CryptoKitties will have special cats from artist Momo Wang.
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CryptoKitties explained: Why players have bred over a million blockchain felines

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 10 min

CryptoKitties hit a milestone recently as players have bred more than a million unique virtual kitties in a demonstration of the usefulness or maybe silliness of blockchain technology.

Blockchain, which is the foundation for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, is a secure and transparent ledger that runs on decentralized networks. It enabled Axiom Zen, which spun out Dapper Labs to run CryptoKitties, to create unique digital items known as “cryptocollectibles” or “non-fungible tokens,” which cannot be copied. When rare CryptoKitties are born, players can bid for them, raising their value, which is why some CryptoKitties have sold for more than $200,000.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.