Blockchain Applications in the Metaverse for Smart Cities

Dear Colleagues,

The Metaverse has caused a revolution by clearly demonstrating how traditional forms of interaction between people will change. Immersion in digital environments and interaction with avatars and scenarios within a new digital reality will transform smart cities, revolutionizing how companies digitize their resources and monetize them towards Metaverse users.

This digitization has traditional economic aspects like digital markets, resource exchange, resource ownership, and buying/selling. These aspects must be implemented with technologies that enable decentralization and the efficient and secure management of these resources. This technology is called blockchain. However, not only should the economic aspects associated with blockchain be considered but also the possible applications within the Metaverse in a smart-city context.

Applications and services will support the projection of digital rights, the securitization of the Metaverse, and the authentication of the identity of avatars (during interactions between these avatars and the digital markets existing in the Metaverse).

This Special Issue is therefore focused on showing the new developments of blockchain technology integrated with the Metaverse and its application to smart cities, and covers but is not limited to the following topics:

• Applications of the blockchain-based Metaverse in smart cities;
• Blockchain-enabled digital markets in the Metaverse;
• Cryptocurrencies for the Metaverse;
• NFTs for the Metaverse: integration and applications;
• Protecting digital assets in the Metaverse with blockchain;
• AI and blockchain fusion for the Metaverse;
• Blockchain-empowered Authentication in the Metaverse;
• Blockchain-based governance in the Metaverse;
• Security and privacy in the Metaverse.

Dr. Javier Prieto
Prof. Dr. Rafael Pastor Vargas
Dr. Antonio Robles-Gómez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Smart Cities is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• blockchain
• metaverse
• digital markets
• cryptocurrencies
• NFTs
• digital assets
• smart contracts