The Perception of Smart Contracts for Governance of the Metaverse

Abstract

Smart contracts are a method for implementing direct democracy in virtual worlds. However, it is not clear whether voting preferences in the virtual world will mirror real-world voting preferences. We present a within-subject study in which participants were asked to allocate voting power in two scenarios. The first scenario probed participants’ opinion about the divisibility of voting rights. The second scenario presented participants with the case of unequal allocation of voting power in a virtual world, enforced by smart contracts. In both scenarios, participants allocated voting power and rated the fairness of their decision. Our study finds that participants’ voting preferences in the virtual world scenario did not mirror their real-world preferences and beliefs. Voting systems in the metaverse need to be carefully designed to align with human values and ethics.