The rise of centralised social networks has consolidated power among a few major technology companies, raising critical concerns about privacy, censorship, and transparency. In response, decentralised alternatives, including Web3 platforms like Decentralised Social (DeSo) and Fediverse platforms such as Mastodon, have gained increasing attention. While prior research has explored individual aspects of decentralised networks, comparisons between Fediverse and Web3 platforms remain limited, and the unique dynamics of Web3 networks like DeSo are not well understood. This study provides the first in-depth study of DeSo, characterising user behaviour, discourse, and economic activities, and compares these with Mastodon and memo.cash . We collected over 3.1M posts from 13K users on DeSo and Mastodon, along with 11M DeSo on-chain transactions via public APIs. Our analysis reveals that while DeSo and Mastodon share similarities in passive content engagement, they differ in their use of URLs, hashtags, and community focus. DeSo is primarily oriented around Decentralised Finance (DeFi) topics, whereas Mastodon hosts diverse discussions with an emphasis on news and politics. Despite DeSo’s decentralised social graph, its transaction graph remains centralised, underscoring the need for further decentralisation in Web3 platforms. Additionally, while wealth inequality exists on DeSo, low transaction fees promote user participation irrespective of financial status. These findings provide new insights into the evolving landscape of decentralised social networks and highlight critical areas for future research and platform development.
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.
The proliferation of cryptocurrency throughout society has led to widespread usage within criminal offending. Despite this, limited research has investigated fear of cryptocurrency-based victimization, or the role that financial or cryptocurrency literacy play in influencing such fears. This study examines the influence in which financial and cryptocurrency literacy plays in both personal and altruistic fear of financial and cryptoeconomic crimes. Using a sample of college undergraduates (n = 433), and employing a validated scale of cryptocurrency literacy, results indicate that cryptocurrency literacy is not significantly associated with all modalities of fear of crime investigated, with the exception of altruistic fear of non-cryptocurrency financial crimes. Conversely, general financial literacy was negatively associated with personal fear of both financial crimes and non- cryptoeconomic financial crimes. Findings are discussed in light of research and policy implication as well as limitations.
The technological evolution has not only opened new frontiers but has also become an indispensable part of our daily lives. However, the technology that enhances our lives presents a dual reality—it offers opportunities for criminals while creating challenges for law enforcement. Fraud, particularly, has become a pervasive issue. In response, virtual asset service providers must take measures to tackle cryptocurrency-related fraud. Nevertheless, this becomes challenging if the perpetrator exists solely within the virtual world. In 1992, Neal Stephenson used the term ‘Metaverse’ to describe a virtual world where people interact with each other using avatars. Over time, the Metaverse has transformed into a complex concept akin to 'cyberspace'. The Metaverse is a virtual environment that uses technologies to mimic the real world. As this virtual space became intertwined with financial transactions, especially through cryptocurrencies, the Metaverse evolved into a medium for perpetrating scams. Within this context, the article addresses the challenges associated with criminal activity in the Metaverse. Considering the potential applications of AI, cryptocurrencies and Non-Fungible Tokens, three main challenges can be identified: 1) decentralisation, 2) anonymity of the user, and 3) lack of regulation. This article examines the applicability of existing legislation to regulate criminal activity in the Metaverse through doctrinal research. Using a comparative approach, it analyses the challenges of addressing virtual crimes by contrasting fraud (Fraud Act 2006) with sexual assault (Sexual Offences Act 2003), highlighting the complexity of addressing crimes involving physical contact in virtual spaces compared to financial crimes.
The association between madness and the oppression of women is a trope of narratives focusing on women which can support a sexist or a feminist perspective —women’s psychological distress being either a proof of their inferiority or a result of their systematic oppression. Contemporary representations of female characters suffering from mental distress build on this tradition and play with it as they question the gender norms that tend to produce personality disorders. Such representations are also shaped by the society that produced them and, in this case, the emergence of “therapy culture” (Füredi 2004) may have political consequences for the meaning conveyed by the shows. Comparing Ally McBeal (Fox, 1997-2002) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW, 2015-2019) allows for an analysis that covers two decades and major social and economic evolutions to adopt a social and historical perspective on the representation of female characters suffering from mental health issues in US TV series. This chapter aims at comparing the two shows to see how the treatment of mental distress in female characters points to gender dynamics and how it can contribute to challenging the norm. It argues that there are broader issues of identity and social norms at stake in the representation of mental distress in female heroines.
