There are a lot of lessons from history.
If we are to get a glimpse of the future, it is sometimes helpful to look back. History might not repeat itself but it does rhyme.
We are talking about the next generation of the Internet. Web 3.0 is going to replace what we are accustomed to dealing with. What does that entail?
The Future of Web 3.0 Is Companies
The lessons of Web 2.0 is clear.
Unfortunately, most do not see the lessons because they are clouded in companies. Essentially, that is what the lesson is.
Think about our lives today.
How many people cannot do without Amazon? What impact did search engines have on our lives? Can we overstate the importance of Facebook and YouTube for many people? Entities such as Uber fulfill the transportation needs for many.
Of course, when it comes to entertainment, there are times when Netflix simply is like oxygen.
The point is that we look at Web 3.0 as something different (which it is) without seeking out the similarities. It is a mistake that most ecosystems made.
Services
Pandora. Spotify. PayPal. TikTok. Priceline
There are hundreds of companies that are identical to what is mentioned here. These are online companies that provide services to billions of people. The dollar value of the transactions is into the trillions.
E-commerce is huge. It is also growing. We know the plight of the shopping mall and "brick and mortar" stores due to the likes of Amazon. Online retailers simply ate the lunch of the old models.
Online merchants simply used the old adage: find a need and fill it.
Services is what provides marketing material. It generates interest. Customers are the end result. Returning activity takes place over time.
Eventually, the entire ecosystem grows as people find it becoming a central part of their daily lives.
Do not believe that? Try to go a week without using a search engine. Anyone who is in the internet will find this to be an impossibility. In fact, we tend to not even realize we do it. Typing something in the URL is a habit we give little thought to.
More Than Market Capitalization
Some are old enough to remember the dotcom bubble.
What a mess that was when it collapsed. Financial and monetary losses aside, there was a much bigger issue in play at the time.
Part of the mania was the money flooding into internet related projects. The hype cycle was in full swing. There were kids dropping out of prestigious universities to "develop an app". While most didn't know what this mean, venture capital firms decided to flood them with millions of dollars.]
After it all burst, many were questioning whether the internet was a passing fad. Sound familiar?
While the marketcapitalization took a major hit, the era produced Priceline, Google, Amazon, and eBay. These are a sample of the entities still thriving today.
Then we have the likes of Yahoo which started in that period and still is around, providing services to millions around the world, albeit no longer a leader in any of the segments it operates within.
What do these companies have in common? They provided specific needs to customers. Naturally, over time, many expanded their offerings as was the case with Amazon.
Web 3.0 Today
What is the most common use case of Web 3.0 today?
It is being on Web 2.0 and talking about it. That is what most do. We see it on X and YouTube all the time.
What is the most discussed point? Market activity.
This is the central problem. The green candle people took over to the degree where more than 90% of the attention is simply on pricing.
Even those trying to attract people to networks are doing so with the intention of trying to get price up. How many actually are on Web 2.0 talking about a service provided by Web 3.0? Instead, it is "come to our network, it is the best".
There use to be a question asked with cryptocurrency: "what can I buy with it".
With Web 3.0, my question is what can do you do with it?
This is something that few take the time to answer. The obvious hole is the lack of businesses. Until services are provided, Web 3.0 is a theoretical dream. Nothing more.
At this level, people are simply promoting vaporware. For the most part, there is nothing outside a few financial/market-based services.
Is it any wonder that regulators, politicians, and Wall Street simply looks at this as another asset class? The sad part is the industry brought it all upon itself.
Fortunately, the solution is also within our hands.
Time To Build
This is stated so often that we are beating the proverbial dead horse.
Yet, it still applies. The future of Web 3.0 is companies. Until people start providing products and services, we are dealing with fantasyland.
Think back to the internet, what would it be like without search engines? How about web browsers? Payment systems? Hosting companies? E-Commerce?
Would anyone use it if there was no information, entertainment, shopping, or news? It would seem the answer on this is clear.
Again, what takes place on Web 3.0 that fills any of these voids? Traditional social media gets the most Web 3.0 activity because that is where it is discussed. It is likely there are more transactions on those platforms relating to the conversation of Web 3.0 as opposed to what is actually taking place on Web 3.0 platforms.
It is far beyond the time to start building.
The ecosystem that starts to solve the needs of people, that offer services and become a part of people's daily lives will be the one that moons. The holders of those coins will be the ones with Lambos and mansions.
It is amazing that people want the Web 3.0 version of Amazon yet they are not willing to build it. Even if it was constructed, would any of the present people in the industry use it? Or would they just talk about it?
This is the essence of the disconnect.
We also can see the path to the solution. The only question is who will bring it to the forefront.