Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between personality traits, impulsive behaviors and gambling tendencies among individuals who invest in cryptocurrency.Methods: The study was cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected both online and face-to-face between September 2022 and March 2023 from 300 individuals registered at a financial center who met the inclusion criteria. Four scales were used: the Descriptive Information Form, the South Oaks Gambling Screening Scale, the Five-Factor Personality Scale, and the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were used to evaluate the data.Results: The mean age of the individuals who participated in the study was 31.68±8.06 years. 79.3% of the individuals were male, 49.7% were single and 39.3% had children. While there was a statistically significant, positive correlation between the South Oaks Gambling Screening Scale scores and the agreeableness subscale scores among individuals who invest in cryptocurrency (p
AuraOS Second Prior Art Disclosure (N9–N13): Holographic Headers, Gas‑Free Fractal Ledger, Swarm Mesh, Decoupled VR Rendering, and Interactive Narrative FST. This paper extends the AuraOS sovereign cognitive substrate with five new claims. N9 embeds a 1.2 KB hyperdimensional snapshot of the entire codebase into every file header, enabling O(1) integrity verification. N10 replaces blockchain gas fees with RAM‑staking and Proof‑of‑Presence derived from device entropy. N11 describes a swarm mesh for collective learning, elastic distributed compute, and zero‑trust routing. N12 introduces VSA‑addressed decoupled rendering, where a smartphone controls photorealistic VR/AR worlds by sending only hyperdimensional addresses (not assets). N13 presents an FST‑constrained interactive movie/game engine where NPCs use generative dialogue within narrative bounds, and player actions (including free speech) change the story. All claims are published under AGPLv3 §13 to prevent corporate capture.
يتناول هذا البحث مسألة حماية الهوية الثقافية للأسرة في ظل التحولات التي أفرزتها البيئة الرقمية اللامركزية في عصر الشابكة اللامركزية (Web3). ولم يعد أثر التطور الرقمي مقتصراً على الجوانب التقنية البحتة، بل امتد إلى المجالات القيمية والتربوية التي تمارس الأسرة من خلالها وظيفتها في التنشئة الاجتماعية، ونقل الموروثات، وترسيخ المرجعيات الثقافية بين الأجيال. ويهدف البحث إلى بيان طبيعة الأثر الذي تمارسه هذه البيئة الرقمية في إعادة تشكيل المجال الثقافي داخل الأسرة، مع تحليل الإشكالات القانونية التي يثيرها هذا التحول، ولا سيما ما يتصل بمدى كفاية التشريعات التقليدية لمواكبة هذه التغيرات. وتعتمد الدراسة على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، مع الاستفادة من لمحات مقارنة محدودة، لتقويم فعالية الأطر القانونية القائمة. وقد خلصت إلى أن الأدوات القانونية التقليدية لم تعد كافية، بمفردها، لضمان حماية الهوية الثقافية للأسرة، وأن المرحلة الراهنة تقتضي مقاربة قانونية متوازنة تقوم على الوقاية المسبقة، وتقييم المخاطر، والتصميم الآمن للمنصات الرقمية، مع توزيع واضح للمسؤوليات بين مختلف الفاعلين في الفضاء الرقمي، ومراعاة المصلحة الفضلى للطفل، وتحقيق التوازن بين الانفتاح الرقمي، والحفاظ على البعد الثقافي للأسرة، بما يعزز قدرتها على صون قيمها، وتماسكها في وجه التحولات المتسارعة. This study examines the protection of the family’s cultural identity in light of the transformations produced by the decentralized digital environment in the era of Web3. Digital influence is no longer confined to purely technical aspects; rather, it now extends to the value-based and educational spheres through which the family carries out its role in socialization, transmitting heritage, and consolidating cultural references across generations. The study aims to clarify the nature of this environment’s impact on reshaping the family’s cultural sphere while analyzing the legal challenges arising from this transformation, particularly those related to the adequacy of traditional legal frameworks. It adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, supported by limited comparative insights, to assess the effectiveness of existing legal frameworks. The study concludes that traditional legal tools are no longer sufficient on their own to effectively protect the family’s cultural identity. Instead, the current stage requires a balanced legal approach grounded in prevention, risk assessment, secure-by-design principles, clear allocation of responsibilities among digital actors, consideration of the child’s best interests, and preservation of the family’s cultural dimension.
