Could a virtual world possess a currency stronger than the Japanese Yen?
In short: In 2001, an economist made a startling claim that challenged the boundaries of traditional finance by suggesting a digital economy could rival major global currencies.
Economist Edward Castronova published a paper in late 2001 asserting that the currency in Norrath—the virtual setting of the video game EverQuest—was stronger than the Japanese Yen. This was a provocative finding because Norrath was a purely digital realm with fewer than one million inhabitants and had been active for only about two years at the time of the study.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: That Time a Video Game had an Economy Almost as Strong as Russia
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