The development of Metaverse can be attributed in part to the rise of blockchain technologies, digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Through the tokenization of assets, everything physical or digital can be stored in a blockchain-based ledger and the ownership of a particular item can be proven.

 Art, gaming, music, sports collections, real estate and fashion items can be tokenized and digitally purchased on platforms such as OpenSea, NBA Topshots, and SuperWorld. Irrevocable tokens (NFTs) are virtual assets that enable transferring asset ownership to a Token on the blockchain. This means that in the virtual world, which also supports the advancement of metaverse, almost anything can be purchased. The value of the NFT is due to the uniqueness and traceability of the originality of the NFT. This means that an NFT cannot be replaced by another. When an NFT representing a value is saved on the blockchain, it can make an asset tradeable.

Metaverse contains places where loads of personal data can be stored. Volumes of data regarding institutions, individuals’ actions, purchases or habits can be stored in metaverses. Due to the fact that individuals will devote a significant amount of time to their virtual lives, it is estimated that more personal data will be collected and the behaviors could be monitored. At this point, various data security law issues arise. Within the scope of Turkish and EU regulations, compliance with the regulations for the protection of personal data is the responsibility of the party that determines the purpose and means of processing personal data. Since metaverses are not fully anonymous, it will be the responsibility of the operator of the platform. In this context, it is necessary to determine how the privacy statements of different entities are shown to users. Likewise, it should be evaluated how consent can be given, especially on sensitive data (biometric data) and how, for example, data can be collected from minors. These are just a few examples of the issues that will arise with regards to regulations such as the KVKK/GDPR.

As for the intellectual property rights, Metaverse means an area to create new things together. In particular, problems regarding the common ownership arise when it comes to cooperation to create intellectual property rights. Who owns the rights created in such cases? Taking these concerns into account, the European Commission is in the process of evaluating a regulation for the intellectual property arising from new technologies.

Another challenge facing Metaverse entrepreneurs is how to protect a brand in a virtual environment. Competition law is crucial in this regard, for the businesses to communicate, collaborate, and to ensure that platforms can work together in order to have a smooth metadata store experience and to provide participants with a wide range of services. Although interoperability is considered as pro-competitive since multiple platforms are to be used, sharing sensitive information, such as pricing or the development of certain areas, with a participant or a group of participants can form serious competition violations. Therefore, it is essential that metaverse enterprises establish policies and procedures, training programs and control mechanisms in order to prevent such problems from occurring.

NFTs and capital market regulations;

 In principle, almost anything such as images, videos, texts and even objects such as homes or all cities, regions or worlds can be represented as an NFT. Since NFT will have a major impact on the metaverse ecosystem, it is very important to determine the nature of NFT. Utility/Security token separation must be fully determined. A digital asset accepted as a security token can fall within the capital market regulation.

As the Menacrypto team, we take all legal aspects of your metaverse project and offer you the most reliable solutions.