In approximately the year 2000, the author conceived and partially implemented a multi-layered community economic system centered on Shibuya, Tokyo. The system integrated real-time human broadcasting, local media production, a unified community coupon currency, youth-driven cultural monitoring, and digital education — years before the terminology of "DAO," "Web3," "UGC," or "creator economy" existed. This paper documents that original conception, analyzes its structural architecture, and demonstrates its direct lineage to the author's current work: the Hikari Currency (光貨) ecosystem and the ECHO AI Artist platform. The Shibuya system was not understood by contemporaries. It is understood now.
The rapid collapse of decentralized game economies, often characterized by the \textit{death spiral,} remains the most formidable barrier to the mass adoption of Web3 gaming. This paper proposes that the sustainability of an open game economy is predicated on three necessary and sufficient conditions: Anti-Sybil Resilience, Anti-Capital Dominance, and Anti-Inflationary Saturation. The first section establishes a theoretical proof of these conditions, arguing that the absence of any single dimension leads to systemic failure. The second section explores the dialectical relationship between these dimensions, illustrating how unchecked automation and capital-driven monopolies accelerate asset hyperinflation. In the third section, we introduce the Identity-Bound Asset Integrity Model (IBAIM) as a comprehensive technical solution. IBAIM utilizes Zero-Knowledge (ZK) biometric hashing and Account Abstraction (AA) to anchor asset utility to unique human identities through a privacy-preserving and regulatory-compliant architecture. By exogenizing biometric verification to trusted local environments and utilizing Zero-Knowledge Proofs of Identity (zk-PoI), the model ensures absolute user privacy. Furthermore, by implementing an Asymmetric Utility Decay (AUD) engine-whereby assets suffer a vertical 50% utility cliff upon secondary transfer-and an entropy-driven thermodynamic degradation mechanism., the model successfully decouples financial speculation from in-game merit. Finally, we apply this framework to analyze prominent historical failures in the GameFi sector, demonstrating that their collapse was an inevitable consequence of violating these core economic constraints. Our findings suggest that trading a degree of asset liquidity for system integrity is the only viable path toward long-term economic viability in decentralized virtual worlds.
Purpose - This study examines how Web3 technologies—including blockchain, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized finance (DeFi)—affect the business models of sports organizations and the engagement behavior of fans. The research evaluates both the revenue and loyalty opportunities created by digital assets and the financial risks and regulatory challenges they introduce. Design/methodology/approach - A mixed-methods approach is employed, combining blockchain analytics, big data and social media monitoring, expert interviews, ethnographic observation of online fan communities, and systematic case analysis of NBA Top Shot, Chiliz/Socios.com, Sorare, and related platforms. Theoretical grounding draws on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) paradigm, the Fan Attitude Network (FAN) model, and Social Identity Theory (SIT). Findings - Fan tokens and NFTs create new revenue streams and deepen supporter loyalty through exclusive access, participatory governance, and gamified interactions. However, empirical evidence reveals high price volatility, speculative investor behavior, misleading marketing, and an unclear regulatory environment that expose fans to financial risk. Emerging markets such as Azerbaijan face additional structural barriers—limited fan culture depth, nascent regulation, and underdeveloped digital infrastructure—that preclude near-term viability of NFT-based fan engagement. Originality/value - This article is among the first to systematically integrate governance, financial risk, and regulatory dimensions of Web3 in sports within a single framework, moving beyond prior work focused narrowly on marketing and financial performance. It offers actionable implications for sports organizations, regulators, and platform developers. Research limitations/implications - The study is constrained by the rapidly evolving nature of Web3 technologies, jurisdictional variation in regulatory frameworks, and limited blockchain data accessibility for some platforms.
In approximately the year 2000, the author conceived and partially implemented a multi-layered community economic system centered on Shibuya, Tokyo. The system integrated real-time human broadcasting, local media production, a unified community coupon currency, youth-driven cultural monitoring, and digital education — years before the terminology of DAO, Web3, UGC, or creator economy existed. This paper documents that original conception, analyzes its structural architecture, and demonstrates its direct lineage to the author's current work: the Hikari Currency ecosystem and the ECHO AI Artist platform.
