Here at Kitguru we like a good interview. You can learn a lot about a game, a service, or a company, just by asking someone in the know a few simple questions. However, sometimes those interviews can go long, with answers that take literally minutes to read. Attention spans being what they are these days, here's a new feature we'll sometimes dip into at KitGuru: the quick interview. Featuring single sentence answers for the short of time or short of mind.
Today's interviewee is, CEO of LEETCOIN, Kingsly Edwards. We talked about this service recently during its beta phase, but we were left with questions. Now those same questions have answers:
KG: 60 seconds on the clock… and go. What is LEETCOIN?
KE: LEETCOIN provides a way for gamers to compete against each other for Bitcoin.
KG: How do Steam and LEETCOIN interact with one another?
KE: We use steam to authenticate members.
KG: Why Bitcoins and not a more popular payment system, like Paypal?
KE: Bitcoin provides a secure, fast and low-cost solution that can be transmitted easily across borders. We have all heard one too many horror stories from merchants using Paypal.
KG: Do you hedge Bitcoin value? What happens if the value crashes?
KE: We do not offer a hedge to Bitcoin value.
KG: In that case, do you have enough capital to cover everyone withdrawing all their coins at one time in the case of a crash?
KE: Yes, we maintain a 100 per cent reserve ratio.
KG: Is there a minimum withdrawal amount?
KE: No and it's almost instant!
LEETCOIN is currently in beta and supports only one game, CS: GO.
KG: You offer money for kills. Do you plan to cater to modes other than Deathmatch in the future?
KE: In the future, you will be able to gain rewards from a variety of different actions in game. Planting a bomb, capturing a flag, rescuing a hostage – the possibilities are endless.
KG: Do you think teams of players could exploit your service by working together to kill one or two people on a server for monetary gain?
KE: I think this is no more exploitable but we are developing different methods for handling these sorts of situations.
KG: What about hackers and cheaters?
KE: We use every preventable measure to safeguard against hackers. Our fail safe in any event of suspected cheating, is that we are able to freeze a player's account until further investigation has taken place.
KG: What about children? How can you guarantee kids aren't gambling on your service?
KE: No one under the age of 18 is permitted to become a member. It's strictly prohibited under out terms and conditions.
KG: But presumably you have some sort of age checks?
KE: Going forward out of beta we are implementing new technology that will better verify a member's age.
KG: What does Valve think of your service? It is aware of you?
KE: I cannot comment for Valve and I don't know if they are aware of us.
KG: What games do you plan to support going forward?
KE: Counter Strike 1.6, Global Offensive, open source games and other popular titles. We have also partnered with some small game developers.
KG: Would you consider selling Bitcoins in the future? They're not the easiest to get hold of right now.
KE: Possibly, but for now we are promoting already established companies like Coinbase and BTQuick.
KG: Thanks for your time Mr Edwards.
KitGuru Says: So what do you guys reckon? Is LEETCOIN something you might sign up for?