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Banking on the Virtual PDF Print E-mail
Written by Harry Speller   
Thursday, 03 May 2007 12:38

Entropia Universe hit another milestone today when the five bank licenses which had been on auction for the last three months ended. Each license gives the owner a 2 year exclusive license to run and provide credit facilities within the virtual universe. What was more intriguing was that bona fide financial institutions in Real Life would be able to provide a host of additional services that would link the virtual world with external banking systems.

The auctions ended in a flurry of tense activity, closely watched by the citizens of Entropia. Fierce bidding started two days before the end, with Anshe Chung and Neverdie both competing on a number of the licenses, yet, it was only in the last few minutes that some of the other players in this game revealed themselves.

By the sound of the final bell, the results were as follows:
  • Licence #1: Yuri iNTellect Efremov - 999,000 PED ($99,900 USD)
  • Licence #2: Jolana Kitty Brice - 950,001 PED ($95,000 USD)
  • Licence #3: John NEVERDIE Jacobs - 900,002 PED ($90,000 USD)
  • Licence #4: Janus JD D'Arcwire - 590,608 PED ($59,060 USD)
  • Licence #5: Baroness Anshe Chung - 600,000 PED ($60,000 USD)
A total of 4,039,611 PED was spent to purchase the licenses, which at the fixed currency rate of 10 PED to the Dollar comes to just over US$400,000, far outweighing previous records set in Entropia Universe.

Unsurprisingly Anshe and Neverdie were the front running contenders. Neverdie who made the news with his US$100,000 purchase of Club Neverdie has been a long time player of Entropia Universe and one of its greatest supporters. Anshe Chung is a more recent participant to Entropia Universe, yet has built up an enviable business reputation in the metaverse of Second Life, garnering plenty of attention and press coverage for her enterprises.

At the same time there had been a great deal of community speculation that a Real Life bank could be involved. The more pessimistic raised concerns that this was a "bridge to far" for MindArk, citing them as glorified pawn shops due to the method that a loan is given to a participant. Yet the bids do represent a ringing endorsement of the virtual universe of Entropia by participants who are prepared to invest the sums involved.

All licence holders now have 20 days in which to present the one million PEDs required to run the bank. It certainly opens up further opportunities for particpants of Entropia Universe, as well as drama, controversy and excitement in the next couple of years. Something that RCE Universe will be following closely and reporting on.

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