This article examines the dynamics of domestic video-on-demand (VoD) platforms in Brazil. While global streaming giants increasingly dominate the market, local platforms continue to emerge in response to specific cultural and economic contexts. Building on sectoral data and a qualitative case study, the paper analyses the strategies adopted by a local service called Filme Filme, seeking to compete with global players through curation, audience engagement and innovative features such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and gamification. Despite these efforts, Filme Filme ultimately ceased operations after four years of its launch, revealing the structural barriers that constrain the growth of domestic platforms in highly concentrated markets. By situating this case within the broader debate on platformization and the industrial organization of cultural industries, the study offers insight into the challenges of sustaining local streaming initiatives in emerging economies and discusses implications for public policy aimed at promoting digital sovereignty and cultural diversity.
Jack McGarrigle, Jessica Smith, J. Gwyn Griffiths, Jamie Torrance · 6 authors
Background and aims: Dark patterns are online platform design features that influence consumer behaviour to the advantage of the interface designer. In online gambling, such designs may exacerbate gambling-related harms, particularly among vulnerable consumers. This study aims to provide the first scoping review of dark patterns in online gambling. Methods: Following established scoping review frameworks, we systematically searched databases and grey literature using terms related to dark patterns and online gambling. The review protocol was preregistered. Results: Included articles (n = 16) addressed a variety of gambling-related dark patterns: hidden gambling management tools, inducements with complex conditions, minimum balances required to withdraw funds, unnecessary frictions involved in closing an account, high defaults in stake, deposit, reality check and deposit limit settings, and urgency-based gambling prompts. To address inconsistent terminology across studies, we synthesised existing literature by mapping identified dark patterns to a transdisciplinary framework, providing greater conceptual clarity and direction for future research. Discussions and conclusions: The potential for harm from dark patterns is evident, yet evidence on behavioural impacts is limited, hindered by restricted access to proprietary gambling operator data. Research in this area is sparse and fragmented, often using inconsistent terminology. Future studies should empirically investigate the influence of dark patterns on consumer behaviour, especially among vulnerable populations, and evaluate safer design alternatives. We recommend mandating gambling operators to collaborate with researchers to assess platform safety, and shifting the burden of proof onto operators to demonstrate that their platforms prioritise consumer safety and foster responsible gambling environments.
Arthur Carvalho, Liudmila Zavolokina, Suman Bhunia, Gerhard Schwabe
Regulatory changes have enabled American student-athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). However, only a fraction of the student-athlete population is actually profiting from their NIL, which raises questions concerning fairness and inclusiveness. Motivated by that scenario, we look at technological solutions capable of sharing a limited amount of financial resources fairly and inclusively. Following a design science methodology, we define design requirements for such technological solutions after interviewing student-athletes, which leads us to establish the inclusive-meritocratic fairness criterion. Subsequently, we determine design principles that artifacts aiming at helping student-athletes should satisfy. We find that a solution that satisfies the proposed design principles is to associate student-athletes with digital collectibles represented as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The core idea behind our artifact is that student-athletes receive royalties in primary markets after NFTs are randomly minted, plus deterministic royalties in secondary markets whenever a transaction involving their collectibles happens. Interviews with student-athletes validate our design. We conclude the paper by discussing how our ideas give rise to a new NIL design theory.
Open access
Digital Games and Media
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Ho Yeol Yu, Kyu-soo Chung, Anthony D. Pizzo, Sangwon Na · 5 authors
Digital assets have garnered widespread attention for their potential to generate revenues. Grounded in innovation diffusion theory, this study investigated the adoption behavior of esports consumers as it pertains to the application of digital assets, especially non-fungible tokens (NFT) in-game items (i.e., virtual skins and items). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among innovation adoption, esports identification, and purchase intentions. With a sample of 309 esports gamers, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed to test the measurement and hypothesized paths using R-Studio. The results revealed that the innovation adoption of digital assets had a significant impact on purchase intentions. In addition, esports identification was positively associated with purchase intentions, and the moderating effect of esports identification was identified. This novelty of digital assets such as NFTs and their increasing popularity in digital culture will continue to shift public perceptions of digital assets in esports industries. This study has originality and value in that it sheds light on the impact of the adoption behavior of esports consumers in relation to NFT-based in-game items.
Open access
Digital Games and Media
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Ho Yeol Yu, Kyu-soo Chung, Sam Schelfhout, Anthony D. Pizzo
The esports industry, facing slowing growth and revenue challenges, is actively seeking innovative monetization strategies to revitalize its revenue generation capabilities. This study investigated the adoption of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a viable tactic to these challenges. NFTs, unique digital assets secured by blockchain technology, are becoming increasingly integrated into the esports landscape. Guided by a Diffusion of Innovations framework, we analyzed factors influencing the attitudes and purchase intentions toward NFTs of 294 competitive esports gamers. Results revealed that the adoption factors had a significant impact on attitudes toward NFTs, and thus significantly influenced purchase intentions. Notably, investment intentions did not moderate the relationship between attitude and purchase intention, suggesting that the intrinsic value of NFTs drives their appeal, rather than their potential solely as financial instruments. This research underscores the importance of leveraging NFTs’ ability to provide exclusive content and experiences, thereby enhancing fan engagement, diversifying revenue sources, and fostering a more sustainable business model.
