Using Blockchain for Data Verification in the Metaverse

Abstract

The metaverse introduces a new class of data integrity problem: assets, identities, and events span both physical and virtual environments, and neither world can easily verify claims made in the other. This paper examines how blockchain technology can function as the trust layer between them.

The analysis covers three specific challenges: provenance of digital assets (who created what, and when), ownership transfer (how physical ownership maps to virtual representations), and event integrity (verifying that something happened in the physical world based on data in the virtual one).

For each challenge, the paper evaluates whether blockchain adds genuine value over conventional approaches, under what conditions, and what the practical costs are in terms of transaction throughput and latency. The conclusion identifies the scenarios where blockchain is a meaningful improvement and those where simpler cryptographic approaches are sufficient.