Metaverse and NFT-Based Digital Ecosystems: Sustainability, Governance, and Energy Trade-Offs

Abstract

Metaverse platforms and non-fungible token (NFT) markets are often framed as immaterial, frictionless layers of the digital economy. However, their expansion depends on energy-intensive infrastructures, complex governance arrangements, and regulatory choices that can amplify or mitigate environmental externalities. This article examines sustainability, governance, and energy trade-offs in metaverse and NFT-based ecosystems. The research treats China as a policy and regulatory laboratory. This is to explore the ideas of how "digital collectibles" and platform-based experiments have evolved under tighter constraints on cryptocurrency circulation. Building on a socio-technical perspective, the paper connects three levels of analysis. It maps the material footprint of immersive experiences and tokenized assets, focusing on consensus mechanisms, cloud and data center dependencies, and the risk of rebound effects. The exploration of governance addresses technical standards and platform accountability. In the meantime, it discusses the tensions between openness, interoperability, and enforceable rules. A comparison of regulatory pathways addresses their implications for sustainability metrics, user rights, and market design. The contribution of this research lies in the framework for evaluating whether metaverse and NFT ecosystems can credibly align with sustainability goals without relying on rhetorical "green" narratives. This research also proposes governance levers that make environmental accounting and accountability operational rather than aspirational.

Received: 26 January 2026 | Revised: 30 July 2026 | Accepted: 28 September 2026

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Author Contribution Statement

Vincenzo de Masi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration. Ernestina Xinyi Zhu: Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Project administration.