At first glance, it may not be obvious that Dark Energy Crystals, or DEC, are actually creating an ingenious buyback mechanism for Splinterlands, but today we're going to look at how a clever implementation of this Steem Engine token has managed to add value to both players and the game itself by doing just that.
Let's start off with what DEC is, how it's created, and how it's consumed. DEC is a new token that players earn for battling or burning cards in the popular Splinterlands game. The tokens can then be used to buy limited edition packs of cards or power ups in the game, but they can also be transferred to the Steem Engine platform, and this is where things get interesting.
Any STEEM user can now buy upvotes from the @steemmonsters account with DEC. This creates an indirect price floor and buyback mechanic for card holders looking to liquidate cards back into STEEM that can't otherwise wait for the cards to sell on the market. Once cards are liquidated into DEC, they can either be sold directly for STEEMP, which can be transferred immediately, or they can upvote their posts and put the rewards back into their STEEM account in seven days.
The popularity of the token is evident from watching the Steem Engine Market, as it has been sitting at or near the top trade volume since launch. The overall effect of the burn mechanic is driving up the price of previously undervalued cards to bring them into a comparable range with other cards of the same rarity, and has been increasing the value of all other Splinterlands tokens gradually each day.
It's an interesting concept and it creates some new use cases for the Steem Engine platform that other games could learn from and adapt to their own games. Buybacks and burn mechanics create a high likelihood of appreciation as supply shrinks. If you'd like to find out more about DEC, check out the introduction post here!
