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The growing capacity of crime in the metaverse has prepared it for regulation, a recent report said.
Corporations have already started exploring the potential of the metaverse for new economic opportunities, according to crypto researcher Elliptic Connect. In addition to mounting Google searches for «metaverse», elliptic recently highlighted the recent image shift from Facebook to meta.
The report acknowledged that, like Meta, many businesses are struggling to find an immediately profitable use case for the technology. However, it found that at least 58 per cent of respondents expected that metavers would provide business opportunities for their business over the next five years. In addition, citibank expects the metaworm to be worth as much as $13 trillion by 2030. Although this suggests significant investment potential, so does crime.
Crypto Crime in the Metaverse
Elliptic’s report focused on the increasing number of ways criminals are stealing from users in the metaverse. It included routine financial crimes, such as fraud, as well as those involving digital assets in particular. Piracy and theft of digital goods owned by service users in the metavers.
However, he also pointed out the criminality that is particularly facilitated by the shared digital space. One item growing in popularity is ‘wearable’ non-fungible tokens, such as digital fashion and luxury items that can be worn in the metaverse. These elements could lead to new avenues for digital money laundering, the report says. He also cautioned about metaworms facilitating sexual crimes, such as non-consensual pornography and sexual harassment.
Regulation in the Shared Digital Space
Consequently, the report suggested that the growing risks would draw the attention of regulators in the coming year. In some cases it might be fairly simple. For example, it is sufficient to specify where the existing regulations extend to activities carried out in the metaverse.
However, as the new paradigm opens up new criminal opportunities, regulators will also need to adopt new approaches. A suggestion in the report is to take advantage of regulatory sandboxes to mobilize developers in space. According to the report, this is already taking place on the Aboudhabi world market. Elsewhere in the UAE, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority of Dubai has set a precedent in establishing a presence in the metaverse.
