At Seashell, we believe that web3 shouldn’t be a revolution. It should be an evolution — one that builds upon the triumphs of web2, rather than one that starts over. The interconnectivity of web2 supercharged the way information is transferred across the globe, and its ripples permanently transformed how society works. It’s not perfect, but it’s too valuable to completely abandon. This technological transformation won’t be easy, but it begins by clearly understanding the good, the bad, and the ugly truth. For both, web2 and web3. An honest lens will refine our focus on the tinder needed to light the fire of change.
Web2’s strength is built upon inertia. By participating in the ecosystem, we’ve directly stitched our lives into the fabric of web2 — our search and browsing history is with Google, our viewing history is with TikTok, our work history is with Microsoft, our spending history is with Visa, our credit history is with Equifax, our location history is with Apple, and our communication history is with Meta (across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp). The patchwork of our data has been sewn together by web2, forming intimate portraits of who we are and what we desire.
These products are meticulous about solving our problems and adding convenience into our lives, but their precision is indescribably unnerving. Perhaps it’s because they asked for our forgiveness, rather than our permission. Or maybe it’s because when they announced they’d move fast and break things, it was our things that got broken into — data breach after data breach. Or it could be the fact that these web2 companies generate trillions of dollars from selling our data to each other, but we don’t make a penny.
As its name may suggest, web2 has certainly formed a web. Our data was used to create the web, but unfortunately, we aren’t the spiders — we’re the flies who were distracted by the sweet aroma and now we’re trapped in the fibers. Stuck in captivity, we’ve now realized the spiders’ shrewd strategy. We’re not the food. We’re the bait. The richness of our data has been mined for riches by web2, and they’re not interested in letting us out.
Web3 is the natural solution. Web3 upholds the ethos of user control and fairer incentives, both areas where web2 has failed us. In web3, individuals are directly rewarded (or punished) for their actions, without middlemen hijacking the benefits. Power shifts away from the centralized few and toward the decentralized many, who have direct control over their data and their assets.
Web3 is composed of wood chips and lighter fluid, but despite its disruptive potential, it’s still searching for the spark needed to ignite mass user adoption. After many missed attempts, it’s clear that the problem is that we’re looking for the wrong thing. We don’t need a matchstick. We just need to connect to an existing heat source, like web2, that’s already lit. That’s why, at Seashell, we’ve dedicated our efforts in building a gateway to bridge web2 and web3 — we refer to this bridge as web2.5.
Our first product, Seashell Vault, directs users through a robust KYC (know-your-customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) verification before enabling them to generate rewards on their funds. We’ve chosen to start with connecting identity and creditworthiness to web3 profiles, enabling users to get closer and closer to merging their full selves on-chain. As a company that has always prioritized security and compliance, we’re serving as one of the first attestors (to use Vitalik’s terminology) in the space. Over time, we intend to port our verified attestations directly on-chain — not the sensitive data, but the signal that we have indeed verified their info — so other web3 protocols can utilize a fuller web of data and finally compete more evenly with web2. Composability matters, and that’s what we believe will create the stickiness for this new and improved web.
We witnessed the transformative potential of web3 through the proliferation of DeFi summer, but the system wasn’t built overnight. In fact, one of the most foundational building blocks of DeFi was in the works since 2017 — and that was Chainlink. Oracles bear the simple responsibility of relaying data, but nearly all of DeFi, from decentralized exchanges to insurance to lending and borrowing protocols rely on this crucial infrastructure. Chainlink created the first nexus for data to be uploaded on-chain, and this underlying mechanism enabled the inception of DeFi. At Seashell, we’ve built an additional nexus to connect a new type of data on-chain — user data.
We believe that additional user data will create the backdrop for the next wave of DeFi innovation — our users can merge their web2 data with their web3 selves, unlocking on-chain reputation and credibility. In turn, this opens a new world of DeFi, where protocols can be custom-tailored to the users interacting with them. For instance, the lending and borrowing protocols may deliver customized rates and collateral requirements for each user, according to their on-chain credibility scores. An unproven user may need to meet the high thresholds required by these protocols today, but a user with a history of on-time payments and paid-off debt may be granted lower fees. In all honesty, this isn’t a novel concept — this is fairly standard for web2. However, for web3, much like the impact of oracles connecting pricing data on-chain, the addition of user data sets the foundation for DeFi to continue to evolve and for future breakthroughs to emerge.
Web3 shouldn’t be a hard reset. While web3 empowers individual control and fairer incentives, it currently lacks the firepower needed to compete with web2 — and as evidenced by web2’s vice grip on keeping our data captive, data is power. Data unlocks reputation, and reputation unlocks good behavior. Reputation is what makes people pay off their credit card debt. It’s what prevents online retailers from selling counterfeits or Uber drivers from driving recklessly. Currently, in web3, all users are just randomly assigned wallets, acting as complete strangers without any reputation, credibility, or identity. Perhaps this was by design in the early beginnings of crypto, but now, we’ve matured way past that stage.
As we’ve seen, DeFi has a real shot at disrupting traditional financial systems — but this metamorphosis requires more data. At Seashell, we’re committed to building the infrastructure for web2.5, where user data can merge on-chain for the next evolution of DeFi to begin.
Interested in being a part of this evolution? Reach out to us on Discord!
Seashell Vault is available to Non U.S. customers. Users can sign up and access Seashell Vault on our website, seashell.com.
- Seashell Team 🐚
