On September 6th, NEO Global Development (NGD) announced the launch of CGAS, a NEP-5 GAS equivalent convertible with GAS in a 1:1 ratio.
CGAS was created because NEO’s UTXO assets (NEO and GAS) cannot be easily used with smart contracts. By converting GAS to a NEP-5 equivalent, developers can have access to full smart contract functionality and make use of the GAS token within applications.
An example of this concept can be seen in NewEconoLabs new game, CryptoGladiator.
CryptoGladiator uses an earlier version of CGAS called SGAS. Players can send GAS to their in-game wallet and convert it to SGAS, which can then be used for battle entry fees and to make purchases in the gladiator market.
In NGD’s announcement of CGAS, Chris Chen, NGD senior blockchain developer, cited game development as one of the reasons for the creation of CGAS.
“As NEO game ecosystem is becoming more complete, there is a growing requirement for GAS application scenarios. Take in-game assets for example, assume it costs 5 GAS for in-game purchase of a gear, since direct invocation of global assets is not technically supported, we thus develop CGAS, convertible to GAS at a 1:1 ratio. This way, GAS can be transferred within contracts and you can simply pay with CGAS.”
NGD also credited NewEconoLabs as one of the primary contributors to CGAS. SGAS will eventually be deprecated and switched across to CGAS, which will also be used by the NEO Name Service platform.
It should also be noted that many of the issues that CGAS was created to solve are expected to be addressed in NEO 3.0, making it a “transitional” solution.
More information on the newly deployed CGAS token can be found at the below link:
About The Author: Dean Jeffs
Dean is a digital project manager who has worked extensively with start ups and agencies in the marketing space. Fascinated by the potential applications of blockchain technology, Dean has a passion for realising the new smart economy.
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