Virtue Poker is the world’s first decentralized peer-to-peer poker platform that uses Ethereum-based smart contracts and a deployed sidechain. It has a gaming license from Malta Gaming Authority, making it the only licensed blockchain-based poker platform in the world.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) yield farming, on the other hand, requires crypto holders to lock up their funds in order to accrue fixed or floating interest on the total holdings. In simpler terms, DeFi yield farming can be referred to as a high-stake fixed deposit, wherein the market returns are relatively higher.
Virtue Poker vs. Yield Farming
1. How it Works
Virtue Poker involves the active usage of crypto funds and can reap significant returns under favorable conditions. In fact, as one of the first crypto-based gaming sites, Virtue Poker has earmarked up to $500,000 in Ethereum and Virtual Poker Points (VPP) to be distributed among players, as part of its promotional offers.
Comparatively, DeFi farming involves a passive investment of unused funds through smart contracts, in order to generate rewards. Also, such crypto investing facilitates staking activities such as proof-of-stake and proof-of-work, thereby confirming other blockchain transactions. Crypto holders lock up excess funds using smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, and they are rewarded with ERC-20 tokens.
2. Returns
Virtue Poker allows participants to earn more than 200% Rakeback, which is twice the fees paid on the platform. Moreover, the platform also facilitates traditional staking benefits through “justices” such as table referees and validators. People having adequate VPP holdings can apply to be a “justice”, and are entitled to pre-determined fees.
Virtue Poker recently conducted a lottery among people having substantial Virtue Poker points (minimum of 1,000 VPPs), awarding winners with one Ethereum. Players having a minimum of 4,000 VPPs in Source of Funds or Virtue Poker account were considered for a similar lottery, and the winner was awarded three Ethereum. This is in addition to the platform’s daily jackpot hyper tournament, wherein winners get rewarded with 50 times the initial buy-in amount. In order to partake in the Daily Jackpot, players are expected to pay 0.004 Ethereum as the buy-in, and the winner is prized with 0.20 Ethereum.
Alternatively, yield farming works on a completely different principle. Cryptocurrency holders add their funds to the liquidity pool, through smart contracts, thereby making them liquidity providers (LP). The liquidity pool, which combines holdings of numerous crypto traders, is typically lent out on a decentralized open-source and non-custodial liquidity protocol such as Aave, thereby attracting interest on deposits. Such lending and transfer of funds are usually conducted using Stablecoins on the Ethereum blockchain.
3. Safety and Risk
Virtue Poker uses peer-to-peer shuffling and advanced cryptography to prevent fraudulent transactions, thereby securing the online gaming platform. Each player shuffles the deck once to add a layer of encryption, and the unique encryption codes are used to facilitate the game.
Furthermore, players are required to transfer their Ethereum tokens from their wallets to the locked Virtue Poker sidechain managed by smart contracts. This ensures complete ownership of funds. Virtue Poker’s sidechain-based business model makes it stand out from traditional online poker websites in the market, as the latter are infamous for their history of fraudulent practices. However, players should note that their funds get exposed to the risks of playing poker.
Risks involved in DeFi yield farming, on the other hand, are compared to traditional fixed income instruments. While staking undoubtedly carries a great deal of additional risk, it is generally conducted by expert crypto traders. Lenders generally pool in money via smart contracts, which hedges third-party and counterfeit risks significantly. However, given the very low interest rates at which cryptocurrencies are lent and borrowed, investors typically need to invest a large proportion of their holdings to witness explosive returns.
Determining the credibility of a project before creating a liquidity pool for lending funds is crucial for successful DeFi yield farming. Scam projects designed to attract crypto investments are fairly common, making such liquidity mining highly risky. Flash farming projects with unaudited codes have contributed to a high share of staking losses in the past.
The final takeaway
Given the current cryptocurrency craze and rising popularity of blockchain technology, Virtue Poker, and DeFi yield farming represent the next generation of cryptocurrency transactions and investments, with huge potential for growth as cryptocurrency becomes a commonly accepted medium of trade and exchange.
Virtue Poker represents the first crypto-powered gambling platform, with immense upside given its highly secure website and database. Furthermore, as a relatively new platform, Virtue Poker has an extensive rewards pipeline to reward people who sign up at this stage, as part of its marketing and promotional strategy.
Conversely, DeFi yield farming is popular among experienced crypto traders and is known for generating smashing returns, higher than traditional fiat currency-backed instruments.