Virtual currency gets real
Rachel E. Courtland · IEEE Spectrum · 2012
Virtual currency is what you use to pay for a virtual tractor for your virtual farm or for a healing elixir for your avatar. But the market for digital scrip is expanding, leading some to speculate that virtual currencies will one day grow so large that they'll have a big effect on real-world economies. Opinions are split about whether that will be a good thing or a bad thing.