Virtual property in the metaverse as an object of civil rights

Abstract

The scientific article substantiates the need to include virtual property as an incorporeal object in the list of objects of civil rights. A comprehensive analysis of the development of the metauniverse, markets for the purchase of virtual property, the peculiarities of the legal regulation of legal issues in the Metauniverse in foreign countries, and the prospects for improving national legal regulation in this area was made. The author of the article analyzed the advantages of virtual property compared to real property and proposed to use smart contracts that use blockchain technology to settle legal issues in the Metaverse. The author of the article notes that currently there are no clear rules at the legislative level regarding the legal attributes and mechanism of virtual property transactions. Especially with the emergence of a new type of business such as Metaverse, the validation and use of relevant virtual properties will raise more complex legal issues that require further study. For Metaverse operators, in the process of creating virtual business scenarios, they should focus on providing a complete protection system for users' virtual property. In addition, there is a problem with the value of property, because in the metauniverse it is not constant. It is mainly determined by the consensus of the group or both parties to the transaction. This method of determining value is similar to determining the value of collectibles and works of art in today's real society. However, it would be foolish to treat everything in the Metaverse as collectibles and works of art. In terms of impacting the real-world economic order, it may also do more harm than good. Thus, even if the problem of ownership of the metauniverse and the medium of exchange can be largely resolved, the problem of realizing the ownership of the metauniverse will still arise. The author analyzed a number of problematic aspects on the way to the development of quality legislation for the regulation of virtual property in Ukraine and provided some recommendations for their further consideration when developing legislation in this area.