In today's actual international news intersecting with the metaverse, Greece’s former finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, is at the heart of the current economic crisis which will determine the future of the Greek and EU economy:

Mr. Varoufakis, an academic with no political experience before he joined the leftist Tsipras government, had consistently argued that Greece desperately needed debt relief more than anything else. While that view was shared by many economists, he quickly became a lightning rod among Greece’s creditors for his aggressive negotiating style and heated language. Before the referendum vote, he had publicly accused the creditors of “terrorism” against his country.

... which is interesting, because just a few years ago, Mr. Varoufakis was at the heart of helping Valve determine the price of its virtual hats:

Via the common distribution platform of Steam, Valve players can trade in game items known as “hats” — used to differentiate player avatars from each other — for objects in other games, or even for downloaded games that have been purchased but not yet played. But it’s not always clear how to value items from different games, or what would happen if, say, Team Fortress hat-makers flood the market with an overabundance of supply.

Somewhat ironically, I'm told by an insider that Valve's relationship with Varoufakis was about as fractious as it was with the EU. In any case, the departure of a virtual goods economist happens as more and more Greeks flee to a virtual currency: