Update on ZKasino’s progress: Testnet release!

ZKasino
3 min readJul 22, 2022

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We have been working harder than ever and are glad to announce that ZKasino’s testnet on zkSync 2.0 is now LIVE!

To start playing, get some testnet ETH through our faucet, mint ZKUSD (test currency for now) and select games through the list on the left.

Test now at: https://play.zkasino.io/

💰 Upcoming $10k leaderboard contest 💰

To encourage rigorous testing during the testnet phase, we will run a leaderboard contest. Free for everyone to participate into.

Simply mint more ZKUSD if you run out and try your luck again! The top wallets with the highest balance of ZKUSD at the end of the contest will win a prize. More specific details concerning the rules, date and duration of contest will be announced later.

What’s next? When mainnet? When token?

While we’re awaiting zkSync 2.0’s mainnet release (ETA: Q4 2022), we are working to go live on Arbitrum in the interim. StarkNet contracts are also ready to be deployed with a functioning VRF built by us, when bridge limits get removed and finality improves.

Our VRF oracle is currently deployed on StarkNet’s testnet to undergo testing, after which it will get whitelisted for StarkNet’s mainnet.

Although playing on Arbitrum won’t be an optimal experience compared to a Zero-Knowledge chain, we can begin to showcase the potential of ZKasino and kickstart the bankroll.

Presently, each bet that gets placed requires a manual Metamask confirmation, thus playing gets interrupted quite frequently compared to a classic casino.

A number of quality of life updates in the next following months will ease and greatly improve the user experience, e.g batching bets and approving an amount to wager before your betting session starts. Interacting on ZKasino will feel indistinguishable to current crypto casinos, whilst your winning probabilities can be proven through our VRF and your funds are kept in your own custody with no sign-ups required.

The UX of each game will be enhanced with UI improvements, game sounds and aesthetically pleasing colors to further engage players. Our goal has always been to reproduce the effective characteristics of existing crypto casinos, whilst remaining on-chain and trustless. Therefore, upgrading our game UIs to the standard of current crypto casinos is a high priority.

ZKasino’s native token is backed by the treasury-swap mechanic, meaning token holders can exchange tokens for their fair share of the bankroll back to the treasury. This allows anyone to effectively become a shareholder of the casino, with tokenised ownership. As the bankroll increases overtime, with players betting against the treasury, the value of tokens will simultaneously increase. A temporary liquidity pool is an option we are considering to kickstart the bankroll, as users stake USDC into a pool to earn a portion of ZKasino’s token.

Play-to-earn is a mechanic that will bring ZKasino’s tokens into circulation. For the majority of games, the house edge will be 1%. Players will be reimbursed a percentage of the House Edge on every amount they wager in the form of ZKasino tokens, essentially lowering the house edge even further.

Currently ZKasino is branded in a way that only attracts crypto natives, in the future a rebranding is likely going to happen when marketing plans spread out to the mainstream audience. Marketing budgets for ZKasino will be decided upon by the DAO, as sponsoring influencers/events is an effective way to grow our reach.

Current game contracts built are:

  • Dice
  • Plinko
  • Video Poker
  • Slots
  • Mines
  • Rock Paper Scissors
  • Coin Flip

ZKasino’s game listing process

ZKasino’s open ecosystem will eventually allow developers to build games and propose them through the DAO governance for a listing. Builders are entitled to propose to retain a percentage of their own game’s revenue for as long as the game operates. We hope that this will incentivise brilliant minds to become participants of our ecosystem, and create sophisticated contracts for sports betting and P2P poker games.

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ZKasino

Decentralised betting platform built for Layer-2 ZK Rollups.