CARACAS: Zacary Egea works two jobs as a motorcycle taxi driver and courier in economically crippled Venezuela. In his downtime, the 32-year-old plays an online game to earn extra money by amassing so-called non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.
Egea plays the game Plant vs Undead, in which plants"grown" in an online garden battle zombie-like monsters. Players invest time in"watering" and otherwise caring for their plants - purchased with cryptocurrency.The former policeman made an initial investment of US$300 earned through his more traditional jobs.
These he will farm until he can sell them to buy a digital tree, which, when mature, will be worth as much as US$2,000."At 6am, I get up for the game. During work hours, while waiting , I water the plants, check that there aren't any crows" to eat them, he explained."I got up and connected , but everything was fine," he laughed.Plants vs Undead is currently the 18th most-visited website in Venezuela, according to Amazon's Alexa index.
In this alternative economy, NFTs tend to start off at a relatively affordable price that grows at an attractive rate as more and more people get involved, he said, but warned the price can also drop and investments be lost.