Early this year when anything still seemed possible for technology companies, futurists and venture capitalists were enthralled with the idea of building a new internet. Web3, as it became known, was poised to recapture the 1990s promise of a decentralized internet, free from gatekeepers and trillion-dollar platforms.
Cryptocurrencies had the starring role in the Web3 dream. Crypto, in theory, could wrest control from giants like Meta Platforms FB +3.53% (ticker: FB), Alphabet GOOGL +2.25% (GOOGL), Amazon.com AMZN +4.99% (AMZN), and Apple AAPL +2.69% (AAPL). It would shift our online activities to blockchains—handling everything from payments and trading to videogaming, social media, even real estate. It could also shift the economics to users, giving them financial incentives to govern and secure the networks.
A record $25 billion was plowed into crypto start-ups last year, with another $30 billion on track for this year, according to Bank of America. Even the recent downturn in crypto doesn’t seem to have chilled new investment. This past week, venture-capital firm a16z announced a new crypto fund totaling $4.5 billion.
“We think we are now entering the golden era of web3,” a16z partner Chris Dixon wrote in announcing the investment.
And yet Web3 remains a heavy lift—it’s full of contradictions, glitchy technology, regulatory uncertainty, and competing economic interests. There’s debate over who will “own” it—companies backed by Silicon Valley venture capital, or the users themselves. And the crypto markets’ downturn—wiping out more than $1 trillion in value for tokens this year—makes a blockchain-based web even harder to fathom.
Continue reading: https://www.barrons.com/articles/web3-crypto-coins-startups-51653531787
Cryptocurrencies had the starring role in the Web3 dream. Crypto, in theory, could wrest control from giants like Meta Platforms FB +3.53% (ticker: FB), Alphabet GOOGL +2.25% (GOOGL), Amazon.com AMZN +4.99% (AMZN), and Apple AAPL +2.69% (AAPL). It would shift our online activities to blockchains—handling everything from payments and trading to videogaming, social media, even real estate. It could also shift the economics to users, giving them financial incentives to govern and secure the networks.
A record $25 billion was plowed into crypto start-ups last year, with another $30 billion on track for this year, according to Bank of America. Even the recent downturn in crypto doesn’t seem to have chilled new investment. This past week, venture-capital firm a16z announced a new crypto fund totaling $4.5 billion.
“We think we are now entering the golden era of web3,” a16z partner Chris Dixon wrote in announcing the investment.
And yet Web3 remains a heavy lift—it’s full of contradictions, glitchy technology, regulatory uncertainty, and competing economic interests. There’s debate over who will “own” it—companies backed by Silicon Valley venture capital, or the users themselves. And the crypto markets’ downturn—wiping out more than $1 trillion in value for tokens this year—makes a blockchain-based web even harder to fathom.
Continue reading: https://www.barrons.com/articles/web3-crypto-coins-startups-51653531787
