Fairness by Design : The Fair Game and the Fair Price on a Blockchain-Based Marketplace

Abstract

It is often believed that blockchain technologies can ensure fairness in online transactions and interactions. What does ‘fair game’ mean in a blockchain-based game, which rules cannot be broken by design, and how does this relate to the concept of a ‘fair price’? In this chapter, I use the example of the best known blockchain-based game CryptoKitties (2017) to explore the idea of a ‘fair price’ both in theory and in practice, and to connect it to the concept of fairness in games. I turn to the essential works on fairness and cheating in game studies and check whether game ethics is applicable to so-called ‘money games’ on blockchain. Theoretically, decentralization of blockchain technology supports the idea of fairness; however, in practice, the game follows the same grey moral code as the preceding online games and virtual worlds. I suggest that the applicable understanding of fairness can be found in the ‘code is law’ principle that underlines both normative game studies and the ideology of blockchain.