Monitoring the Linden Supply

The quantity of currency in the virtual economy is on the rise, and it could lead to big problems for the Second Life economy.

Second Life, the massive multiplayer online world, allows anyone to log on through the Internet at any time and create 3-D computer-generated identities. These avatars are then free to explore the world that San Francisco-based Linden Lab has synthetically created.

While many are using Second Life (SL) as a social tool or as a means of communication, others sell virtual items or services for a profit. Members can enter their real-world credit-card information and get a number of Linden dollars, the main currency in SL, for every U.S. dollar.

Purchases can be made using the Linden currency for virtual land space to build on, different clothing for their avatars, or even adult-related content. As of 9 a.m. EST, nearly $600,000 (real U.S. dollars, not Linden) had changed hands among 1.2 million users over the previous 24 hours. ...