Zed Champions: DIGITAL HORSE RACING DROVE AMERICAN CARDROOM’S PUSH INTO NFTs, CRYPTO

By HRI Foreign Staff — In a bold return to the digital track, Virtually Human Studio has officially rebooted its famed Web3 horse racing game Zed Run as the newly launched Zed Champions: a skill-based, 24/7 virtual horse racing ecosystem built for a new era of strategy, ownership, and blockchain integration. The game is currently in beta, and excitement is mounting in both Web3 and horse betting communities. Designed around dynamic breeding, automated race schedules, and $ZED token integration, Zed Champions is not just a visual or technical update; it’s a complete overhaul aimed at sustainability and deeper engagemen

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Zed Run had once been a beacon of innovation in the NFT world, having processed over $400 million in digital horse transactions and bred more than 420,000 racehorses. But like many NFT platforms, it stumbled during the market’s downturn. Zed Champions is VHS’s answer to those challenges, as a refined, skill-based model that discourages speculation and favors strategic play. With features like auction-based breeding, leaderboard scoring, and race-driven rewards, players are now invited to manage virtual stables like a fantasy sports team, without needing to manually schedule races.

What sets Zed Champions apart is its continuous ecosystem: a race every 80 seconds, around the clock, driven entirely by blockchain. Digital horses are matched based on real-time balance performance, and players can boost horses using Augments, which are special modifiers that influence performance in subtle but critical ways. For Web2 holdouts or crypto newcomers, VHS has introduced Zed Picks, a companion mobile app that allows spectators to cheer on horses, place bets using virtual currency, and win sweepstakes prizes with no crypto wallet required.

As the game moves into full launch, many in the industry are watching Zed Champions closely as a test case for the future of NFT-powered sports. Among them is Americas Cardroom, whose adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain tools was directly inspired by the early success of Zed Run.

From Racehorses to Poker Tables: How Zed Racing Influenced Americas Cardroom’s Crypto Awakening

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For Americas Cardroom CEO Phil Nagy, the connection between poker and digital horse racing was not immediately obvious until poker legend Chris Moneymaker introduced him to Zed Run. “In typical Phil fashion, he ignored it for weeks,” Americas Cardroom Pro Moneymaker said in a recent interview. “And then he was, like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me about this before?’ He totally got it.”

That revelation would end up transforming the way Americas Cardroom approached payment processing and community engagement. Moneymaker, famous for catalyzing the online poker boom with his 2003 World Series of Poker win, saw clear parallels between blockchain gaming and poker: both are strategy-driven, decentralized, and benefit immensely from instant, secure money transfers. Once introduced to crypto, blockchain, and NFTs, Nagy immersed himself in the technology. He set up servers, built e-wallet knowledge, and began experimenting with real-world applications. The result? Americas Cardroom quickly became one of the most crypto-integrated poker platforms in the world. Today, you can play poker on the site with the option to use over 60 different cryptocurrencies, from Bitcoin and Ethereum to lesser-known altcoins, making cross-border transactions seamless and instant.

This has proven especially valuable in the poker world, where quick liquidity is often the difference between joining a game or missing out. “You can pay customers in seconds,” said Nagy. “They can deposit fast; there are no fees or delays you get with other payment processors.” His vision goes even further. Nagy believes NFTs can serve as a transparent ledger for tournament records, player identities, and digital collectibles.

While some online casinos have treated NFTs as temporary fads or promotional gimmicks, Americas Cardroom has looked at blockchain with a more positive outlook. Nagy, Moneymaker, and the rest of the Americas Cardroom team see a future where digital ownership intersects with competitive play, and the original spark came from the virtual world of Zed Run.

Horse Racing, NFTs, and the Metaverse: A New Betting Frontier

Digital horse racing is no longer just a niche curiosity. It’s rapidly evolving into a vibrant subsection of the sports betting and gaming industry, thanks to NFT-driven platforms like Zed Champions, Game of Silks, and Stables.

Take Game of Silks, for example, which tokenizes the annual crop of real-world US thoroughbreds and converts them into tradeable in-game NFTs. Players who own a Silks horse receive rewards when their real-world counterpart wins races or produces offspring. It’s a “play-to-earn” model with real-life stakes, which has attracted over 25,000 players worldwide. In partnership with the New York Racing Association, Game of Silks is helping traditional horse racing tap into younger, tech-savvy audiences without compromising the sport’s integrity.

Meanwhile, in Europe, France’s Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) launched Stables, an NFT horse racing platform on the Tezos blockchain. The game uses historical racing data and advanced algorithms to simulate virtual races, allowing users to train and race their horses for digital and real-world prizes. Within days of launch, nearly 5,000 of the first 6,666 horse NFTs were sold, showing strong demand despite the broader NFT market’s volatility.

Even brands like Stella Artois are experimenting with NFT horse racing campaigns — proof that this trend is entering mainstream advertising and branding circles. The convergence of horse racing, virtual reality, and NFTs is part of a long-term shift toward digital sports entertainment. For traditional bettors of an older generation, especially those familiar with horse betting and poker, the appeal lies in a familiar pastime reimagined for the digital age. The thrill of betting, the pride of owning a stable, and the excitement of strategy all remain intact, but now they come with the added bonus of ownership, liquidity, and borderless participation.

It’s no surprise, then, that companies like Americas Cardroom are taking notes. As Web3 gaming continues to mature and as digital horse racing platforms refine their ecosystems, expect to see further crossover between poker and racing: two industries that thrive on competition, community, and chance. Zed Champions may just be the frontrunner in this movement, but it’s not racing alone. And with poker powerhouses like Americas Cardroom galloping into the NFT and crypto space, the finish line is only the beginning.