The Central American country of El Salvador confirmed Wednesday it is launching its first virtual casino where guests will be able to buy and sell NFT (non-fungible tokens). The new project will also have its physical branch in the country. The company in charge of the project is Astro Babies, and the name will be Astro Casino.
Mónica Taher, Technology & Economy International Affairs Director of El Salvador Government, announced that the initiative will be carried out in collaboration with the government. She also shared the company’s video showing what the casino facilities are going to look like once it’s built.
@astrobabiesnft would like to Officially Announce the Development of #AstroCasino, an NFT based Crypto Casino in Partnership with the Government of #ElSalvador.#Solana #SolanaNFTs #Bitcoin #NFT #Crypto @nayibbukele @monicataher pic.twitter.com/OjX6J2CXrx
— Astro Babies (@AstroBabiesNFT) January 19, 2022
Astro Babies said the land-based casino will have slot machines and table games, as well as weekly poker tournaments, among other activities and products. The place will have a gaming area, lobby, bar, restaurant, DJ, terrace and also a VIP area.
Astro Casino’s virtual version in the metaverse will feature a marketplace that will allow selling, buying and auctioning NFT. This will run on the Solana blockchain and will be run by the Astro Babies initiative.
The news comes amid growing interest from gaming industry stakeholders in the metaverse. BOTS, a global technology conglomerate specialized in Blockchain-based solutions plans to launch a proprietary Metaverse based on Las Vegas this quarter, and has recently made a strategic investment in XR Casino, a technology company specialized in Extended Reality (XR) cross-technology casino gaming, XR game development solutions, and NFTs for the iGaming and sports betting industries. Also, the upcoming Casino Esport Conference organizers said the event will address the need for casinos to embrace metaverse technologies, as one of its focus points.