Why I’m Bullish on Loopring and GameStop

Gas fees. They have been a major hindrance in widespread public participation in the Ethereum ecosystem due to the high costs. For most people, it costs a lot of money to do transactions on the Ethereum layer 1 blockchain.

Loopring is a zkRollup Layer 2 network that greatly reduces the high costs to transfer funds and non-fungible tokens. I am not a blockchain expert so I will not attempt to describe how zkRollup works on a technical level. However, I do understand that decreasing the fees to use smart contracts on the Ethereum network greatly expands the types of applications that can be developed.

The GameStop Wallet has integrations with Ramp and Wyre that allow users to deposit fiat (dollars and cents) directly onto Loopring Layer 2. This eliminates the need to use centralized exchanges like Coinbase or Binance to purchase ETH (the Ethereum token) and pass the layer 1 gas fee to send it to your preferred wallet.

This combination makes it easy for organizations, businesses, and everyday creators to engage audiences with NFTs. NFTs can now be minted, purchased, and distributed with speed and very little overhead.

When the GameStop NFT Marketplace launched, I was very intrigued with the fact that I could purchase and send 2 NFTs for under $2 in total counting the fees. I knew that a new world of opportunities was here to bridge the gap between Web 2 and Web 3 on the blockchain.

To demonstrate an example use case for inexpensive NFTs, I will be utilizing ERC-1155 tokens to verify access to maps in my upcoming game, Cave of Zombies. I plan on making the individual NFTs available for as low as $1 in ETH so the experience is similar to an old arcade. This approach would not be feasible on layer 1 because the gas fees to transfer tokens would be more than the value of the NFT itself.

Going forward, I can imagine layer 2 NFTs being used for low-cost fundraising, subscription management via authentication using the wallet, and more.