Arbitrage

This chapter examines the implications of blockchains for videogame play. Focusing on the promises of asset ownership and of ‘playing to earn’, I argue that cryptogames embody a logic of ‘arbitrage’. Distinct from its definition in the world of finance, where arbitrage refers to the practice of exploiting discrepancies between different value systems (often in the price of a commodity), I argue cryptogames represent an arbitraging of belief. Specifically, I argue that promises of earning and ownership exploit differences in belief that a promised future will materialise, offering a means of financial empowerment and emancipation in the face of widespread immiseration and despondence in both Anglo-capitalist economies and through the developing world.