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The modern Internet has made those smart enough to take advantage of the data unknowingly generated by its users. In fact, it’s created an entirely new class of tech tycoons—the kind of all-powerful magnate who buy newspapers, control what we can and can’t say on social networks, and more.
The recent avalanche of Web3 protocols promises to change that. These decentralized applications (dApps) effectively aim to replace the long-standing Web2 business model by delegating control back to the users that make their platform tick.
Built using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), the Web3 protocol has, in a short time, brought new ways of community management, innovative creator-focused business models, and even a parallel financial system that processes billions of dollars. , has revealed its transformative potential. quantity each day. While it is still possible to become extremely wealthy by leveraging Web3, the difference is that its architecture is open, transparent and user-owned.
Web2 Models: Doomed to Extinction?
Web2 is the name given to the current iteration of the Internet – which Web3 seeks to replace. At one time, Web2 was viewed with the same sense of wonder and admiration as many now view Web3, with users praising its unlimited interconnectivity and information-sharing potential. However over time, the development of the Internet has attracted criticism due to the gross power imbalance between corporations/governments and end users.
While the early stages of the Internet (Web1) saw it largely function as a publishing platform, a clumsy extension of businesses’ physical storefronts, Web 2 introduced many of the features that power today’s Internet. : Search Engines and SEO; blogging; file sharing; digital advertising; video streaming and podcasting; social media.
Countless enterprises have kept the traditional business model in the Web2 framework, building audiences using centralized databases, communicating with customers via blogs, email, and social media, and using data behemoths such as Google and Facebook. Has launched a targeted advertising campaign. Amazon is perhaps the best example of Web2’s success story: Last year, the retail giant reported annual revenue of $469 billion. As well as building out its global e-commerce business, the company has become a leader in the cloud infrastructure services market through Amazon Web Services (AWS), as well as the video streaming market thanks to Amazon Prime.
In the Web2 paradigm, users pay for goods and services using the old financial system, directly linking their bank accounts/credit cards to individual company databases or using third-party services such as PayPal. Most web users also use insecure browsers and search engines that continually harvest their data to create consumer profiles and serve up advertising material.
Gatekeepers and intermediaries have been the primary beneficiaries of Web2, as users have to act according to each platform’s terms. Gavin Wood, co-founder of the blockchain platform Ethereum, summed up Web2’s internal flaws in a 2018 essay that popularized the term Web3: “With so much of the world’s data being transmitted through so few cables, the inconvenient truth It is that unless we put open software protocols in place, our rapidly growing digital society will continue to be threatened by malicious “authorities” within society and (as in the case) [of] Russian manipulation in our elections) from outside.”
How Web3 Fixes the Internet Economy
According to Wood, Goliath at the top of the Web2 pyramid “makes money out of our loyalty, feeds us our information, and bites us when we are uncomfortable.” While Web3 will not make these tablets obsolete overnight, the move to unprivileged and open technologies empowers the Internet’s 5 billion users to exercise their self-sovereignty at every step.
There are many practical examples that demonstrate the usefulness of blockchain-based technologies in this regard. Consider decentralized finance (DeFi) as an example: these permissionless financial products enable users to save, trade, lend and borrow money without having to go into a bank account or surrender their identity, which is Can make them a target of identity theft if left on a centralized database. Danger.
The rise of NFTs and peer-to-peer marketplaces, meanwhile, allows artists and creators to connect directly with fans. Naturally, replacing middlemen with smart contracts – which automate transactions based on fixed terms – enables such artists to earn more in the bargain from their work. Smart contracts can also allow creators to earn royalty payments in the future when their work, in the form of digital tokens, is sold in the secondary market.
If defi represents the first wave of the Web3 protocol, then gamefi (gamified finance) and NFT certainly represent the next step. In many ways, GameFi absorbs DeFi by integrating features such as staking and trading into the video game environment. Thus, players can connect via the Web3 Wallet and earn tokens for completing missions, winning PvE and PvP battles, providing liquidity to the ecosystem, and climbing the leaderboards. In some interactive gaming environments, it is also possible for players to buy and sell ‘mine’, token land parcels, tracts of virtual space on which businesses can be built.
In many ways, play-to-earn participants act as co-owners and creators of a new kind of system rather than mindless consumers kept in the dark about the platform’s practices. In this value-based economy, governance often falls within the realm of gamers through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Directly, DAOs act as community-centered administrators of a protocol; To be part of the DAO and influence the direction of the project, users only need to hold the relevant governance tokens that allow them to submit proposals and vote on important decisions.
From privacy-preserving data networks and community-organized gaming guilds to NFT marketplaces and blockchain-powered messaging apps, a flood of decentralized use-cases represents a viable exit ramp from Web 2 and an egalitarian vision of the Internet for future generations. Is.
Lucid Metaverse Dreams
Web3 sets the scene for a fairer and more transparent Internet, although that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities for entrepreneurs to generate income. According to Crunchbase, about $17.9 billion was invested in Web3 startups in 2021 – and about 50 crypto companies raised more than $100 million.
Much of the talk of late has focused on the potential opportunities in the metaverse, vast, often interconnected 3D environments where users can socialize, play, transact, build and even socialize together at conferences and concerts. Participate in events like
Web2 bellwethers like Facebook are actively exploring the metaverse, with Mark Zuckerberg describing the interactive realm as “an embodied Internet that you’re in rather than just seeing”. However, Web3 technologists have expressed caution about Facebook’s plans to create an all-encompassing metaverse. Yat Siu, executive chairman of metaverse startup Animoca Brands, called Facebook the biggest threat to developing an open Metaverse because the model was “contrary to the way they’ve built their business.”
Web3-native metaverses like Alien Worlds are a different proposition to the one proposed by Zuckerberg and his ilk. Built primarily on the VAX blockchain, but also linked to the Ethereum and BNB chains, Alien Worlds spans six planets and is home to over seven million players, with native Trillium (TLM) tokens (who can) Power a thriving in-game economy. Can be redeemed for fiat). Residents of Alien Worlds can earn cryptocurrency tokens by mining, battling other players, completing missions or, by hosting events on planetary lands to attract other participants; They can also submit proposals and elect council candidates through the Planet DAO. The first Metaverse release to reach 100,000, 1 million and 5 million users, Alien Worlds is a true play-to-earn trailblazer.
Gamers with clearly an entrepreneurial streak can take advantage of Alien Worlds and other Metaverse titles to earn decent income. But there are opportunities for non-players as well. Consider AW Butler as just one example: This airdrop service is designed to help projects run promotional campaigns that reward players for mining on their land. Rewards in the form of token drops to specific Alien World gamers can increase marketing visibility for Metaverse projects while inspiring brand loyalty. This is just one example of a service that can flourish within a growing metaverse economy.
Whichever way you look at it, the gamified and financialized metaverse is set to be the internet economy’s next major battlefield. But a fight is unlikely to go down without Web2’s key players. While some will stick to tired models, others — like Facebook — are pivoting and at least considering a new direction. Blockchain technologists and innovators will need to stay on their game if the vision of a more equitable and equitable Internet is to be achieved.
Image credit: Rarestone Capital
This post contains sponsored advertising material. This material is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide investment advice.
