On Web3, Rebranding, and the Future of Wallets

Rebranding as Evolution

On NFT Backlash

A brief addition on NFTs here while catching up on things and the latest backlash of NFTs regarding Ubisoft (also see Discord, Reddit, etc.). I think NFTs/Web3 have insane amounts of value (mostly still untapped and developing) and there isn't a rebranding that can occur with them. The hate/penetration into mainstream is unfortunately too persistent. Outlined more concisely the thoughts in a thread here that I think highlights the problem. The continual iteration/adoption, and building of, solutions that empower creators and users of Web3 platforms, uniquely enabled through social tokens and NFTs is the only way forward. I unfortunately don't think it's possible to rebrand NFTs as we've seen with crypto --> Web3 and the hopeful rebranding of wallets --> profiles/bios/identities/etc. The positive is that the underlying mechanisms and what they can enable are only going to be developed, iterated upon, and improved going forward. As is always the case in open source software, the network effects of solving a problem once and applying everywhere are unmatched.

-ETA --> will finish thoughts & post by early next week as the NFT cancellation and massive scale/effects that have derailed my brainpower for the night. the scope at which these people come out of the gutters and negative engagement companies have when posting about NFTs is insane

Feedback and iteration are two of the most important components of any new technology or product. Growth of any new technology comes through evolution distilled through customer feedback and growth. Build something for someone to use, listen to them, improve the product, grow users, repeat ad infinitum. As with any new, rapidly changing technological advancement, the crypto ecosystem has gone through many of these feedback loops (more efficiently than anything in the past, a feature of open source) to reach where we are today. The recent rebranding phenomenon is also applicable to the obvious examples of Square to Block and Square Crypto to Spiral along with Facebook to Meta. I'd argue for self-awareness/focus and good regarding Block and Spiral compared to pessimism and rent extraction/public image restoration in the case of Meta but that's a conversation for another day. The narrative and rebranding alteration has been the iteration of choice inside the crypto ecosystem as we’ve seen "cryptocurrencies" shift to "digital assets", BTC to store of value, ETH to a modular blockchain/money, countless others, and the most recent and important (imo) of "crypto" to "Web3". Unfortunate as it may be, the story and narrative behind some underlying asset is just as, if not more, important as the utility (also i.e. current NFT backlash). Narratives matter and have since the existence of time. The next narrative change or rebranding focus I think we’ll see is importance and focus on a shift of “wallets” to one of a “profile/identity/bio/digital data/homepage/etc”. Before diving into the necessary rebranding of wallets as what they can enable is massively increasing, I’ll touch on (and provide many influential tweets regarding the subject) the importance of the rebranding of crypto to Web3 which reached escape velocity today as five influential CEOs (and stellar wtf???) testified before Congress on the future of the industry all while solidifying the Web3 branding. The importance of narrative change and endless possibilities

I’ve noted multiple times over the past few weeks on my twitter (@tolks1189) that there was an observable, positive narrative building around the crypto industry when referenced as through Web3. Part of this is the human psychology of imagination with the combination of ownership through tokens and an infinite design space that public blockchains allow.

Comparable to websites regarding the different verticals you service where verticals are replaced by interests and participation

Facebook/MySpace profile pages as there is a digital representation of what you own, support, are interested in, NFTs of favorite music/artists, social clubs, etc as an analog to the groups belonged to and likes of the old Web2 guard that would monetize this information through serving ads your way --> definite needs to get to this place i.e. increased security, social recovery, ZKP in some fashion, etc.

WeChat in China as the other obvious comparison as the wallet as superapp/profile that can host communication, social, payments in any vertical, ordering, profiles, etc.