World Stock Exchange

The World Stock Exchange (WSE) is a fictional securities exchange created Hope Capital Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne, Australia and managed by CEO, Luke Connell.

The game opened on March 5, 2007 and first appeared in the virtual world of Second Life.^[1][2] The game initially used the Linden Dollar currency from Second Life and in July 2007 integrated a new fictional currency^[3] Players of the game were not legally protected as with real stock exchange, instead trading was governed by the Linden Labs terms of service and the listing rules created by Connell.^[3] Transactions occurred outside of Second Life on the WSE website. called the World Internet Currency (WIC, WICS, W$). In its first 25 days, the WSE generated $200,000 in trading volume.

In July 2007, an avatar with inside information hacked the WSE computers and made off with 3.2 million LD (or about $12,000US).^[4] The WSE shut down temporarily to investigate and perform system upgrades. As a result, WSE software development and upgrades were moved in house and positions were no longer available to anonymous Second Life avatars. The incident sparked debate over the WSE's classification as a game since the virtual currency, Linden Dollars, were able to be exchanged for real money.^[4] Connell maintained that no crime had occurred since all transactions and companies involved in the game were fictional. He blamed the backlash against the WSE on a few disenchanted companies who's initial stock offerings failed to perform to their expectations.^[5] Shania Stewart, who's avatar first reported the theft had her company delisted from the WSE shortly thereafter. She later told BusinessWeek that the delisting occurred because "she believed the exchange had no intention of disclosing what happened". Linden Labs declined to comment on the incident