Blockchain changed a lot of things for us all, Including most of us here on Hive and across All other Blockchains. It is without a doubt, the most Revolutionary Technology in the past 10 years, by measure of its Impact, BUT, I believe there are still some shortcomings we need to Overcome, and this Post Shares Insight in just ONE Area.
From Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 - What Changed?
Ever since I completed my High School Education, I've been a Big lover of Technology and How easy it was for You to build Innovative and Functional things Using Free Software Online. It was an Utterly Simplified Topic in my Minds Eye, which went such as; Anything I Truly Desired to Do, I could Easily Achieve it Through Research, Iteration, and Time. I mean this in direct relation to Technology such as Web Site Development, UI Design, 3d Design, Machine Learning, and Many other Interesting Fields I was engaged in.
I thought this was how it was gonna be and that I could break across all Hurdles that tried to cease my Flow BUT, I quickly realized after trying with my best efforts to Get Online / RL Jobs that this wasn't truly the Case. No One Actually Gave a Fuck about What You Can Do Over What You Have Done. I was in the Web 2.0 Space, a space that has existed for Over 20 years, Grounded in its own Rules and Norms. One of them just happened to be - Experience was Required to Get a Career Moving.
Yeah, this Frustrated the Hell out of me, and 100% no Offense to Everyone that Achieved Big things in Web 2, But I realized very fast that I wasn't just cut out for it. I was thinking in a Radically Different Direction, I wanted to Learn by Doing what Really Mattered to Me, and Not in Hopes of What the Future Held for me.
Then, I discovered Web 3.0 in September 2021 and found things were exponentially Different. I think that Aside from Blockchain Gaming and the Several DEFI Apps that has Brought Riches and Wealth (in varying degree) to Many Folks in Web 3.0, What Truly Stands out for it is; The Amount of Opportunity in the Space. It's Mind-Boggling, as I found out, and let's not cease to continue Using that Term. The Fast Paced, Quick Output, and Lenient Atmosphere that Web 3 has Promoted is also the Cause of its Gold mine of Opportunities from Rapid Connections, Networkings, Hackathons, Developer Resources, NFTs Contests, Micro Blogging, and Countless other Niche Money Making Fields. Web 3.0 was that Space I thrived in. I could experiment all day long, in things that truly mattered to me, while not being tied down to just one shit!.
Again though, I also discovered that Web 3 Space Believes Experience Matters when in Fact IT DOES NOT. And don't get me wrong here, There are Major Differences when Web 3 and Web 2 are Compared and it would help for me to Say that in Official Environments like Blockchain Jobs, I had blindly expected the same Fast-Paced, and Lenient Atmosphere that the General Web 3 Space Exudes, but NO, It was Fairly Similar to Web 2.
Who has Built a Fully Sustainable Ecosystem SO Far?
Coming in from the Last Section, let me say that, what I mean by Knowledge and Experience includes Special Degrees from Honourable Universities, Countless years in the Industry, Worked at Top Web 2 Organisations, Shipped Countless Succesful Products, and so on and forth. Now, what I've found out from Research but Majorly my General Intuition as an Explorer in Web3 is that; It doesn't all Matter. Like, Why do we Even Give a Damn about Those things? What we're trying to do by Grossly Overestimating the Impact of Knowledge and Experience in Web3 is Trying to Apply Inverse Gravity to a Ballon to Make it GO Upwards, When In fact, Gravity is a constant that Pushes things Downwards. In Other Words, No one so far knows the Rules that Govern Web 3 Space.
The Major Ultimate Goal for Web 3 Applications from Gaming, Defi, DAOs, NFTs, and Crypto is Sustainability. That's the One and Only Way we can Stand Tall Against Web2 Applications and Showcase the Real Value of Blockchain.
You are Promising Users Staking Rewards, Play to Earn Rewards, DAO Bounty, Minting Emissions, and So on, The Real Question is - For How Long? How Many Users can you Support? Even in Bear Market?.
Major Events and Outcomes that Further Clarifies this;
According to DappRadar, the Sandbox and Decentraland, the Top Two Metaverse Focused Projects in Web 3, recorded a DAU(Daily Active Users) of 38 and 23 respectively - Calculated Based on Users Making NFTs Transactions.
Axie Infinity Economy Crashed so Bad that an Axie that was Once Priced at $300 is Now Being Traded for as Low as $2.