This context informs the conversations with artists and creative practitioners in this book.Often, their work with and around Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) emerges from these very concerns.Does that mean that DAOs are capable of solving the sociopolitical issues of precarity, cuts, and censorship?No. 'Free blockchain money' does not exist.DAOs do not 'magically' make more funding appear, least of all structurally so.And DAOs do not allow artists and cultural practitioners to leave behind their national contexts of austerity and repression and exchange them for some virtual utopia.However, this does not mean that engaging with DAOs is pointless in the face of these circumstances and limitations.In this publication, I ask practitioners to share their experiences, focussing specifically on the definition of new forms of agency in cultural decision-making, explorations of shared ownership in arts and culture amid widespread logics of private property and extractivism, and the making of prefigurative claims on futures envisioned from the bottom up.None of these practices will be able to replace the structures of state funding or cancel oppressive concentrations of power any time soon, but they do open up space to manoeuvre and create tactical interventions, to find each other and build solidarity, and to regain a sense of futurity together.In other words, to reimagine, reclaim, and restructure shared socio-technical futures.The six people that I interviewed represent key voices in the countercultural and artistic DAO space.Penny Rafferty is a cofounder of Black Swan -a DAO that pursued horizontal and decentralised approaches to art-making -and she pushes DAO discourse into new directions with critical and imaginative work.Erik Bordeleau is a co-founder of The Sphere -a DAO that explores new ecologies of funding to develop a regenerative commons for the performing arts -and contributes boundarypushing philosophical and media theoretical perspectives to DAO thought.Ruth Catlow developed CultureStake -a voting system for decentralised cultural decision-making that uses quadratic voting on the blockchain -and has been a central Repression of Palestinian Culture and soidarity: Independence as Resistance,' Reset! 8
Amy Thomas, Maria-Jose Schmidt-Kessen, Simon Karlin
This chapter explores the role of intellectual property (IP) in the commercialisation and regulation of sports and eSports, focussing on copyright, trade marks, and image rights. It outlines how these rights enable key stakeholders - such as sports organisers, players and fans - to assert control over various aspects of sporting content and performances. Though comparative analysis of legal frameworks in Germany, the EU, and the UK, the chapter highlights significant jurisdictional differences in the protection and interpretation of these rights, particularly in relation to the use of player likenesses and ownership of performance outputs. The chapter also investigates how new technologies, including generative artificial intelligence (AI) and Non-Fungible Token (NFTs), might complicate rights-based relationships in both fields. A central theme is the imbalance of rights and bargaining power among stakeholders, especially players, whose creative contributions are often excluded from IP protection. In doing so, the chapter raises normative questions and critical reflections on fairness, enforcement, and contractual practices in the regulation of sports and eSports content.
Jean Baudrillard's (1929–2007) theoretical writings are applied to an examination of today's global virtual economy and society. New advances in virtual culture, which flourished during and after the COVID-19 pandemic—esp., metaverses (immersive virtual worlds), non-fungible tokens, and deepfakes (synthetic media)—are discussed to show the prescience of Baudrillard's theory for how our global consumer society of the image is now defined by the problem of simulation. Baudrillard is shown to have theorized important trends and phenomenon in our contemporary global hyperculture that have hitherto been neglected: non-communication, anti-work, and anti-consumption are, among others, explained as developing phenomena because they are pathologies of a new nihilism, a hatred of capitalism, that is not realized through destruction, but through the simulation and deterrence that now defines contemporary global culture and society.
