Photo by Fabio on Unsplash
Originally Posted in Forbes
My dear friends Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells let me open Network 3.1, a new non-conference series they created. The goal of this activity is to explore ways to fulfill the promise of web3.This article was inspired by my research introduce and the ensuing conversation.You can watch the demo here.
As of October 2021, Google Trends data shows that “web3” as a search term is taking off. The same goes for “NFTs” and “Metaverse”.With all the hype amplified network 3 The ecosystem, the gulf between its current state and its potential will only widen before it begins to shrink. That means progress is at hand. But closing the gap requires vision, practicality, value and execution to enable innovative possibilities and solutions.
It’s about leading web3 technologies such as NFTs, blockchains, cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, DAOs, dApps, wallets, Metaverse and trustless networks for a decentralized future that benefits everyone. Hype and failure are part of the road to disruption. Before mainstreams like Amazon, eBay, Slashdot, and Craigslist successfully demonstrated value and scale, think about the “dot bombs” in Web 1.0.
Now, we see that most of what is defined as web3 is actually something like Principles of Web 2.0, with a centralized application, server and platform related to blockchain transactions. Centralization has its benefits. But data ownership and portability are where the future really starts to take shape. As with 5G and the various bands before it, the foundation was laid before mass-market killer applications were built.
This real Early status of web3
There will be success stories in the exciting initial stages of web3, but it will also set the stage for greater utility, accessibility, and maturity. Gartner in its Hype Cycle The frame is somewhere between an “innovation trigger” and an “expected spike in inflation.” Once interest in web3 wanes as experimentation and implementation fail to deliver or tarnish among the first early adopters, we enter a “trough of disillusionment”. After that, we’ll evolve into the “Enlightenment Ramp”, which reflects the evolution of web3 application development, more promising company charters, and more important industry and market interests. Then mainstream adoption starts to take off where it represents the “productivity plateau.”
We’re just getting started with web3. We are not where we need to be. As a digital analyst and anthropologist who has long studied Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and now Web 3.0 and the technological milestones around it, digital trends will ultimately shape the way people shape markets. And will evolve with every major iteration and innovation of technological advancement.
Gartner Hype Cycle
Stuck in the current chapter of web3
Investors in 2021 poured one A record $30 billion was spent on crypto, more than the previous years combined.In the same year, nearly $41 billion worth of Cryptocurrency fuels NFT marketplace. The value of cryptocurrencies will increase by $1.5 trillion by 2022.
The promise of web3 is not just the next big drop for popular NFTs, a new altcoin that will land on the moon with a 1000% return and have an exclusive influencer or elite club.However, at the time of writing, 0.1% of Bitcoin miners responsible Half of mining output.Top 2% of accounts my own 95% of the $800 billion Bitcoin supply.Top 9% of web3 accounts catch 80% of NFT’s $41 billion market cap.and, browse Forbes List of Crypto Billionairesnot seeing this early chapter of web3 as elite rather than community driven is problematic.
There is a saying: “It’s hard won, it doesn’t last long. What lasts, it doesn’t come easy.”
While the early version of web3 was indeed exciting, it also exposed weaknesses such as NFT and cryptocurrency theft, plagiarism and counterfeiting, and exclusivity and elitism.But hey, it’s a gold rush as Signal founder Moxie Marlinspike Observed. The “good” future of this chapter of the Internet is currently competing with those chasing money and influence, much like the early days of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.
For example, losses from crypto scams totaled $14 billion last year.As I write this, hackers stole over $600 million NFT from Ronin Network, the underlying blockchain powering Axie Infinity. So far, NFT replication has also been rampant. Markets like OpenSea and Rarible don’t have security infrastructure yet
Remind artists that their work is being copied, minted and resold. The blockchain does not verify that whoever mints the NFT owns the asset rights, so there is a real need for platforms to help protect owners and buyers.According to OpenSea’s Research As of January 2022, over 80% of NFTs in its own marketplace are plagiarized artwork, fraudulent collectibles, or spam.There It’s a case of OpenSea getting involved However. This makes it difficult or even impossible for an artist to know when a copy is happening, let alone have a clear and consistent path to doing something.
There are also sustainability issues. Crypto mining consumes more energy than some small countries.Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index reportSome miners buy or build power plants specifically for mining. As of now, only about 12% of mining energy comes from renewable sources. Opportunity to invest in innovation to reduce the carbon footprint of every blockchain transaction.
The next chapter of web3
if South Park NFTs are already being processed, so that means we still have a lot of work to do. However, as a desperate optimist, I would like to envision and build a more decentralized tech ecosystem that helps move beyond the hype’s “slope of enlightenment.” We have to look beyond the dark side of social media and the elitism of Big Tech (and early web3). We must explore data democratization and ownership among Internet users and communities. We must give users a new level of autonomy through wallets, soul binding Identity portability and dynamic communities. We must build a more equitable and sustainable society and create a better world for all.
I know it sounds a lot like Pollyannaish.
Like every iteration of the web, the promise of web3 is that we decide we’re going to do different things together in the future.As the focus of Web3.1 events, focus Yes people.
If it’s about people, the opportunity for innovation lies in what my colleague Henri King and I define relational transformation: This is the “why” of technology, reimagining the trajectory of web3 to design concepts, inventions and businesses around user relationships, between companies, assets and people, and between people and communities. Through relational transformation, we can define how we use decentralized and trustless technologies to create new asset classes and productive collaborative communities and platforms that transform users and consumers into stakeholders and owners.
we can reimagine From finance and insurance to healthcare and education to gaming, media and music, to accounting and law, to politics and governance, to royalty and loyalty programs, to software and technology, to retail, marketing and Consumer goods, and everything in between, are available.
18 NFT predictions by Chris Cantino
Here lies a huge opportunity: we can create the future. We have to define not only the trajectory we are on, but an entirely new trajectory. We’re not just trying to avoid the dot-bomb phase of web3’s equivalent of Web 1.0, or the moral failures and data conundrums of Web 2.0, to help us through the hype cycle. We’re trying to find an alternative way to give web3 utility and meaning, one that builds equitable communities and delivers more sustainable impact, while giving users access, power, autonomy, and portability.
Remember, a community doesn’t just belong to something. It’s about doing something together that makes belonging count.As Founding Partner of Color Capital, Chris Cantino, recently Observedyou can extract the utility or create it.
