What I learned from my involvement in a web3 report

Gus Mallett Content Writer

1st June 2022 • 3min read

Full disclosure: I knew next to nothing about web3 six months ago. My Twitter feed was saturated with mentions of ‘crypto’ and ‘NFTs’. My beloved Arsenal struck a deal with Socios.com and the fans kicked off. After that it’s just guesswork.

So when I was asked to help write a report with two of the biggest rockstars of the entire movement, I was shit-scared. How the hell was I gonna learn enough to actually be helpful? What could I offer them that they didn’t already know? And what on earth is the ‘blockchain stack’?

What I can say with certainty is - fear not, crypto-sceptics. You shall go to the ball. If a layman like me can help to produce a 70+ page report, there’s hope for us all.

So what exactly did I learn in those six months? Follow my journey from crypto zero to web3 hero (or thereabouts).

There’s a big difference between ‘crypto’ and ‘web3’

One of the first things I had to accept was that crypto and web3 aren’t the same thing. The terms are commonly used interchangeably but, like NFTs, they aren’t fungible… 😉

(Side note: Fungible means ‘can be traded one to one and the value exchange is equal’).

Web3 is made up of the technical bits of crypto, but it’s much bigger - it’s the opportunities these capabilities enable.

Broadly speaking, crypto is used (slightly confusingly) as an umbrella term for cryptoassets and cryptocurrency. Web3 is made up of the technical bits of crypto, but it’s much bigger - it’s the opportunities these capabilities enable.

So, in sum:

• Crypto = wallets, tokens, etc.

• Web3 = metaverse, ownership, portability

Okay, if that sounds a little bewildering, maybe it’s best if we take a step back…

Web3 is so much more than just a buzzword

‘Web3’ doesn’t just sound cool - it is cool. Think about how the internet has evolved over the last 20 or so years. Web1 was largely ‘read-only’, defined by things like SMS, http://, emails, FTP and IRC. Users could log in (or dial up) and enjoy what was basically a massive store of information.

Then web2 came along and changed the game. Mobile, social and cloud took off. Advertising and subscriptions became the flavour of the month. E-commerce went from online catalogue to built-in payments service. Netflix and Klarna, people. Netflix and Klarna. But it’s not all groovy. Social media giants (not naming any names…) have deployed tools to monetise our data, and public trust in media and governments is in the toilet.

Enter: Web3. Web3 is the next evolution of the internet. It redefines digital ownership. It means that I own my assets and I can let platforms access them on my terms, not the other way around. It will build the first truly digital, truly global economy that will underpin the metaverse. It will literally change the world. Pretty crazy, huh?

We’ve got a big part to play

Yep, you and I. If web3 is to reach its mighty potential, it faces a formidable foe in the form of public scepticism. We have a responsibility to learn and embrace this stuff. You can’t close the stable door after the horse has bolted, after all.

Recent weeks have seen some pretty turbulent moves in the crypto space, but reports of web3’s death are greatly exaggerated.

There’s a deluge of talent and capital bound for the world of web3. Last year, VCs invested more than $33bn. So it’s high time we rolled up our sleeves and got stuck in.

Recent weeks have seen some pretty turbulent moves in the crypto space, but reports of web3’s death are greatly exaggerated. Andreessen Horowitz has bet $4.5bn on the contrary.

If it still seems a bit intimidating, that’s where we come in - 11:FS can help you to understand web3, identify market opportunities, design your strategy and see it through. So get in touch.

Stay rare, stay weird, LFG!