Promoting the Sustainability of Blockchain in Web 3.0 and the Metaverse Through Diversified Incentive Mechanism Design

Abstract

This article explores the role of blockchains in the development of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse. The success of these technologies is dependent on the utilization of decentralized systems like blockchains, which can store and validate data on identities and reputations and facilitate the exchange of virtual assets. Full nodes, which store the entire blockchain state and validate all transactions, are essential for the decentralization and reliability of the network. However, operating a full node is resource-intensive and can be expensive. To tackle this challenge, we propose an incentive mechanism that utilizes contract-theoretic methods to economically motivate users to support the sustainability and growth of the blockchain network. Our contract design addresses the problem of information asymmetry (e.g., users' revenue-generating capabilities and efforts) between users and the blockchain network. Additionally, we recommend providing diverse incentives based on the user's revenue-generating capabilities and efforts to assist the blockchain network in funding incentives. Our experimental results demonstrate that our proposed mechanism increases the blockchain network's utility by $48.48\%-54.52\%$ and reduces the users' cost by $38.46\%-62.5\%$ compared with the state-of-the-art implementations such as Celo, Vipnode, and Pocket Network.

Keywords

• Web 3.0
• Metaverse
• blockchain
• incentive mechanism
• contract theory