Virtual Currency Speculators

from the real-greed dept

There are plenty of stories about online gamers selling virtual currency, virtual goods, or even virtual characters on eBay. However, some folks felt that the method wasn't too efficient and are now gravitating towards a virtual currency market that will facilitate transactions converting virtual currency into U.S. dollars (and vice versa, obviously). There are some very amusing Wall Street Wannabe quotes from one of the virtual currency speculators: "What I love the most, and the idea that gives me chills, is that I am buying nothing, and then selling nothing, for a profit." If you have any sense of history, that sounds like a quote someone says before a bubble market collapses. Of course, there are questions about how long this operation will last once the game companies find out about it. While Linden Labs has made it clear they support these types of things, the bigger companies have fought back against people trying to sell their virtual property. There are also some serious questions about just how valuable virtual currency really is. It certainly is highly speculative, though, I doubt very much money is going into it these days. Now, when do we see more complex financial instruments involving virtual currency?