Tuesday 24 May 2022 at 16:24
by Valentina Drofa
Everyone in the crypto industry seems to be talking about Web 3.0 right now. The reason behind the massive hype is that it promises to solve issues related to the current web 2.0 version of the Internet. These issues include, among others, censorship issues, data privacy scandals, fraudulent activity, as well as the spread of disinformation by fake profiles and internet trolls. With the decentralization of the internet, generally these things can be resolved.
However, even if there is potential to make the digital world a better place, it remains a question of what the technology promises to do in practice.
Valentina Drofa, Founder and CEO of Drofa Commsconsulting with more than 12 years of experience in working with financial and fintech companies around the world, has shared with City AM his thoughts on the subject of Web 3.0, and what potential places he could hold in the world of tomorrow.
Web 3.0 or ICO craze 2.0?
Fintech is a very fast growing industry, and over the past few years, due to cryptocurrencies and blockchain rising on the global stage, we’ve seen many new trends unfold around, with Web 3.0 hype and metaverse being the latest in line. .
However, in my mind, Web 3.0 is now more like a keyword for crypto developers to raise large amounts than a real movement that produces real results.
Enough to go back five years in time for a warning sign. In 2017, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) provided an alternative way for crypto developers to raise money for the project.
At that time, the crypto industry really started to thrive. And also when Drofa Comms started noting the presence of this market, that’s why we chose to participate in the development.
At that time, new jobs appeared every day and created a lot of disruption in the market. It doesn’t take much to get investors ’interest – all it takes is showing an interesting landing page with a main idea, a semi -ready (and often buggy) MVP, and making a good speech about how good a complete product will look in the future. That’s usually enough for a job to run an ICO and earn good money.
Now, five years later, almost no jobs are left. And the main reason is that more often than not, they don’t consider the things necessary for the long -term survival of the product.
And since that day, people have been constantly thinking up a new one or another to raise money. But what happens to the idea next? Where and how can it be applied? With the new crypto market trends coming and running, it seems like no idea was worked on carefully and to the end.
To date, even blockchain technology has not yet taken root on a global scale, despite much talk about how it can transform almost any industry. When there forecast regarding the blockchain market which grew from a size of less than $ 1 billion in 2017 to almost $ 163 billion in 2027, the adoption of technology outside of crypto is now slow.
Based on findings from APQC reportonly 12%of the supply chain companies surveyed are actively using distributed ledger technology by 2020. At the same time, the majority of respondents stated that the organization has no plans to blockchain (34%) or is only in the research phase (26%).
However, despite not seeing the idea of blockchain adoption, the market has focused on the new ones.
So far, Web 3.0 looks like it’s still in its conceptual stage. I’ve heard criticism that it’s “too much noise without enough real cases”, and I’m compelled to agree with that assessment.
Now, similar to the ICO craze 2017, it seems like the developers created a good concept but haven’t considered the implementation and application of the technology properly. And no one wants another extreme “Crypto Winter” that follows the market crash of early 2018.
While we are on the topic of trend concepts without actual implementation, the metaverse should also be mentioned.
Even outside the crypto space, the idea of a virtual world has been used by many startups in an effort to amplify the huge hype that Facebook generated in the sector after rebranding to Meta.
Like the Web 3.0 market, investors are pouring a lot of money into the metaverse. Take a look at all the activities around buying virtual land in the digital realm like Decentraland, Sandbox, Axie Infinity, as well as many other projects in the sector.
Since 2021, the metaverse project has received a lot of funding from investors. While Axie Infinity Sky creator Mavis raised $ 152 million with a net worth of nearly $ 3 billion in October, Sandbox raised $ 93 million in November. In March 2022, creators of the Ape Bosen Yacht Club Yuga Labs closed a $ 450 million funding round to build the Yugaverse virtual world.
At the same time, a virtual land didol to $ 500 million last year, with analysts expecting this number to grow to $ 1 billion in 2022, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 31% by 2028. In addition, digital real estate prices increases up to 700% in 2021.
But, again, what good is having assets in the metaverse beyond pure speculative value, especially on platforms like Axie Infinity where virtual land -related functionality has yet to be launched?
In addition, there are social factors that need to be considered. Some argue that the idea behind the metaverse is that people will be able to move almost all activities into the digital world. Sounds like it’s out of a futuristic sci-fi movie, like The Fifth Element or The Matrix.
But man is a social being; they seek to communicate directly and talk to each other. So, what should a scenario like this become a reality, so that people spend all their time online?
As far as I can tell, the answer here is that they have to lose a lot of freedom and opportunity to move and spend time together in the real world. That means significant global change has to happen, with my occurrence getting worse and countries restricting the way we communicate with each other, if not stop it all. This would represent a movement of society in a dystopic and very sad direction.
Ideally, to avoid such negative scenarios, the main purpose of the metaverse is to complement real -world activities rather than replace them.
While direct and face-to-face interactions between humans need to be fostered, and we need to give people incentives to spend more time together, the metaverse can be used to enhance social activities that commonly occur in the online world.
Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic that limits people’s ability to interact with one another has highlighted the importance of digital technology for social communication. However, without more drastic social change, I don’t believe that the metaverse will (and should) replace offline activity, certainly not in the next few decades.
Developers need to be more careful
The crypto market does not lack new developments that look fantastic in theory but do not have enough practical value.
As for most ICOs during 2017, this claim is particularly true for Web 3.0 projects as well as the metaverse space.
Developers need to further consider what values Web 3.0, the virtual world, and other new technologies can bring to the real world. Otherwise, it’s likely to end up as yet another bubble, bursting and betraying the expectations you’ve been placed on.
website: https://drofa-ra.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vdrofa
Valentina Drofafounder and CEO of Drofa Comms
