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Ok, OK I know, wtf? Another lotto and believe me I feel kind of odd reporting on this one as the cryptoshphere is filled with lotto and contests all of which are typically designed as a pyramid scheme but they're not because they're open with telling you the rules. You buy in maybe we give you your cash back but we will give it to others and take a cut.
But that is how most lotto and gambling models operate, the house always wins. But what if you were the house? I have to advice on the side of caution for this as depending on the country you're in if you own or operate gambling you need a licence and there are certain regulations you need to abide by. As such I am not involved in this because I know as an Australian I can't.
But before we run through the Decentralised ownership model let's take a look at the game play.
Lotto
First thing that stuck out to me was the minimum and maximum buy ins which a number of other lotto's don't have. What you do see in other lotto's is a large minimum buy in and no max. This is designed to maximise returns for the owners but here we see people are able to buy in with a minimum of 17 UST.
The utilisation of Terra's stable coin is also an added benefit as there is no requirement to purchase the lotto's native token inflating prices or leaving you stuck with a devalued token. I can think of a few other projects that launched recently that utilised RFI and it fizzled out really quickly. The aspect of utilising UST is that UST is directly linked to Luna the native token of Terra Network and the more UST is used the higher Luna price gets. I think this is why we are seeing an increased use of UST across many Terra Projects. In theory lifting Luna price lifts everyone's native token.
The tickets are quite standard but you have the added ability of selecting your own combinations if you like or press the randomization button which will populate it for you.
The steps are pretty easy and are as outlined above, noting that draws are every three days and there is one coming up in about 7 hours time.
All the winning wallets are listed and prizes are paid out in UST which also consist of a tax which goes to the house. Prizes are auto paid to the wallets so no need to claim.
House Ownership
This is where things get a little bit different to regular staking but staking LOTA tokens the native token of LoTerra provides you with ownership and you receive 20% on winner prizes. I am not sure how it is operated because I would guess that that 20% is dispersed across all the stakers but again, this isn't too clear.
Liquidity Providers
At current LoTerra is offering 137% APR for providing liquidity but as these numbers look appealing note that there is currently 73,024 total staked LP. That is a relatively low amount and significant caution should be taken if you're considering providing liquidity.
LoTerra is open and transparent about it's stats which are viewable on the staking screen which further shows a significant portion of the native token is held in the DAO. There is also a significant amount staked on it's own so this could indicate the 20% of winnings may be a decent option and less risky than LP which maybe impacted by imperative loss.
There is also a large portion still available on the market which could either drive prices up if a buying frenzy occurs or result in a dip if people start dumping. However, as previously mentioned in the article as the project takes UST and pays out in UST this is a good incentive to hold and stake.
Opinion
I'm not a fan of gambling and tend to shy away from it and my choice of game is hold'em so lotto's don't particularly entice me and due to gambling itself being a risk it is compounded further in the fact that it is operating in a highly volatile emerging industry.
If you're a regular lotto player or enjoy playing lotto this might be a game for you and the fact all you need to do is pay with a stable coin and winnings are paid in stable coins this could be an option for you.
Either way, investors and players a like are advices to exercise caution when gambling online. What are your thoughts on LoTerra? is it something different compared to other Crypto lottos you've come across or is it a no from you?
Image sources provided. This is not financial advice and readers are advised to undertake their own research or seek professional financial services.