Miami (FL) – The first licenses for virtual banking in the “Entropia Universe” have been distributed.
Jon Jacobs, who controls the avatar “NeverDie” in Entropia, was first to announce that he has won one of the first licenses to establish a virtual bank in an auction that began back in February. Jacobs, who so far has run a virtual nightclub, said that he paid $90,000 for the license and will specialize in "short-term bridging loans to help finance avatars building virtual manufacturing and construction companies."
According to Entropia, owners of virtual bank licenses can choose the location of their bank, but must deposit a working capital of real-world $100,000 to open for business. A second license for a virtual bank apparently has been sold to Anshe Cheung, the avatar of Ailin Graef, who has become famous for being the first person to have made more than $1 million of profits in the virtual world of Second Life.
Entropia has been created by the Swedish software company Mindark. The environment offers gamers a platform in which funds in Entropia currency can be converted back into real money: 10 Project Entropia Dollars represent a value of US$1.
According to Mindark, the total funds being exchanged in Entropia during 2006 were more than US$350 million or 3.5 billion PED. At the end of Q1 2007, Entropia had about 575,000 participants.
Jon Jacobs, who controls the avatar “NeverDie” in Entropia, was first to announce that he has won one of the first licenses to establish a virtual bank in an auction that began back in February. Jacobs, who so far has run a virtual nightclub, said that he paid $90,000 for the license and will specialize in "short-term bridging loans to help finance avatars building virtual manufacturing and construction companies."
According to Entropia, owners of virtual bank licenses can choose the location of their bank, but must deposit a working capital of real-world $100,000 to open for business. A second license for a virtual bank apparently has been sold to Anshe Cheung, the avatar of Ailin Graef, who has become famous for being the first person to have made more than $1 million of profits in the virtual world of Second Life.
Entropia has been created by the Swedish software company Mindark. The environment offers gamers a platform in which funds in Entropia currency can be converted back into real money: 10 Project Entropia Dollars represent a value of US$1.
According to Mindark, the total funds being exchanged in Entropia during 2006 were more than US$350 million or 3.5 billion PED. At the end of Q1 2007, Entropia had about 575,000 participants.