​New tech for an old ass game.

We've harped on about how play-to-earn games are most often Ponzi schemes.

(In order for the payout to go up, more paying players are needed).

Which is why, when we heard that "you can now earn Bitcoin by playing chess on your phone," we were veeery skeptical.

But it turns out, this is slightly different. Slightly.

It's still Ponzi-ish, but it appears that the game maker's approach has been:

We'll make it so damn cheap, no one will care.

(Basically, the game will only ever cost you a few cents to play, and you'll only ever gain a few cents if you win).

The folks responsible? Mobile payment company, Zebedee, and mobile game studio Viker.

The game? Bitcoin Chess (and it's exactly what it sounds like).

Players get rewarded in BTC for playing, receiving up to "a few cents per session."

Rewards are paid out in the smallest denomination of BTC, Satoshis (aka SATS). At the time of writing: 1 SAT = 0.0002121 USD (100x less than a cent)

So, how do they make money?

As long as more people are losing to the game's AI, than are beating it - there's a profit margin to be found.

Though, to make anything significant, they'd need a TON of users.

(Good thing the game being played is one of the oldest in the world, with an estimated global 'playerbase' of 605M adults).