Unmasking Inequality in the Metaverse: A Study of Skin-Tone Bias in the CryptoPunks Market

Abstract

While the metaverse offers opportunities to bridge the digital divide, it raises concerns regarding data privacy, ethical implications of avatar representation, and diversity and inclusion. This research investigates potential bias in CryptoPunks, one of the most valuable Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and performs multiple analyses to examine systematic differences between the light and dark skin-tone groups. Our results reveal the following: dark skin-tone punks are traded more frequently and valued based on the rarity relatively; the likelihood of owners having an Ethereum Name Service account is lower in the dark skin-tone group. These findings suggest that dark skin-tone punks are more likely to be treated as investment assets, while light skin-tone punks are often held for private values. Our research represents one of the first empirical investigations into various aspects of racial biases in NFTs. The findings provide valuable insights, highlighting the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the metaverse.