{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.wm-vrt-009","code":"wm-vrt-009-virtual-economy","url":"https://ver.cy/models/wm-vrt-009-virtual-economy/","name":"Virtual Economy","alternateNames":[],"kind":"world-model","status":"todo","version":"unversioned","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"World Models","category":"Information and virtual systems","entryKind":"standalone-mm","plane":"","domain":["INF.VRT.ECO"],"industry":["Cross-industry"],"navPath":"NAV.INF.VRT.ECO","tags":["virtual","economy","inf.vrt.eco"],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A virtual economy is the system of rules, assets and transactions inside a virtual world, game or platform: its virtual currencies and items, how they are created, earned, bought, traded and removed, and the records of transactions between participants. It covers the economy within the world, including any exchange with real money at its borders, not the world itself or general-purpose crypto-assets outside it.","purpose":"Rules, assets and transactions inside a virtual world","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Its assets exist only under the rules of one world or platform, which the operator can change.","Value crosses into real money only at defined borders such as purchases, cash-out or secondary markets.","Distinct from the virtual world itself, which hosts the economy among other systems.","Distinct from crypto-assets and distributed ledgers, though some virtual economies use them for items or currency."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"VRT009-B1","name":"Rules","description":"How the economy is designed.","layers":[{"id":"VRT009-B1-L1","name":"Currencies and items","description":"The kinds of value in the world.","findings":[{"id":"VRT009-F01","name":"Asset types","description":"Virtual currencies and items with their properties and transferability.","questions":[{"text":"Which virtual currencies and item types exist, and which can be transferred between players?","id":"VRT009-Q01"},{"text":"Can any asset be bought with or exchanged for real money?","id":"VRT009-Q02"}]},{"id":"VRT009-F02","name":"Sources and sinks","description":"How value enters and leaves the economy.","questions":[{"text":"Which activities and purchases create currency or items, and which remove them?","id":"VRT009-Q03"},{"text":"Who can change these rules, and how are changes announced?","id":"VRT009-Q04"}]}]}]},{"id":"VRT009-B2","name":"Holdings and transactions","description":"Who holds what and what moved.","layers":[{"id":"VRT009-B2-L1","name":"Holdings","description":"Balances and inventories of participants.","findings":[{"id":"VRT009-F03","name":"Participant balance","description":"A participant's balances and items at a time.","questions":[{"text":"What balances and items does the account hold, and as of when?","id":"VRT009-Q05"},{"text":"Are any holdings frozen, expiring or under dispute?","id":"VRT009-Q06"}]}]},{"id":"VRT009-B2-L2","name":"Transactions","description":"Trades, purchases and grants between participants and the operator.","findings":[{"id":"VRT009-F04","name":"Transaction record","description":"A transfer with parties, assets, price and time.","questions":[{"text":"Which parties, assets and prices were involved in the transaction?","id":"VRT009-Q07"},{"text":"Was the transaction reversed, and on what grounds?","id":"VRT009-Q08"}]}]}]},{"id":"VRT009-B3","name":"Governance and real-money border","description":"Oversight of the economy and its links to real value.","layers":[{"id":"VRT009-B3-L1","name":"Oversight","description":"Controls, disclosures and compliance.","findings":[{"id":"VRT009-F05","name":"Consumer and compliance controls","description":"Disclosures, spending controls and checks at the real-money border.","questions":[{"text":"Are prices shown in real currency, and are odds of randomized purchases disclosed?","id":"VRT009-Q09"},{"text":"Which spending limits, age checks and anti-money laundering checks apply?","id":"VRT009-Q10"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Report balances, inventories and transaction histories to the account holder.","Analyse aggregate supply, prices and inflation in the economy.","Flag suspected fraud, duplication exploits or money laundering patterns for review.","Explain the rules, prices and odds disclosed by the operator."],"mustNot":["Buy, sell, trade or transfer virtual assets or real money on a user's behalf without explicit confirmation.","Give personalized investment advice about virtual assets.","Create or duplicate currency or items outside the economy's rules.","Design or promote spending pressure aimed at minors or vulnerable players.","Disclose one participant's holdings or trades to others without consent."],"requiresHuman":["Reversing transactions or confiscating holdings.","Changing the economy's rules or exchange rates.","Reporting suspected money laundering to authorities."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Randomized paid rewards and spending pressure can harm minors and people prone to gambling problems.","Players invest real money and time in assets the operator can devalue or remove.","Virtual economies can be abused for money laundering and fraud."],"affectedParties":["Players and account holders","Minors and vulnerable players","Platform operators","Traders on secondary markets"]},"owners":{"steward":"The operator of the virtual world answers for the economy's rules and records, within consumer and financial regulation.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["Game or platform economy ledger","Payment and storefront system","Player account system"]},"relations":[{"target":"WM-VRT-002","type":"parent"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Currencies and item types are identified by the operator's internal identifiers within one world or platform.","Item instances, balances and transactions carry identifiers in the operator's ledger, linked to player accounts.","On-chain items or currencies are identified by ledger network, contract address and token identifier."]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["A virtual economy is recognized by in-world currencies, item inventories, stores, trading or auction features.","Often confused with the real-money payment system at its border or with crypto-assets traded outside the world."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Currencies and items can be issued, earned, bought, traded, consumed and removed under the world's rules.","Transactions can be logged, audited and reversed by the operator."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Financial harm from loot boxes and spending pressure, especially for minors.","Account theft and fraud targeting valuable items.","Money laundering through item and currency trading."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Platform storefront and payment interfaces at the real-money border.","Token standards of distributed ledgers where items are held on-chain.","Operator interfaces for trading, auction and inventory."]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Found in online games, virtual worlds and social platforms with in-world currencies.","Consumer protection, gambling, payment and anti-money laundering law apply at the real-money border."]}},"sources":[{"title":"Updated Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers, 2021 (FATF)"},{"title":"Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) (European Union)"}],"openQuestions":["Planned model: boundary questions, research and every section remain to be written."],"resources":{"spec":"https://ver.cy/models/wm-vrt-009-virtual-economy/spec.yaml","agents":"https://ver.cy/models/wm-vrt-009-virtual-economy/AGENTS.md"},"provenance":{"origin":"planned (registry candidate)","builtFrom":["models/runtime-index.json","ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-vrt-009-virtual-economy.json"],"providers":[],"researchStatus":"todo","generatedAt":"","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_":"Planned entry, hidden from the catalogue until researched.","interaction.properties":"A virtual economy has no physical properties; its quantities are records in a ledger.","_supplement":"Sections authored in card supplement 1.0.0 by Claude (Opus 5.5) (2026-10-06, unreviewed). Written from the card's existing content and established practice in the field; no new sources were read. Unreviewed."},"score":1.0}}