Shiba Inu, a decentralised cryptocurrency has blacklisted an address after its owner attempted to draw a swastika on their brand new metaverse map. Which didn’t take long as the land sale only opened to holders on 9th April and the public sale began April 23rd.
So far the sale has raised up to $20 million in ETH.
The Shiba Inu metaverse team wrote on its Discord channel that it would “not tolerate the use of hate speech, displays of intolerance or bigotry (through words, actions, symbolism, etc).”
The announcement was posted in both the Shiba Discord and on Twitter which stated, “Any account or individual who attempts to incite harm towards others is not allowed.”
In the Twitter post, the team also stressed the relevance of “keeping the Shiba Inu environments diverse, safe, and a supportive space” for its community members.
Land of the (too) free?
Comments in the Shiba Discord show that the blacklist was as a result of one address making several bids in the shape of a swastika on the Shiba metaverse map. Pictures of the swastika first appeared in the Shiba Discord on April 15 and was located just north of The Wagmi Temple.
Shortly after noticing the bids, the ShibArmy acted to right the wrong, purchasing land around the symbol to turned it into a picture of a window instead… According to Shiba Defence Breed member and moderator Stixl, “User’s land won’t be confiscated”, however, the address will no longer be able to participate in any future metaverse activities.
Policing the metaverse
Inevitably such intervention doesn’t come without its own consequence and despite a majority of holders supporting the moves, some users on Discord and Twitter have hit back against the ruling, questioning whether it was adding further centralisation to the ecosystem.
The Shiba team responded, “We’ll have a coherent set of community guidelines published,” while a Discord moderator posted, “This is also [a] common sense factor. You can’t expect there not to be repercussions from a hateful statement like a symbol of that kind.”
The Shiba metaverse has now entered its second sale phase and the sale of land continues.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
