Augur Passes CryptoKitties: Ethereum App Sees $400K in First-Day Betting

One Augur user was so eager, they didn't even wait for the user interface.

Still, a useful method might be to compare Augur's use to that of other major dapps, and on that front, there's an argument Augur is doing well.

Just over 12 hours after Augur's launch, the platform has become the fifth-most popular dapp on the ethereum blockchain by total users, according to DappRadar, putting it ahead of CryptoKitties, which has arguably been the perceived market leader since it went mainstream in December.

As is often the case with ethereum - and blockchain networks broadly - complaints about Augur come down to user experience.

Posts in the Discord forum revolved around a few repeated gripes: high gas costs, the Augur app repeatedly disconnecting and slow syncing.

A popular Reddit post addressed "Dear Augur guys" urged them to "Put yourselves in the shoe of the end user," who - the post's author argued - were likely to run into problems, give up, and not return.

An Infura spokesperson told CoinDesk that the "Entire team is on a video chat with the Augur team working on the issues," adding, "It is premature to wholly attribute the issue to one particular cause."

Platform founder Joey Krug, in particular, took to Twitter to answer critics of the app's user experience, tweeting: "Everyone knows the Augur UX is bad right now because of issues that only appeared on mainnet in production, pointing it out on twitter isn't saying anything useful/productive."

There's still plenty of time for Augur to work out its user experience kinks and attract more gamblers - including perhaps Wall Streeters - developers involved in the project emphasized.

"A platform like Augur needs to build a history of reliability before serious money moves in, this is a trend we've seen with blockchains in general like ethereum and bitcoin."