Karthik's Crypto Takes

Share this post

#29 "Web3" isn't gonna make it

learnhax.substack.com

#29 "Web3" isn't gonna make it

Why its time to retire the term "web3" + Crypto Concierge launches!

Karthik Senthil
Jun 17, 2022
2
Share this post

#29 "Web3" isn't gonna make it

learnhax.substack.com

1 Take đŸŒ¶ïž

It’s time for the term “web3” to be retired.

Wait, what? Karthik, is the bear market giving you second thoughts about crypto?

No — but “web3” is causing us to lose focus on building things that matter to real users.

Intentionally or not, web3 inherently implies that it’s an upgrade on all things web2: a new paradigm of technology that’s clearly better than what exists today. And as a marketing strategy, it’s been insanely effective. Three separate crypto venture firms have raised $1B+ funds in the past 6 months, including a16z announcing a $4.5B raise. The chart below shows how this $$ has trickled down to higher valuations for web3 startups compared to others.

Image

While the hype is largely a positive byproduct of “web3” (more $$ invested = more experimentation = more progress), there’s a serious and under-discussed negative side-effect: tribalism. Web3 creates a cult-like “us vs. them” mentality which:

  1. Needlessly antagonizes people who work in web2 and have built amazing businesses & experiences for users at true Internet scale

  2. Assumes web3 will inevitably win and every user becomes crypto-native. This can cause builders to make focus too narrowly on their user base or how users will want to use their product. For example, ask yourself why literally every web3 product has a “Connect Wallet” button at the top of their page


So, where do we go from here?
You know what? I’m just gonna defer to my former boss JeffB on this:

Twitter avatar for @arvanaghi
Brandon Arvanaghi đŸ± @arvanaghi
Bezos says "customer" 16 times in this interview. That's why Amazon wins. Now replace "Internet" with "Web3" Imagine a Web3 founder saying: "I don't care if we're considered a Web3 company. I care about delivering the best customer experience." Does any Web3 company say this?
7:37 PM ∙ Jun 16, 2022
5,102Likes534Retweets

We need to move away from thinking about “web3” as some new-age paradigm and instead view crypto as providing net-new capabilities to the builder’s toolbox. The important piece: these capabilities by themselves don’t matter to users. Users aren’t clamoring for digital ownership, composability, or censorship resistance. That’s just the web3 echo-chamber many of us live in. Rather, we need to create better experiences that are able to compete and win over user mindshare. The same way that users don’t care if your product is powered by AWS or Azure, they won’t care if it uses a centralized database or blockchain.

What’s next
IMO, the best way to move forward is to focus investment on “middleware” solutions which make it simple for any application to plug-in crypto capabilities & features to support non-crypto-native users & use cases. Here are a few areas I’m excited to see continued progress in:

  • Abstraction of wallets — Enable applications (including gaming) to provide users with the benefits of digital ownership without relying on users to directly interact or self-custody wallets. This probably looks like some sort of hybrid multi-sig solution that provides ways for users to self-custody if they choose but allow to be restored by the application (similar to what Casa does for BTC holders).

  • Better on/off-ramps between TradFi and crypto - Despite the benefits of earning higher yield (e.g. DeFi) or send $$ instantly, it’s painful to get money in and out of crypto rails. Imagine if it was simple for a mom & pop vendor to receive instant payments 24/7 via stablecoin instead of waiting 14-30 days for debit card payments to clear, or for people to earn 5-6% yield by pooling money to finance lending, mortgage or insurance products (vs. keeping it in a bank earning <1%).

  • Governance - One of the biggest flaws of democratic institutions IMO is elected representatives, who often don’t have the people’s best interests at heart. I’d love to see experiments using mobile voting and on-chain governance to get constituents directly involved on issues. For example, instead of a school board, what would happen if we place it with families who could easily and securely vote on proposals?

Bear markets bring out the crypto-haters in full-force. Instead of debating them, we need to BUIDL better experiences for users and empirically showcase the power of what crypto capabilities bring to the table. The future of crypto depends on it.

If you liked this, please subscribe below!

2 Things To Check Out đŸ€”Â 

1. The wait is finally over. We over at GMneedhelp launched Crypto Concierge: get a high-quality answer to any of your crypto question sent directly to your inbox from our community of crypto-natives. Sounds amazing, right?

Even thought we’re in a full-fledged bear market, use this opportunity to better understand the space so you’ll be better positioned for the future. Give it a spin, I’d love to hear what you think!

P.S. We’re giving away a free NFT to our earliest users. Earn yours today!

Twitter avatar for @karsenthil
karthiksenthil.(eth|sol) @karsenthil
gm. We all know learning & using web3 is hard. Today, we're making it easier with the launch of Crypto Concierge đŸ’â€â™‚ïž: Get your web3 questions answered by @GMneedhelp's community of crypto-natives -- in one click! How it works 👇 app.gmneedhelp.xyz
app.gmneedhelp.xyzCrypto ConciergeGet your web3 questions answered ASAP by GMneedhelp’s crypto community - for FREE!
2:08 PM ∙ May 31, 2022
28Likes10Retweets

2. Investing in crypto is hard. So much to keep track of and the swings are wild. If you believe in its future, keep learning, keep investing, and most importantly, keep going. Consistency over a long period of time produces exponential results.

Twitter avatar for @valueandtime
Daniel Mateö (đŸ„ƒ,🩉) @valueandtime
If investing in crypto was easy, we'd all be rich.
5:43 PM ∙ Jun 7, 2022
129Likes11Retweets

Always be learning,
Karthik

Share this post

#29 "Web3" isn't gonna make it

learnhax.substack.com
Comments
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 KS
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing