The Lessons of Web 2.0 Teach Us How to Prepare for What Comes Next

By Erwin Werring, CEO of Attrace
The period of blockchain know-how and cryptocurrencies ushers in developments which have the potential to remodel many industries as we all know them. The digital tokenization of worth, tradeable between friends in a trustless and safe method, creates new financial methods and democratizes entry to finance. However, typically options that purport to supply this transformative potential are utilizing at this time’s know-how to repair yesterday’s issues when yesterday’s issues are primarily based on yesterday’s know-how. 
Specifically, we want to discuss in regards to the hole between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. Whereas Web 1.0 was the age of passive content material consumption, Web 2.0, the web of person participation, has introduced us platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Uber, and Airbnb. Underpinned by quick searching speeds, cloud computing, and most significantly, cell connectivity, Web 2.0 is now woven into the material of our on a regular basis lives. 
However, from varied views, the mannequin is extensively regarded to be damaged. Many of the issues come down to monetization, which is successfully managed by the large platforms. YouTube creators make little from the adverts they generate on the platform, round $3-5 per 1,000 views. But their monetization channels off-platform, together with model sponsorships or affiliate applications, typically show to be way more profitable.
A Broken Model
When growing a blockchain answer, my very own group and plenty of others have approached the issue from the attitude of fixing what’s damaged – trying to align incentives in a world that is developed round a misalignment. 

In our case, we recognized that referrals are a big lacking hyperlink on the planet of Web 2.0. Effectively, your entire enterprise of influencer advertising and promotions relies round referrals. Currently, there are numerous fashions in place to reward those that actively promote to their networks. One is the affiliate marketing online mannequin, whereby intermediaries referred to as affiliate networks present a hyperlink monitoring service and deal with funds between publishers and advertisers. Another is the place influencers will promote to their followers on a respective platform in return for funds off-platform, a largely unregulated and unmanaged hustle-based business. 

New Paradigms
While these are issues, they’re issues born of the Web 2.0 mannequin. Web 3.0 provides a special proposition – one the place income fashions want to be aligned to the incentives of the ecosystem members. If Web 3.0 is the longer term of the web, then we ought to be getting ready for a state of affairs the place damaged fashions aren’t constructed into the structure of the ecosystem. Furthermore, decentralization and information sovereignty supply the potential to utterly rethink income fashions. 
Therefore, the main focus is now on launching an answer that is match for Web 3.0 – a trustless referral community for the tokenized financial system. Many features of on-line advertising are set to change considerably. In the Web 3.0 surroundings, there are to be no centralized factors of management, which suggests no dependence on intermediaries. A trustless referral community will enable any referral to be rewarded by means of the use of a decentralized validator community that confirms all profitable gross sales. 
There are a number of use circumstances for such a referral layer within the token financial system. The ongoing urge for food for NFTs provides huge potential to artists and creators to generate new income sources. Up-and-coming artists can supply commissions to networks of promoters for their latest NFT drops, creating direct connections between artists and consumers whereas nonetheless permitting the referrer to receives a commission. 

Another use case may very well be in crowdfunding. A mission wanting to promote a funding spherical by way of an preliminary DEX providing may supply a fee to those that refer token consumers. 
Web 3.0 Is Already Here
The age of Web 3.0 is not tomorrow – it is already right here. We’re beginning to see the early foundations type into an preliminary panorama of decentralized providers, albeit many of them are nonetheless nascent choices. Much of DeFi is now ruled by means of decentralized voting mechanisms conferred to token holders. Non-custodial wallets, distributed file storage, and decentralized identification options are just a few of the applied sciences now out there to customers, setting up the infrastructural UX layers for the following stage of innovation. It’s crucial that we now apply a contemporary mindset to constructing the following layer of functions to be sure that we do not danger repeating previous errors.
Author Bio: Erwin Werring is the CEO of Attrace, a blockchain mission set to launch the world’s first referral layer for the tokenized financial system. The cross-chain platform will enable anybody advertising or selling tokenized property to earn a fee for their efforts, making a harmonized ecosystem for referrals.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the writer and don’t essentially mirror these of Nasdaq, Inc.

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