“[Web3] It is, at the very least, something new on the nerd level – and that creates a space for creativity/exploration that is somewhat reminiscent of early internet days.”
When it comes to Web3, “creativity might not be enough,” as per Signal’s creator Matthew Rosenfeld, also known as Moxie Marlinspike. He explained,
“I’m hopeful that the creativity and exploration we’re seeing will have positive outcomes, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to prevent all the same dynamics of the internet from unfolding again.”
The American entrepreneur recently shared his first impression around the technology, stating that despite being built on “crypto,” web3 seems to have little cryptography involved. Further concluding that,
“We should accept the premise that people will not run their own servers by designing systems that can distribute trust without having to distribute infrastructure.”
Apart from that, he emphasized reducing the burden of building software as projects like these require ‘concerted and specialized human effort.’ Further reiterating that web3 protocols are slow to evolve with some existing limitations,
“Given the history of why web1 became web2, what seems strange to me about web3 is that technologies like ethereum have been built with many of the same implicit trappings as web1.”
The Signal Foundation co-founder also explained that the space is consolidating around platforms to make these technologies usable.
“Again. People who will run servers for you, and iterate on the new functionality that emerges. Infura, OpenSea, Coinbase, Etherscan.”
The New Virtual Age
We know that web3, metaverse, and NFTs have gained major traction in the past year. As per DappRadar’s recent release, ‘virtual land is a booming business’ with names like Decentraland, Somnium Space, The Sandbox, Cryptovoxels, and Axie Infinity taking a lead.
Apart from that, it is worth mentioning that administrators are also looking at the technology. Recently, local reports noted that the Turkish capital Ankara has become the fourth city to announce a metaverse integration.
With that being said, it might continue to pose a major policy challenge in front of lawmakers.
Researcher Sam Gilbert noted in a recent blog post that while some features of Web3, like crypto and smart contracts, are familiar subjects for lawmakers. Meanwhile, other areas like distributed autonomous organization (DAO) and metaverse NFTs may be less familiar, he added.
With that being said, many take the crypto space and the metaverse to be just the beginning of Web3. Something that even Rosenfeld touched upon. He explained,
“However, even if this is just the beginning (and it very well might be!), I’m not sure we should consider that any consolation.”