Splinterlands SPS Crashed so Badly to a Point that no one was Expecting (I could have given you 10 valid reasons, it should have scaled right after the 1-year Airdrop).
Terra Luna Stable Coin(UST) Devaluation is Another Case that Shocked Most of Us ( Most Invested Didn't see this coming, Including the Crypto OGs).
These are just the most Recognizable Facts I can put up, when in fact, there are countless such scenarios.
So if all these Projects and Cases were Built Admits all the Hands on Deck and Experienced Developers, What Exactly am I proposing? A Very Simple Case: Constant Iteration and Insights; Ingenious Models and Tools are what Matters Over Prior Experience. It Doesn't Sound Fancy, But I will show you how fancy it could be Next!
An Open Racefield: Unlock Sustainability
Now let's tread slowly and softly because this is a Topic I'm personally working on. But let me just say straight away; That This is also a Topic that has been Super Strange to Me, Like How can an Ecosystem Really be Sustainable when (a) You're Giving Out Constant Rewards because No User Wants to be the One Losing (b)You Want to Keep Increasing the Rewards Rate Because Web 3 is Poised for Financial Freedom for the Masses.
Anyone, that Figures this Out is Probably where the Next Trillionarie is Gonna Emerge From. Do you think I'm Exxergerrating? Naw, all you need to do is think about the two points (a&b) deeply, and you will readily see this is no long-tales I'm talking about.
What is Sustainability?
Accd to Google - In the broadest sense, sustainability refers to the ability to maintain or support a process continuously over time. In business and policy contexts, sustainability seeks to prevent the depletion of natural or physical resources, so that they will remain available for the long term.
Accd to Web 3 - Sustainability is the ability of an application, company, or project in web 3 to function to its highest capability, for a sustained period of time, while distributing its utility to users.
Let's break it down into:
distributing utility to users - utility can come in staking rewards, nft emissions, play2earn rewards, dao ownership and so on
function to its highest capability - to a proportion that is clearly visible to the user, and should be prepared for growth
for a sustained period of time - functioning after a couple of years and growth in its user base
Now, with the High Volatility of the Web 3 Space should Prior Experience(More Marvelling is Experience from Web 2 Applications) OR Constant insights and Iterative Models be the Path toward Achieving Sustainability for a Web 3 Project?
Sustainability Approaches-
Let me Quickly share with you, some of the Sustainability Approaches that Could Become Stepping Stones for the Future;
Self-Balancing Treasury (In Blockchain Gaming, DEFI) - This inloves an Economic Model in which P2E and Utility Distributions will be paid out based on a percentage of the total funds that in are in the Treasury at any given time, creating extra flexibility that helps balance the supply/demand factors between playerbase.
This system assumes there are more than one (or multiple) Playerbase in a Web3 Ecosystem consisting Players with Varying Playstyles(like Scholars, Managers, Speculators, Investors etc) , and as such, if one playerbase becomes too big of a strain on the economy, the treasury will drain, the tokens and digital assets will inflate and the utility ditribution will decrease, in order to financially disincentivize that playerbase and slowly drive them away. This creates opportunity for other Playerbase to acquire the cheaper tokens and assets creating demand, and restoring the balance of the Economy. Special Credits to Castle of Blackwater P2E .
Covalent (Across ALL Web 3 Applications) - Covalent is a Unified API bringing visibility to billions of Web 3 Data Points across up to 40 Blockchain Today. With Covalent, you can easily query, track, and analyze rich Blockchain Data using Smart Contracts and Simplified User Interfaces. Developers can Create Wallet Interfaces with Historical Price Data, NFT Dashboards for displaying Info across Multiple NFT Collections, Investor Dashboards to build analytical trends and ROI, and many other Custom Usecases.
Some Prominent Applications of Covalent apart from the ones mentioned include Monitoring Daily Active Users, NFT Holders, and In-Game Activity(such as renting, breeding, trading, etc). These consists of techniques that can be incorporated into a model for accessing an Ecosystem's sustainability on a weekly, monthly, and even yearly basis. Read the Infinite Games Case Study to See Covalent API In Action .