The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth legal analysis of the phenomenon of profitable video games, the copyright holders of which, unlike the owners of online computer games of previous generations, recognise the copyright of users in the works created or processed by them, and provide players with the opportunity to dispose of their intellectual rights to make a profit. The work employs scientific methods to analyse contentious relationships in the legal aspects of profitable video games and compares different approaches to their regulation. The fundamental legal differences in the conditions for using free and profitable video games have been identified and analysed. The paper provides the systematisation and discloses the legal nature of methods players use to generate income within network computer games. The research discovers the legal, organisational, and economic reasons and risks leading to the non-recognition of user copyrights and the imposition of a ban on their disposal by copyright holders of free video games. A mechanism has been discovered and disclosed that allowed the owners of profitable video games to eliminate intellectual and legal risks, recognise gamers’ copyrights to the works they created and launch the legal circulation of rights to them. The work analyses the model for using the blockchain infrastructure and non-fungible tokens as its elements for fixing and disposing of rights to user-generated gaming artefacts. The smart contract as the legal instrument of blockchain platforms is critically analysed. Authors made their proposals to improve the legal efficiency of a smart contract by adding a system of standard public licenses. The scientific novelty of the work lies in explaining the legal nature of the phenomenon of profitable video games and the mechanism for disposing of copyrights within them, as well as in proving the absence of identity between a profitable video game and such an object of special regulation as gambling. The practical significance of the article consists in the applicability of its results for improving the legal regulation in the context of the complication of the ecosystem, the growth of the market and the scale of the audience of online computer games.
Christopher Großmann, Katrin Merfeld, Jan F. Klein, Franziska Föller · 5 authors
While the sharing economy has promised to solve a range of problems associated with traditional consumption, the reality is more akin to its inability or even exacerbation of economic and societal issues. We propose that blockchain technology could address these issues. To this end, we explain its potential by elaborating on how blockchain-based sharing services can help solve exploitation, data abuse, financial and legal risks, and the limited accessibility of current sharing practices. Moreover, we conduct a means–end chain analysis to provide a customer’s perspective on the motivations and fears related to blockchain-based sharing solutions. We find four motives (trust, self-determination, quality of life, and security) and two fears (mistrust and economic interest) related to blockchain-based sharing. By juxtaposing the potential benefits of blockchain-based shared services with customer insights, we provide an outline of research avenues for promoting blockchain-based sharing to overcome the current dark side of sharing practices.
Abstract This chapter has two purposes. First, we describe how information system (IS) scholars approach privacy research and summarize major findings. IS scholars are concerned with information privacy and have discovered that individuals have serious information privacy concerns. These concerns, however, do not prevent individuals from disclosing personal identifiable information (PII) with centralized platform providers, a phenomenon called the privacy paradox . We highlight four common explanations for the privacy paradox: privacy calculus, privacy fatigue, trust, and lack of choice. Most IS research investigated Web2 applications. Web2 is the foundation for today’s global economy. With Web2, users rely on centralized platforms for online searching, shopping, banking, data storage, social media, and other services. Second, we introduce readers to the new paradigm of Web3. Privacy protection has been the paramount logic behind the grand design of Web3 applications. Web3 is the era of the Internet that is based on decentralized infrastructures and applications, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Web3 applications enhance information privacy compared to Web2 because individuals can access services without disclosing PII to a central authority. The privacy objective is achieved technically through a combination of digital wallets, cryptography, and distributed ledgers (a.k.a blockchain). While Web3 is still in its early days, education is an important driver of adoption.
This paper explores the rapidly evolving Metaverse, particularly its relationship with computer games and blockchain technology, where the most development is happening, and the consequential ethical and societal implications. As we will observe, interaction is crucial for developing the Metaverse. Using a hybrid research methodology, incorporating structured review and extensive bibliometric analysis, we map the intricate dynamics of this emerging field, revealing an accelerated global adoption of the Metaverse and its integration with Blockchain. The year 2022 marks a turning point in the development of the Metaverse. Plus, we discuss the transformation spurred by this convergence, evaluating emerging ethical issues like ownership rights, privacy concerns, potential exploitation, and susceptibility to manipulation. Particular emphasis is placed on the rising presence of AI in gaming, investigating its role in addictive gaming mechanisms, potential propagation of harmful behaviours, and cultural bias reinforcement. We underline the Metaverse’s unceasing growth, emphasizing the need for future research to develop creative interaction strategies that respect social perspectives and prioritize ethical safeguards, enabling the Metaverse’s responsible evolution for all stakeholders’ benefit. Finally, we want to highlight many other potential applications of Metaverse and Blockchain, such as copyright management, economic disputes, traceability, or contract transparency.
