Recap:SXSW 2022 Feature Presentation: #Web3, #NFT, #Metaverse

South By Southwest is always a highlight - and this year was no exception.

Our SVP and Channel Chief, Sandy Carter, delivered an awesome featured session: “Web3, NFT, Metaverse! 3 Easy Steps To Get Started” to help newcomers in the space get off on the right start.

The opportunity to learn directly from Sandy is both beneficial and unique, so we wanted to extend it beyond just the SXSW audience and share it with the world. 

Check out the session’s intro and summary below.

And don’t forget to follow Sandy on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep the conversation going.

Thanks!

The internet was created to bring us together. But somewhere along the way, that vision was lost.

We handed over our data to centralized figures, allowed big tech to thrive off of our creations, and accepted our place in a system that is seemingly out of our control. However, in the far corners of the internet, a new story is being written.

The authors are not being written by big tech. No. The authors are you and me.

Learning the lingo is the cornerstone of understanding new things , so let’s start with some basic concepts.

Web3

• Web3 is an open movement to broadly decentralize the internet, allowing for individual ownership of identity and personal data
• Introduces a real ownership model to the Internet that combines economics, art technology, game theory and technology in an incredibly interesting way
• Represents a major rethinking for a new iteration of the World Wide Web

NFT

• A digital certificate of authenticity used to assign and verify ownership of a unique digital or physical asset

Metaverse 

• Online digital environments
• People inhabit as avatars
• Interactions and experiences accessing the shared virtual space
• Accessed through virtual reality, augmented reality, game consoles, mobile devices, or computers

Web 1: The Information Economy

• Read Only
• Dominated by newspaper sites like Yahoo

Web 2: The Platform Economy

• Read / Write
• Dominated by social media like Facebook and YouTube
  

Web 3: The Token Economy

• Read / Write / Own / Execute
• DeFi and "the metaverse"
  

In summary

• Web1 was decentralized
• Web2 centralized everything into platforms
• Web3 will decentralize everything again
• Web3 should give us the richness of web2, but decentralized

1. Decentralization, or at least partially!
   Decentralization refers to a distributed peer-to-peer network that operates without the control of a central figure or authority, like Bitcoin.
   
   
2. Digital identity – identity that you can take with you
   Digital representation of a person, organization, application, or device that allows for automated user authentication on the web.  
   
   
3. Built on Blockchain
   In order for individuals to own and control their own data, it can’t be stored on centralized servers. In Web3, data is stored on P2P blockchain networks and secured by majority consensus of all network participants.
   
   
4. Trustless  
   No central figure (like a bank) has authority or control over the blockchain, they're replaced by code that ensures transaction parameters are met.
   
   
5. Financially Benefits Users
   In Web3, Network costs associated with processing network transactions on blockchain networks are distributed to network participants, creating more inclusive opportunities for passive income generation.

Figure out who to listen to/ask questions

• Take your time to find the people worth listening to
• Find spaces that deliver high quality OPEN conversations and when you are comfortable (Telegram, Discord)
• Read and learn something new everyday!
• Share your thoughts and ask questions
  

Play as a consumer

• Get a wallet
• Buy some crypto
• Get a domain
• Buy NFT

Use cases for business

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

• People are pooling money to make loans and anyone in the world can participate
• Large funds are being raised for initiatives like buying carbon credits, works of art or even the constitution

In-game economies

• If you've ever played a MMORPG video game you have seen they have their own in-game currencies
• Now people are playing games and the money is real

Governance experiments

• Tokens can also give you access to voting rights. 
• Organizations know as DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) are being run off members voting on policy proposals

Power to content creators – NFT

• This is just starting but the trajectory is up and momentum is moving it rapidly
• The changes for business owners will likely be larger than the magnitude of how mobile or the Internet itself changed the way businesses worked