Retail Central Bank Digital Currency as an Institutional Medium in Metaverse Governance_Vol. 3 No. 2 (JBM 2026)_Journal of Business and Marketing (ISSN: 3005-5717)

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Retail Central Bank Digital Currency as an Institutional Medium in Metaverse Governance

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jbm.202609201

Author(s)

Ruikai Gao*, Chenghu Zhang

Affiliation(s)

School of Economics and Finance, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

Abstract

As digital governance expands across algorithmic infrastructures and immersive virtual spaces, retail central bank digital currency (rCBDC) is emerging not merely as a payment instrument but as an institutional medium embedded in metaverse governance. This paper examines the philosophical foundations, governance logic, and ethical constraints of rCBDC through literature analysis, comparative inquiry, normative critique, and corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis. Grounded in institutional economics and media theory, the study argues that rCBDC reconfigures normative order through programmability, identity binding, and algorithmic enforcement. Drawing on Marcuse, Foucault, Habermas, and Scott, it shows that rCBDC may displace public deliberation by converting governance into automated compliance and protocol-based normativity. Analysis of 98 news reports further demonstrates that rCBDCs are framed through institutional authority, efficiency, innovation, and surveillance, while public responses combine cautious acceptance with concerns over privacy and democratic accountability. The paper proposes a three-tier optimization framework centered on ethical thresholds, modular governance interfaces, and deliberative public infrastructures for accountable and pluralistic metaverse governance.

Keywords

rCBDC; Metaverse; Digital Governance; CDA; Institutional Medium; Institutional Optimization

References

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