Blockchain, Metaverse, and Digital Payments

Aijaz A. Shaikh is Professor at NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology Campus, in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Information and Computational Technologies in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Previously, he served as a senior lecturer at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Shaikh is renowned for his significant contributions to research in digital business, digital marketing, digital social innovation, digital payments, and mobile financial services. His work is widely recognized, cited, and respected, with over 60 publications indexed by Scopus and a Google Scholar h-index of 28. He maintains an active research network spanning 12 countries.Galimkair Mutanov is currently Acting General Director of the Institute of Information and Computational Technologies in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In this role, he is crucial in enhancing computational methods and technologies. His work significantly impacts the scientific community within Kazakhstan and extends to international collaborations and contributions. Prof. Mutanov has an extensive publication record, contributing valuable insights and advancements in his field through scholarly articles and research papers.Heikki Karjaluoto is Professor at the University of Jyväskylä (Faculty of Information Technology). His research interests include technology and innovation management, digital business, and software industry. Karjaluoto has published extensively in business and information system journals and is the author of several books. He has collaborated with several researchers both in Finland and abroad and actively co-operates with companies in joint research and development projects. He has won numerous research and teaching awards, including several Best Teacher Awards and Best paper awards.

• 1. Unlocking the Future: The Evolution and Impact of Blockchain Technology 2. Navigating the Blockchain Revolution: Opportunities, Challenges, and Applications Across Industries 3. Examining Cryptocurrency Platform Coinbase Through the Lens of Critical Incident Technique: A Text Mining Approach 4. Metaverse, Blockchain and Healthcare: A Systematic Literature Review 5. A Blockchain-Based Review of Peer-to-Peer Vacation Rental Challenges 6. Blockchain-enabled Loyalty Points for Tokens as Digital Money 7. Blockchain and Metaverse in the Indian Banking Sector 8. Beyond Virtual Borders: The Metaverse's Evolution from Gaming to Global Digital Ecosystem 9. Programmatic Advertising and the Metaverse: A Consumer-Centric Examination of Digital Ad Impact 10. Connecting Possibilities: Exploring the Power of Social Networking Sites and the Metaverse for the Career Advancement of Minority Members 11. Unleashing the Metaverse's Potential to Fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals: A Virtual Revolution for a Sustainable Future 12. What is the metaverse for? A categorization of the different metaverse affordances 13. Unveiling the Unspoken Realities: Exploring the Dystopic Side of the Metaverse's Future 14. Digital payments for deepening financial inclusion and democratising financial ecosystems in Africa