This study examines how the historical development of web technologies and Korea’s digital transformation have shaped the structure of art consumption, situating the inquiry within broader socio-historical flows and institutional frameworks. The trajectory from the static information delivery of Web 1.0, to the interactive platforms of Web 2.0, to the semantic and relational information sharing of Web 3.0, and finally to the decentralization of Web3, extends beyond a mere technological evolution. In particular, the state-led informatization policies initiated in the wake of the 1997 IMF financial crisis, along with subsequent strategies such as the Digital New Deal, laid the institutional foundation for the digital transformation of the Korean art market. Within this context, the study traces the processes and changes in art consumption that emerged. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative, interpretive approach, drawing upon diverse secondary sources including academic studies, policy documents, news reports, and platform operation records. The findings demonstrate that web technologies have served as a primary driver of comprehensive changes in art—shaping modes of appreciation, systems of distribution, and extending further into assetization and financialization. Today, art consumption has been redefined to move beyond viewing and purchasing, encompassing decentralized experiences and transactions as assets via online platforms. This shift underscores the rise of platform-based relational consumption models and the structural incorporation of art into capital markets. The study’s significance lies in its diachronic analysis of how web technologies have impacted art consumption. Furthermore, by integrating perspectives from the histories of technology, policy, and art, it establishes a foundation for multi-layered inquiry into the transformations of art consumption and institutional frameworks.
This paper explores the ontological politics in China's emerging NFT scene. Drawing on digital ethnography from 2022 to 2023, it analyzes how actors invoke competing spatiotemporal framings (‘chronotopes’) of NFTs from familiar institutional sites. Under the crypto ban, NFT companies legitimize the scene as a digital extension of the art market, drawing on middle-class imaginaries of the gallery. Through corporate discourse and mobile app design, they institutionalized the gallery framing as a mode of representation and economization. A widespread price slump in the summer of 2022 sparked metapragmatic discourse on social media. Influencers and users challenged the values presumed on NFT platforms and formulated contrasting chronotopes of speculative gaming, notably the framing of the scene as a casino rigged by bookies. Their increasing resonance among users effected a shift toward the understanding of NFTs as worthless gambling chips and a more speculative mode of engagement with the technology, pressuring NFT companies to incorporate the casino framing in their platform design. This paper emphasizes the significance of local meaning-makings (semiosis) of technologies and economies, as well as the ‘chronotope’ as a framework for understanding how cultural framings of technology emerge, predominate, and fall out of favor.
This study examines how firms in the Pokémon Trading Card Game (PTCG) grading industry adapt their business models in response to digital disruption. We employ a qualitative multiple-case design, investigating three leading grading companies – PSA (United States), CCIC (China), and SQC (Thailand) – through 30 in-depth interviews and supplemental document analysis. The findings reveal divergent strategies shaped by both dynamic capabilities and institutional contexts. PSA leverages scale and AI technology to enhance efficiency, CCIC focuses on legitimacy and incremental improvements under regulatory constraints, and SQC pursues exploratory digital initiatives (e.g., NFT-linked trials) to co- create value with its community. These patterns highlight the ambidexterity required for business model innovation in a digitizing niche service sector. The study contributes to business model innovation and digital transformation literature by demonstrating how national institutions and customer engagement influence innovation paths. Practical implications include lessons for balancing core business sustainability with transformative innovation in different regulatory environments.
The integration of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) into the gaming industry has introduced a novel economic model, reshaping monetization strategies and player engagement. This paper analyzes the market potential of NFT integration in video games through a comprehensive approach combining market segmentation, trend analysis, and predictive modeling. Using historical sales data from various genres and platforms, the research identified key segments that show high potential for NFT adoption, particularly action, role-playing, and sports games on mainstream platforms such as PlayStation and Xbox. The market segmentation, achieved through K-Means clustering, revealed distinct groups of video games based on genre, platform, and regional sales performance. Trend analysis using time series models like ARIMA and Prophet highlighted emerging and declining popularity across different genres and platforms. The study also applied predictive modeling techniques, including Random Forest and Gradient Boosting, to forecast the potential success of NFTs in specific game genres. The models demonstrated strong performance, with low mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean squared error (RMSE), confirming that high-engagement genres are likely to benefit most from NFT integration. The findings suggest that NFTs can enhance player experiences by offering unique, tradable in-game assets, thus creating new revenue streams for developers. The paper concludes by recommending strategies for NFT implementation, targeting high-potential genres and platforms, and addressing regional market preferences. Limitations related to data constraints and emerging trends are discussed, and future research directions are proposed, focusing on consumer sentiment analysis and real-world case studies of NFT integration in video games.
The chapter focuses on IP rightsIP rights in esports mainly from the perspective of the European Union (EU) and Korean laws. In addition, it also contains an outlook on two increasingly relevant topics in esports and gaming: non-fungible tokens (NFTsNFTs) and the metaversemetaverse.