Curious About the Future of Web3? Here Are Our Predictions for 2022
DAOs, NFTs, the creator economy, work life & more
Blockchain, DeFi, crypto, and the greater world of Web3 all began with an overarching purpose: to place the centralized power of tech giants back into the hands of creators and everyday people. It’s no coincidence that the birth of Bitcoin occurred alongside the 2008 financial crisis — people and businesses lost faith in centralized banks. Since 2008, the Web3 space has exploded with various dApps, startups, and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) promoting new models of commerce that replace intermediaries with peer-to-peer payment networks. This new blend of technology, finance, and community initiated a world of e-commerce where creators can forge meaningful relationships with fans and sell their work in more secure ways. Fast forward 14 years to 2022 and things have become even more innovative. So, what’s next for Web3?
In order to predict the future, we must briefly take a look at the past. What developments have been made in recent years?
Well, for one, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and Web3 all became household phrases during the last two years. Between Facebook’s pivot into the metaverse in 2021 and the soaring rise of Bitcoin in 2020, it seemed that mainstream discourse surrounding technology finally fixed its center on Web3.
Of course, this growth in popularity happened concurrently alongside technological and social innovation. Many Web3-oriented projects began creating better user experiences by developing decentralized payment protocols, social networks, e-commerce infrastructures, and more. A multitude of DAOs emerged to offer new modes of social organization and build new ways of making transactions on blockchain. Many dApps released user-friendly wallets, allowing crypto stalwarts and newcomers alike to begin interacting with DeFi. Overall, the public seemed to finally understand the potential of Web3 and hopped aboard. Take a look at this Consensys chart showing the growth of MetaMask users in the first half of 2021:
From January 2021 to July 2021, MetaMask saw exponential growth, gaining more than 10,000,000 monthly active users. Now, take a look at the chart below displaying NFT-carrying wallet exchanges made in Q3 of 2021:
Notice a correlation? As more users hopped aboard a common avenue for transacting on blockchain (MetaMask), more wallet-based transactions were made. The growth of MetaMask users seemed to directly feed into a commercial NFT boom. So what does this correlation suggest? A simple reality: more users = more transactions.
If 2020 and 2021 were periods of huge growth for Web3, then what’s next? Well, we think the answer is not only fairly obvious but can be found in the graphs above: more growth. Below, we’ve outlined three big predictions for what you can expect to see in 2022.
1. DAOs will reshape e-commerce and the creator economy at large.
The creator economy — content creators, influencers, artists, curators, journalists, etc. — is one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the workforce in the country. According to Forbes, there are now “more than 50 million” creators and micro-entrepreneurs working within the creative field, accumulating a value of “$20 billion with estimates that it could grow to a $104.2 billion market in 2022.” So what will Web3 bring to the table?
At its core, Web3 is designed to benefit creators. Blockchain’s emphasis on secured, verifiable ownership, peer-to-peer payments, and distributed ledgers provides a stronger transactional ecosystem for creators and customers. DAOs go hand-in-hand with the creator economy, and we’ve already seen strong overlap between both spheres. DAOs offer creators an economic structure that emphasizes flexibility, fair earnings, and shared ownership. Within a DAO, community members can offer their skills to collaborate on projects and create content on their own terms, all while participating in a decentralized governance system that provides creators fair compensation, voting power, and autonomy. As both the creator economy and Web3 grow, more and more creators will see the benefits of DAOs and begin joining and building.
2. NFTs will mature, ushering in new transactional infrastructures and ecosystems.
2021 was a unique year for NFTs. On one hand, they experienced unrivaled growth, with the preeminent NFT marketplace OpenSea surpassing $1 billion in trading volume and accumulating a 12,000% spike in daily trading figures. On the other hand, popular discourse seemed perplexed at the new technology, its puzzlement finding its way into New Yorker cartoons and SNL skits alike. NFTs might have raked in massive numbers but they’ve yet to win the trust of the public. Why exactly? Well, because they’re still in their infancy.
2022 has taken a completely reverse path. Consider the downward trend displaying NFT sales above. It’s quite clear that the speculative hype surrounding the NFT bubble has begun to fade. While these numbers may alarm traders, they should excite technologists who understand the full potential of NFTs. Instead of serving as just tradeable collectibles, they will begin reworking transactional infrastructures and ecosystems, functioning in a variety of compelling ways:
- Personalized ticketing
- In-game assets
- Loyalty rewards
- Creating virtual worlds
- Patent disclosures
- Limited-edition items
- Purchase conditions
Where 2021 was primarily a year of speculative trading for NFTs, 2022 will be the year they begin maturing into the possibilities suggested by their technology. Read our article “Beyond NFTs as Collectibles” for more information about the growth potential of NFTs.
3. Old models of work life will change.
Let’s face it: The days of commuting to a 9–5 job at an expensive office space are dwindling. After COVID, mass resignations in 2021, and the pervasive spread of WFH culture, modern work life has become more flexible, and working from home has become a new normal. The global, fluid, and freelance nature of dApps and other decentralized projects will only further revise our old notions of the workplace. Web3 is commonly discussed as offering a more inclusive, more rhizomatic work life, making it possible to employ people across time zones in freelance or full-time ways where decentralization drives collaboration.
Sterling Smith, founder of the black-owned creative freelance hub Black Freelancer, recently told Forbes why so many of his friends and colleagues seem to be migrating to Web3-based jobs. “They wanted challenging opportunities with projects that more closely align with their passions — on their own terms… Web3 talent networks like Black Freelancer connect black knowledge workers who have for so long felt like a ‘cog in a wheel’ with corporations,” he explained. Smith’s pronouncement personifies the long-held belief that Web3 can serve as a tool capable of liberating traditional, stale structures of the workplace. As the tech world continues to grow in 2022, modern work-life will continue its gradual slide toward flexibility, distributed ownership, and renewed autonomy.
With so much innovation occurring each and every day in tech spheres, it’s clear that Web3 is here to stay. Trends and metrics suggest that more growth is to come. The question today is not “When will Web3 take off? but “What does a Web3 future look like? What are we growing into? What are we leaving behind?” These are difficult questions to answer, but current trends suggest that big changes are coming. To begin putting the pieces together, we can look at DAOs, the creator economy, NFTs, and revised notions of work life. Overall, as cryptocurrency and blockchain become mainstays in the popular vocabulary, we must begin imagining how their technologies can change our world for the better.
Learn more
This article explores trends and predictions surrounding Web3 in 2022. Read more about how Web3 will disrupt the status quo below.
Combining Web2 & Web3
Beyond NFTs as Collectibles
Making Web3 Usable
