Blockchain & Web3: a common story

“Like for every new big thing, at first there will be too much of it. But that doesn’t mean there is no good to be done with it. And It’s only then, that you realize there should be more of it.”

– Technology leap reality

Bitcoin mother and standard of all chains

In 2009, an anonymously developed project named Bitcoin was launched. This project introduced to the world a new form of data processing and registry called the Bitcoin Blockchain, meant to create a secured and permissionless transaction network with its own cryptographic currency, Bitcoin.

Among key properties: Secure / Limited supply / Open source / Accountable / Decentralized / Censorship resistant / No chargeback / Borderless / Trustless / Programmable / Pseudonymous / Peer to peer / Portable / Divisible…

Original ideology and purpose

“Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments. While the system works well enough for most, it still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the parties trust based model.”

The creators of Bitcoin, shaken by the 2008 financial crisis, believed that the digital space was the solution out of the entrapment and unethical nature of the current financial system.

This idea was born in the 80’s from the cypherpunk community, advocating widespread use of strong cryptography as a route to social and political change in the digital age. Knowing that softwares can’t be destroyed and widely distributed open systems can’t be shut down.

The Bitcoin network introduced a digital monetary system that is based on “Proof of Work” instead of trust, and “peer to peer” organization and operation instead of one that is centralized by institutional gatekeepers.

Grounded in science and sociology research, this mold-breaking technology stands on the shoulders and experiences of projects such as BitTorrent and Hashcash. This blockchain was designed with the codes of social engineering and the understanding of game theory to respond to how human interactions play and relied on the power of community and network effect. The result is a system where Transparency and Privacy find their equilibrium so Truth and Freedom can be safeguarded and empowered.

Bitcoin is an offering to edge one of the root causes of economic mismanagement, Money.

Summing up: implications and takeaways

Bitcoin has defined the bases of what a fully fledged blockchain should at least aim for with features such as:

• Permissionless
• Decentralised
• Community driven
• Self sustained
• Transparent ledger
• Secured

What’s up with the Web3 internet: a sociological evolution of a post Web2 hegemony

The internet is not a finished product, but an expanding and morphing one. From the early “Web 1.0” which for users was essentially based on ‘read only’ content and complemented by closed channel applications (the invisible internet), it was an Internet of very limited functions. Then came the “Web 2.0” era, introducing the platform model and more participative features with user-generated content. This internet, dominated by centrally owned products and the freemium culture, took the Internet to a global scale. It is based on an extractive model, where the fields to mine are users and their data, a model where users are renters, belted passengers, whose consent is essentially for legal use.

The coming of the “Web 3.0” is the groundswell cultural shift of the Internet, which is aimed at promoting a more decentralized ecosystem not controlled by a few giants, nor held by a single host, but rather built for and led by communities. This gives users real agency and a real opt-in/opt-out basis to choose what they agree to give and in exchange of what, with transparent governance and protocols that allow shared ownership that enables innovation for users, by users.

Connecting the dots

Web3 is not synonymous with blockchain, but the value propositions it has, have naturally made the blockchain its backbone, which enables the existence and further development of this framework.

• Autonomous
• Shared ownership
• Communal
• User as agent not exploit

All Web3 projects don’t have to be blockchain based, but are directly or indirectly connected to it.

What is in it for brands and corporations

Blockchain and Web3 represent a challenge for any organization. For some, it may look like a threat. For others, it may feel like a passing novel.  And for another group, they may look at it with curiosity or interest but find themselves paralyzed by the big unknowns. To all, it is important to acknowledge that this technological shift is happening and going to disrupt and influence every domain of human activity. The nature of it is too impactful to be dismissed.

From the notion of Identity, IP, Virtual Land, Tokenization, Community, NFT, Brand marketing, Social impact and more… navigating this space will present hurdles.

Even still,  the findings are encouraging :

• 51% of consumers said they would be interested in using these technologies to engage with brands.
• And 48% recognize that most brands are not doing a good job in providing that experience.

Venturebeat survey

Brands that fear this new tech will try to develop their own interpretation “in house” in an attempt to dilute the technology, limit their brand exposition, and maximize oversight. But this defensive approach leads to failed attempts, stemming from a lack of real connection and understanding.

Successful brands have all built their path forward partnering with active actors of the field, looking at it as a progressive development where the brand needs to find its alignment in the space (rather than the opposite). Finding new ways to meet consumers’ appetite, ultimately translating in real yield generation. As there is no denying that, for brands, performance is the goal, but consumers have expressed the need to build this exchange in other terms.

And that is the complexity to be solved, bridging cultures, meeting commercial needs, leveraging technologies, all to tend towards a more human framework.

Keep diving with our article on decentralization for brands