Tony Herrera looks through his NFTs at his office in Whittier, Calif.

Tony Herrera looks through his NFTs at his office in Whittier, Calif.

Photographer: Allison Zaucha/Bloomberg

Even in the Metaverse, Not All Identities Are Created Equal

Price differences based on race and gender are emerging among the CryptoPunk NFTs. What do the disparities mean?

The complexities of the real world are starting to bleed into the Metaverse — the virtual arena where identity functions as both a reflection on and determinant of social capital.

Differences in prices for digital avatars based on race, gender and skin color are emerging among a popular collection of NFTs known as CryptoPunks, belying the utopian and egalitarian ideals touted by the closely connected world of crypto, decentralized finance, blockchain and non-fungible tokens.