What is blockchain? Here’s how Chris Dixon of Andreesen, a crypto OG, describes blockchains: They're really just computers. They're computers that make a commitment. It's the software that's making the commitment — so traditional computers are ultimately controlled by people, either personal computer, you control your own laptop in front of you, or organizations that control servers. Blockchains invert this power relationship by putting the code in charge. This could seem scary, yet the actual benefit of being the code in charge is decentralization. With blockchain, software can manage the kind of relationships and commitments that are being made rather than companies. It's transparent, it's open and it is accessible. It's pretty powerful stuff.
— Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Founder & CEO of Proof of Learn | on Welcome to W3B’D
What is web3?
****Web 1.0, which was really early 2000s, was read-only. Web 2.0, which happened in 2005 and onwards, was read and write. In 2022, we're starting to enter web3 which is read, write and own. For example, we can remember Web 1.0 and early e-commerce; it was a purely read-only online catalogue. You couldn't shop, you couldn't buy, you couldn't add it to a cart. It was incredibly simplistic. Fast forward to Web 2.0, in 2008 Techcrunch lists Gmail, Facebook, Skype, Twitter and YouTube as Web 2.0 companies we can’t live without. Today we’re used to Web 2.0. But web3 sits on blockchain technology. It unlocks the ability for a fully open system. So something that we can all see, we can all participate, and it goes beyond just read and write, to add the critical feature of owning.
— Alexa Von Tobel, Founder & Managing Partner at Inspired Capital | myBFF Minted Event
Web3 is the future of the internet. It is the era where users can not only read and write content, but also have a say in ownership. It is the era of the decentralized web, which is majorly built on blockchain technology.
What is the Metaverse?
****The metaverse is a hard term to define. It’s almost like saying the internet — it’s very broad. At a high level, the metaverse is a virtual environment that people live, work, and play in. I think that we were able to work inside the metaverse. We were able to live inside the metaverse, via zoom, by remote work. And we were able to play into the metaverse through online gaming. Really what’s enabling it to come to fruition now is NFTs, which are just property rights because no one wants to live inside of a virtual environment that they cannot own their livelihoods and their stuff.
— Andrew Steinwold, Managing Partner at Sfermion | Unchained Podcast
I think that any sort of activity that we do online is somewhat part of the metaverse. Communicating online is definitely part of the metaverse. But in order to actually have the “true metaverse,” the full vision, you need property rights, you need ownership of your stuff. It’s not obviously the main part...but it is an important piece. [In the future] it’s going to be all sorts of different platforms, protocols, products that allow people to really earn value from their activities online. So right now we’re not earning — I’m not earning anything from using Facebook. I’m not earning anything from using Google. Those platforms are extracting value for myself as a user. And so where where we’re headed, is an internet or a metaverse, if you will, where users are getting value in return for their activities online.
— Andrew Steinwold, Managing Partner at Sfermion | Unchained Podcast
What is an NFT?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz9zw7-_vhM&t=464s&ab_channel=JohnnyHarris
****NFTs, non fungible tokens, are essentially a token that is unique. Each one is unique. They are written and held on a blockchain, the ownership of it and who owns that person on a blockchain, and so it's a crypto asset. However, because they're usually images, and sometimes animated and at times carries sound, it can be imbued with a lot of elements. It's a thing that somebody can own where it's meaningful. The most popular form of NFTs right now are profile photos because people are like, I associate this with myself. So it's fun and whimsical and speculative.
— Amy Wu, FTX Ventures, Gaming, M&A at FTX | W3B’D
What is Play-to-Earn?