Blockchain Application in Metaverse: A Review
Bingquan Jin, Hailu Kuang, Xiaoqi Li
TL;DR
This paper surveys how blockchain technologies—decentralization, consensus mechanisms, hash algorithms, timestamping, smart contracts, distributed storage, distributed ledgers, and NFTs—can underpin a secure, interoperable Metaverse. It assesses how each component supports governance, finance, data integrity, asset ownership, and decentralized interactions within the Metaverse ecosystem. The authors connect foundational blockchain elements to practical Metaverse applications (e.g., DeFi, GameFi, asset tokenization, and digital identities) and discuss current challenges and future research directions. Overall, blockchain is argued to be a foundational enabler for the Metaverse, bridging real and virtual economies and enabling decentralized, user-centric participation.
Abstract
In recent years, the term Metaverse emerged as one of the most compelling concepts, captivating the interest of international companies such as Tencent, ByteDance, Microsoft, and Facebook. These company recognized the Metaverse as a pivotal element for future success and have since made significant investments in this area. The Metaverse is still in its developmental stages, requiring the integration and advancement of various technologies to bring its vision to life. One of the key technologies associated with the Metaverse is blockchain, known for its decentralization, security, trustworthiness, and ability to manage time-series data. These characteristics align perfectly with the ecosystem of the Metaverse, making blockchain foundational for its security and infrastructure. This paper introduces both blockchain and the Metaverse ecosystem while exploring the application of the blockchain within the Metaverse, including decentralization, consensus mechanisms, hash algorithms, timestamping, smart contracts, distributed storage, distributed ledgers, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to provide insights for researchers investigating these topics.