Imagine buying groceries with cryptocurrencies!

In the year 2000, Blizzard Entertainment released Diablo II.

- KEITH LIM

Within just three weeks, it sold over a million copies, setting a new record for computer game sales. It boasted an addictive single-player experience, and its online gameplay was also engaging, allowing players to adventure in groups and trade with one another.

When trading, many players initially relied on bartering or using gold, the game’s primary currency. Unfortunately, gold had some downsides. When players died, they permanently lost a percentage of their gold, making it challenging to keep massive amounts. Each character could only own around 3.4 million gold, even if many rare items were worth 10 million or more. Players had to find a way around this problem.

Bartering was an option, but it was difficult. Matching the values of rare items was difficult, and players also had different character types. For example, a sorceress would have little use for blades, so you were out of luck if you wanted to sell them a rare sword. Players sought out a universally accepted trading medium, and they eventually found it in a small item called the Stone of Jordan (SoJ).