Cryptocurrency trading continues to increase in popularity as a broad financial activity in the American populace and across the globe. Despite well-documented risks associated with the behavior and parallels between cryptocurrency trading and gambling, the mental health implications and associations of this behavior are only beginning to be understood. The objective of the current work was to provide preliminary data, using a census-matched, weighted, U.S. sample, of the sociodemographic predictors of cryptocurrency trading and the broad cluster of addictive behaviors that are associated with such behavior. Participants were recruited by YouGov Opinion polling and taken from two samples: a weighted, census-matched sample adults in the United States (N = 2,806) and an oversample of sports-wagering individuals in the United States (N = 1,557). Cryptocurrency trading habits were measured via self-report questions, as were gambling problems, and substance use and dependence. Younger, more educated, higher-income men were more likely to regularly trade cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency trading was associated with greater frequency of addictive behaviors and greater self-reported feelings of addiction. Collectively, these results suggest that cryptocurrency is often linked a wide variety of impulsive or at-risk behaviors and may be seen as an indicator of more broad concerns with risky behaviors.
This paper explores the relationship with gambling severity of a relatively new set of speculative digital products, namely cryptocurrency trading, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and fan tokens. These products have gained notoriety in sports marketing strategies (among other realms) and are considered to be potentially problematic because, disguised as non-gambling products, they include gambling-like design features that might make sports fans more vulnerable when consuming them. A sample of regular sports bettors (N = 525) based in the U.S. was recruited in 2023 via an online panel to understand the association between these types of consumptions. The findings revealed a significant overlap between experiencing gambling problems and consuming cryptocurrency trading products, NFTs, and fan tokens. The results indicate a modest relationship between the severity of gambling and the likelihood of owning the studied digital assets, of holding positive attitudes toward them, and of being more frequently exposed to their advertising and marketing promotions. The relevancy of these findings resides in the fact that sports bettors might be perceiving and treating gambling and gambling-like assets as part of the same product category, when in reality the latter are legally required to comply with fewer consumer protection measures than gambling products.
With the recent hype around the Metaverse and NFTs, Web3 is getting more and more popular. The goal of Web3 is to decentralize the web via decentralized applications. Wallets play a crucial role as they act as an interface between these applications and the user. Wallets such as MetaMask are being used by millions of users nowadays. Unfortunately, Web3 is often advertised as more secure and private. However, decentralized applications as well as wallets are based on traditional technologies, which are not designed with privacy of users in mind. In this paper, we analyze the privacy implications that Web3 technologies such as decentralized applications and wallets have on users. To this end, we build a framework that measures exposure of wallet information. First, we study whether information about installed wallets is being used to track users online. We analyze the top 100K websites and find evidence of 1,325 websites running scripts that probe whether users have wallets installed in their browser. Second, we measure whether decentralized applications and wallets leak the user's unique wallet address to third-parties. We intercept the traffic of 616 decentralized applications and 100 wallets and find over 2000 leaks across 211 applications and more than 300 leaks across 13 wallets. Our study shows that Web3 poses a threat to users' privacy and requires new designs towards more privacy-aware wallet architectures.
Benjamin Johnson, Tianze Sun, Daniel Stjepanović, Giang Thu Vu · 5 authors
The constant, substantial price fluctuations of cryptocurrency allow traders to engage in highly speculative trading that closely resembles gambling. With significant financial loss associated with adverse mental health outcomes, it is important to investigate the impact that market participation has on mental health. Therefore, we conducted interviews with 17 participants who self-reported problems due to trading. Thematic analysis was conducted revealing themes: (1) factors in engagement, (2) impacts of trading and (3) harm reduction. Factors in engagement captured factors that motivated and sustained cryptocurrency trading. Impacts of trading outlined how cryptocurrency trading positively and negatively impacted participants. Harm reduction described methods participants employed to reduce mental distress from trading. Our study provides novel insights into the adverse impacts of cryptocurrency trading across multiple domains, especially mental health, relationships and finances. They also indicate the importance of further research on effective coping strategies for distress caused by financial loss from trading. Additionally, our study reveals the significant role social environments play on participants' expectations and intentions regarding cryptocurrency trading. These social networks extend beyond real-life relationship to include celebrity and influencer endorsement. This encourages investigation into the content of cryptocurrency promotions and the influence they have on individuals' decision to trade.
Videogames are an increasingly prominent use case for blockchain technology (what has been termed ‘cryptogaming’). Drawing on documents, such as industry presentations, social media posts, interviews and white papers, this article analyses discourses surrounding cryptogames, focusing on the claims made by cryptogame developers and investors. We ask two related research questions: What are the dominant visions of a cryptogaming future, imagined by and for various constituencies? And what sorts of values get realised in such an imagined future of game development and use? We argue that cryptogames imagine players and developers as financialised subjects, adopting attitudes and practices of risk and investment as salves to both microeconomic problems in the games industry as well as broader macroeconomic issues.
