cartels that dominate much of the Bitcoin environment. We want to be more decentralized than that, and after much thought and quiet discussion, we would like to announce Valve, a durable solution to the problem of mining decentralization.
Valve’s Steam is rapidly growing toward 100 million users, most of whom have excellent graphics hardware. Valve has the clout to load most machines with mining software by offering it to users and asking them to download it in exchange for participating in the network and a chance to earn some credits. This will be available on Steam in the future. Purchasable and Downloadable Content. Basically, this is what we call Ethereum-on-Steam: Steamium.
This solution solves many of Valve’s problems in creating meaningful value for gamers beyond just fun. Transferable digital assets on the new Steamium blockchain will allow players to buy, sell, and trade where appropriate through smart contracts to prevent cheating, cartelization, and illegal sales. This may harm the basic functionality of your game and network.
Of course, Steam OS and Steam Machines will likely be Steamium-based products, with blockchain technology and smart contracts embedded at every level of functionality, from checking and validating software updates to securing user accounts and allowing user communications and transactions. Our new project plans to focus on advancing gaming and operating system technology as much as possible with these new products.
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Steamium will be integrated and released alongside the highly anticipated Half Life 3.