A Typical Approach to Build - Open to Everyone
Now, you've seen the contents of this post and I want to further put out a no-fail technical that anyone can use to start building in web 3. This is how I'm currently building PortalsX, Read About it Here. This technique has been Horrendously Summarised but you get the drift, everything you see and learn is but a summary xD! So let's check them out;
STEP 1: Learn Backend - After Solidifying your Web 3 Project Idea, it Can be Great for you to Start off with the Backend Applications and How they will Sync Together. You can Also Start with Front-end if you prefer it that Way. Know that some of the most Widely Used Backend Software in Web3 Include: Node JS, Amazon Web Services - Amplify, Socket IO, and Google Cloud Platform.
STEP 2: Learn Frontend - Frontend for Web3 Can be Interesting to Work with and very Satisfying, as this is How you first see Your App Come to Life. The Most Popular Front end Packages for Building Web 3 Apps Include; TypeScript, React.Js, and Next.JS.
For the above two steps, It's helpful to note that, they are Broad Topics and Depending on your Prior Experience with Programming, could be Overwhelming to Learn Due to the Millions of Resources available on How to Get Started. But One Thing I'd Suggest is to Start from Web 3 Focused Project and Tutorials, where You can Get the Little Bits You need to Start Building. Some Great Examples are Buildspace, Figment, and Questbook (For Solana Focused Projects).
STEP 3: Learn Web3 Integration -
Web3 Integration Simply Means How to Connect Your Frontend and Backend Application to the Blockchain, to enable it Read, Store and Change Data on the Blockchain. This is the Foundation of ALL Web 3 Applications Today. There are Several Paths you can Take on this and A Summary will Suffice for You: Moralis and Alchemy are Two Top-Level Web 3 Integration Software that Provides Pre-Built APIs for you to connect with Several Blockchains and Create a Wide Array of Functions in your Web3 App.
They are Widely Used owning to the fact that, Many Web 3 applications revolve around some specific smart contract transactions such as minting a token / nft, staking and emissions, exchanging-swapping, lending-borrowing, withdrawal-balance checking, and so on. Moralis and Alchemy are One of Many Such Services that will get the Job done.
It could also happen that, you want to build Advanced Interactions and Specialized applications, in which case, Moralis and Alchemy might not serve you fully, and you will need to create Avanced Smart Contracts for your Application. In such a situation, You will need to Learn Blockchain Programming Languages such as Rust for Solana and Near Blockchain, Solidity for Ethereum Blockchain, GoLang/Solidity for Avalanche Blockchain, and Multiple Choice of Lang (Solidity, Vue, Go) for Polygon, etc.
Usually, each of these Blockchain Provides Resources to Get Started In their Docs, and they can be all you need to actually get started, as in the case of Solana Developers Docs.
STEP 4: Create Utility and Sustainability - As Web3 and Gamefi are Entering a new Phase, we're Observing more Calmer, Utility and Logical Centered Projects, and those that End up creating Waves are the ones that Differentiate themselves from the Crowd, And with no aims of Suger-Coating, I believe there is more than One Factor to Achieve This (Making Waves I mean), that are Not Fully Dependent on Utility & Sustainability. But in the Longterm, Sustainability is Key.
This is essentially a Process that Requires no Summary and Directions, In truth, it is Unique and Different For Every Project. Utility of Digital Assets in Web3 Projects is not new to the Game and Can be Seen in the Majority of Applications, But Utility Without Sustainability is Like Beauty without Brains 🙂.
I believe that Sustainability Procedures and Techniques can be Developed and Built out of Simple Observations + Research + Iteration Over Major & Minor Events taking place in the Space. There's been more than enough DATA for Us all to Use into creating the more Sustainable Gaming Or Defi Project that will distribute Utility to Lots of Users.
In Summary - Anyone can Cook (Read Build)
The Summary of this Post Entails how Web 3 is a Fantastic Space that is Open to All Kinds of Builders/Creators, especially those who want to Experiment Quickly while Seeking out Open Money-Making Opportunities in the Space, We went Further to Discuss How Sustainability is a Crucial Goal for Web 3 Applications, how the Rules that govern Web 3 has been mastered by none, and will most likely remain that Way. Lastly, I Shared a Simplified Process of A Typical Approach to Building a Web 3 Startup project, and how technical experience could be a plus, so you don't start from scratch - BUT you would be Grossly OverEstimating the Impact of Prior Experience & Knowledge to build Succesful Web3 Projects. In other words, You Can Cope Great Without it. The Web3 Space is Available for All to Learn, Build, Fail, then Try Again, Until it Works! If Others are Doing it, Why Can't We Do it Too?