Policymakers’ attempts to prevent gambling-related harm are affected by the ‘gamblification’ of, for example, video games and investing. This review highlights related issues posed by cryptocurrencies, which are decentralised and volatile digital assets, and which underlie ‘cryptocasinos’—a new generation of online gambling operators. Cryptocurrencies can be traded around the clock and provide the allure of big potential lottery-like wins. Frequent cryptocurrency traders often suffer from gambling-related harm, which suggests that many users are taking on substantial risks. Further, the lack of regulation around cryptocurrencies and social media echo chambers increases users’ risk of being scammed. In comparison to the conventional regulated online gambling sector, cryptocasinos pose novel risks for existing online gamblers, and can also make online gambling accessible to the underage, the self-excluded, and those living in jurisdictions where online gambling is illegal. Researchers and policymakers should continue to monitor developments in this fast-moving space.
This paper provides an overview of how the focus of youth gambling research has evolved since the foundational work of the 1990s. Over the last two decades, research in youth gambling has advanced from having a principal focus on under-aged access to adult commercial activities to understanding the impact of gambling-like content in social media and gaming. The process of digital convergence and ‘gamblification’ has blurred the boundaries between activities, and the rise of gambling and gaming ecosystems. Research suggests that early exposure to gambling-like content (e.g. loot boxes or social casino games) may lead to a transition to commercial gambling. Here we provide an overview of current evidence, important technological developments and conceptual analyses; and, current directions in digital technology and their potential impact. The potential now exists for the merging of multiple classes of activity: gaming, gambling and speculative trading as a result of blockchain technology. The paper underscores the importance of the need for future studies to capture the breadth of gambling and gambling-like activities available to young people. It also indicates that pathways into gambling may arise within other population groups (e.g. gamers, digital asset investors) rather than from direct exposure to commercial gambling products.
Sayak Saha Roy, Dipanjan Das, Priyanka Bose, Christopher Kruegel · 6 authors
The rapid growth in popularity and hype surrounding digital assets such as art, video, and music in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has made them a lucrative investment opportunity, with NFT-based sales surpassing $25B in 2021 alone. However, the volatility and general lack of technical understanding of the NFT ecosystem have led to the spread of various scams. The success of an NFT heavily depends on its online virality. As a result, creators use dedicated promotion services to drive engagement to their projects on social media websites, such as Twitter. However, these services are also utilized by scammers to promote fraudulent projects that attempt to steal users' cryptocurrency assets, thus posing a major threat to the ecosystem of NFT sales. In this paper, we conduct a longitudinal study of 439 promotion services (accounts) on Twitter that have collectively promoted 823 unique NFT projects through giveaway competitions over a period of two months. Our findings reveal that more than 36% of these projects were fraudulent, comprising of phishing, rug pull, and pre-mint scams. We also found that a majority of accounts engaging with these promotions (including those for fraudulent NFT projects) are bots that artificially inflate the popularity of the fraudulent NFT collections by increasing their likes, followers, and retweet counts. This manipulation results in significant engagement from real users, who then invest in these scams. We also identify several shortcomings in existing anti-scam measures, such as blocklists, browser protection tools, and domain hosting services, in detecting NFT-based scams. We utilize our findings to develop and open-source a machine learning classifier tool that was able to proactively detect 382 new fraudulent NFT projects on Twitter.
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.
Flavio A. M. Pinto, Yogachandran Rahulamathavan, James Skinner
Doping is a well-known problem in competitive sports. Along the years, several cases have come to public, evidencing corrupt practices from within the sports environment. To guarantee fair play and prevent public health issues, anti-doping organizations and sports authorities are expected to cooperate in the fight against doping. To achieve this mission, doping-related data must be produced, stored, accessed, and shared in a secure, tamperproof, and privacy-preserving manner. This paper investigates the processes and tools established by the World Anti-Doping Agency for the global harmonization of doping control activities. From this investigation, it is possible to conclude that there is an inherent trust problem, in part due to a centralized data management paradigm and to the lack of fully digitalized processes. Therefore, this paper presents two main contributions: the concept of a multiorganizational decentralized data governance model and a blockchain-based design for one of the most sensitive data-sharing processes within the anti-doping ecosystem. Throughout this article, it is shown that the adoption of a permissioned blockchain can benefit the whole anti-doping community, creating more reliable processes for handling data, where privacy and security are enhanced.