创业新招:把虚拟货币当钱用

If you’ve ever been told that playing computer games won’t 1)amount to anything, well, you can tell those 2)naysayers they’re wrong, which of course, I already knew.

A group of young entrepreneurs are out to prove you can 3)cash in pretty heavily doing just that. Our Ken Molestina explains why “Gratii” could soon be the currency of the future.

A quick look around this place and you’ll think you just stepped into a 4)frat house. Pizza boxes line the walls, and beer 5)paraphenalia serves as decorations. But it won’t take long to notice this hometurned-lab is the birthplace of what could be the next big thing in the virtual world.

Brian Feldman: It’s a 6)buzz and it’s almost like, oh my God, now, we gotta get back on our grind ’cuz it’s…it’s growing faster than we expected.

Brian Feldman is talking about Gratii. He and his right-hand man, Matt Meyer, are both University of Maryland graduates. They’ve assembled a team of partners, and together, they’ve come up with virtual currency that is earned by playing simple computer games.

Matt: I think people are really starting to 7)embrace it.

So here’s how it works. You play the games, and then earn the points. The points then get 8)redeemed for real-life products like food or merchandise at 9)establishments who are signed up with Gratii. The 10)Beta launch has already hit College Park, their old 11)stomping grounds. Brian: People are spending real-world money to buy virtual goods. We said, let’s flip that. What if there’s a way to use virtual currency to buy real-world goods?

The theme of virtual currency has even been the topic of TV shows like The Good Wife.

But these local businessmen say there is nothing fictional about what they are trying to achieve.

Matt: We’ve spent a lot of time doing this.

The tech-12)savvy bunch have jumped on board with the latest website 13)coding trends and social platforms. Their push behind Gratii is giving traditional currency 14)a run for its own money.

Brian: I think this is the closest thing that could eventually take that over, but I wouldn’t say we are quite there yet.

如果有人告诉你，玩电脑游戏最终将一事无成，那么你可以告诉他们，他们错了――当然，这一点我早就知道了。

一群年轻的企业家要向大家证明，其实玩电脑游戏也可以收入不菲。记者肯・莫里斯廷纳来给大家解释为什么“Gratii”有可能会很快成为未来的货币。

在这儿快速环顾一下四周，你会以为自己进入了大学兄弟会的房间。墙脚堆满了比萨饼盒，房间里的装饰品是与啤酒有关的小物件。但你很快就会发现，这个由住房改装成的实验室正酝酿着虚拟世界中即将发生的大事件。

布莱恩・费尔德曼：这是件振奋人心的大事！感觉就像，哦，我的天，我们马上就得苦干一番了，因为事情进展得比预想要快。

布莱恩指的是Gratii。他和得力助手马特・迈耶都是马里兰大学的毕业生。他们俩搭档，共同想出虚拟货币这个点子，而虚拟货币则是通过玩简单的电脑游戏来赚取。

马特：我认为大家都开始接受这种虚拟货币了。

让我们来看看这是怎么回事。你通过玩游戏获得积分，然后拿这些积分到与Gratii签约的商家换取真实的生活用品，例如食物或者其他商品。测试第二版已经在他们俩以前经常去的学院公园市内推出。

布莱恩：人们一直在用真实的货币来购买虚拟物品。我们就想，把这个反过来吧。用虚拟货币来购买真实世界中的物品会怎么样？

虚拟货币这个话题已经出现在一些电视剧中，例如《傲骨贤妻》。

但这些本地的创业者称，他们梦想成就的一番事业并非镜中花，水中月。

马特：我们在这上面花了很多时间。

有最新网页编程语言趋势和社交平台相助，这群电脑奇才已经上路。有他们作强大后盾，Gratii已经开始叫板传统的真实货币。

布莱恩：我认为，这种虚拟货币最有可能将传统货币拉下马，但我也知道我们离那一天的到来还早着呢。