Is crypto the key to a democratizing the metaverse?

<p>Ethan's book, <a href="https://ecwpress.com/products/once-a-bitcoin-miner"><i>Once a Bitcoin Miner: Scandal and Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Wild West</i></a>, is available now.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/style/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html">metaverse</a> isn’t just inevitable; it’s already here (and it has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/business/metaverse-real-estate.html">a booming real estate market</a>).</p><p>As we move more of our lives online onto platforms controlled by increasingly powerful digital giants, Ethan explains the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/cryptocurrencies-are-democratising-the-financial-world-heres-how/">democratizing power</a> of cryptocurrency and blockchain. </p><p>On the other hand, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-creates-its-own-digital-currency-a-first-for-major-economy-11617634118">China’s new digital currency</a> (government-issued but crypto-inspired) raises questions about privacy and surveillance. And why did China declare all cryptocurrency transactions <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/11/17/china-bitcoin-mining-ban-crypto-holdouts-ether-solana-price/">illegal</a>?</p><p>Is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/17/bitcoin-big-oil-environment-energy">crypto the new oil</a>—an environmental disaster burning all this energy in the face of climate change? Bitcoin was using  <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/03/climate/bitcoin-carbon-footprint-electricity.html">as much energy as Finland or Pakistan</a></p><p>.</p>