Why I was Wrong and Web3 is Significant

Ok, fine. I’ll play devil’s advocate.

This morning, I wrote a post about why I think Web3 is basically all hype and no magic. The post is here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/hilzfuld_i-think-its-time-lets-talk-about-web3-activity-6919872483202371584-O5ay?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web

Apparently that post ruffled some feathers and Crypto enthusiasts were taking jabs at me for talking about something they think I know nothing about.

Ok, I’ll take it. I’m definitely far from a blockchain expert.

Well, in the beginning of that post, I said that I could easily argue both sides. Well I got quite a few messages asking me to present the other side. And so here we are.

So let’s break it down.

“Why is Crypto worth anything? It has zero intrinsic value. It’s just bits and bytes.”

Um, why is any currency worth anything? The dollar bill used to have gold behind it. Now it is literally just a piece of paper that some government decided is worth something and we all nodded our heads.

The real way to assess value is supply and demand. People want crypto? There is limited supply? Then it’s valuable. Period.

“Web 3 is bogus. No one cares about decentralization of the internet.”

Really? As Nuseir put it, we are all spending 95% of our time on the internet and we own zero percent of it. Who owns it? The multinational corporations such as Meta, Google, Microsoft, etc.

Name one other thing we spend so much time and effort on while having zero ownership of it.

The internet should be owned by all of us. That’s the vision of web 3.

“The Metaverse. I don’t want to spend my time in some virtual world created by Mark Zuckerberg. I don’t trust him.”

You don’t trust him? Really? And yet, here we are spending countless hours on his platforms.

But forget Zuck. We are already spending tons of time in the virtual world. The only difference is that today, that virtual world is garbage.

Instead of looking at a Zoom screen, why not spend time communicating in a life-like environment? It’s the best of both works. Convenience of connecting from the comfort of your home and having a more immersive experience that is much more natural than Microsoft Teams.

“Blockchain is just some buzz word. It doesn’t impact my life.”

Let me ask you this. What is the most valuable thing you own? A diamond? A car? A house? How do you prove that ownership? Some certificate? It’s saved on some office’s computer somewhere? Does that seem reasonable? With all the tech we have, why not digitize ownership?

Meet the Blockchain.

“Ok, fine, but NFT? Apes? Really?”

Um. Have you seen the Mona Lisa? $860 million for a 2x2 picture of a woman? That’s cool? You’re ok with that? What’s that? That’s art? That’s a masterpiece? Says who exactly? Oh, people? So people are excited about the Mona Lisa so therefore it’s valuable? Ok, glad we agree then that NFTs are valuable.

“What about all the hacks? You can lose all your crypto if you get hacked!”

Oh, really? So you’re confident with the level of security of the worldwide web as it is today, but worried about the blockchain that is infinitely more secure??

Do you know how easy it is to hack your site? Your FB? Your bank? Yea, well, the Blockchain might not be 100% secure forever but it is more secure than anything we’ve ever known.

“It’s all hype and won’t catch on.”

The last time I heard someone say that, it was Steve Balmer about the iPhone. Before that, it was people about cameras on phones. Before that it was cellphones in general. Before that it was social media. Before that it was the internet. “It won’t catch on. It won’t go mainstream.” they said…

So, here’s the bottom line. Believe in it or don’t. As we speak, the value of crypto is wild, the world’s biggest social media company is putting all its eggs in the Metaverse basket, and NFTs are going nuts!

I have an old email from one of my companies who offered to pay me in Bitcoin. It was worth $60 then. I laughed. Today it’s worth $40,939. True story.

So… You could either be super conservative and deny the significance of these technologies or you can hop on the train. One thing is absolutely certain.

It’s gonna be a fun ride!!