Forget about FTX, Remember ETHLisbon 2022
It has been one of the toughest weeks for the crypto industry, so I took a break from endless feed scrolling of more news, anger, and frustration, to reflect back on the reason we are in this industry and why we stick around despite events like the FTX collapse
It’s in times like these that I like to remind myself: dark times often breed innovation, so I decided to write about some key take aways from my time in ETH Lisbon 2022- the Ethereum-focused hackathon — just a week before the series of drama events unfolded.
There was no shortage of ecosystem builders and technological disruptors from around the world for tomorrow’s blockchain-based infrastructure. Spending a few days gathered in Lisbon — one of the crypto capitals of Europe — refreshed my conviction that not even a crypto winter will stop growth and innovation.
Key Takeaways: TL;DR
- Filecoin, the peer-to-peer version of AWS that verifies the storage of data on a regular basis, is launching its own smart contract FVM (Filecoin Virtual Machine), making DataDAOs even more relevant as a use case
- web3 social networking is already here and Lens Protocol is growing at an amazing pace
- In the BTC vs. ETH debate, VC’s seem to favor ETH due to its ability to continuously promote and host innovation.
- The future of web3 wallets is a plug and play, composable wallet experience, with Metamask leading the way and launching Snaps (an ecosystem allowing anyone to build features on top of Metamask).
- Some tips for you crypto conference-degens
The Filecoin ecosystem and the rise of Data DAO use case
I was pleasantly surprised to see the size of the Filecoin community presence in Lisbon and meet a lot of great builders. With the launch of Filecoin’s own native smart contract layer called FVM (Filecoin Virtual Machine), I’m especially excited about the DataDAO use case. But before I dive into it, here are some thoughts:
The real cost savings of decentralized data
In a web2 world run by centralized data storage providers (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure), how will Filecoin compete and scale?
Filecoin is a peer-to-peer network that stores files, with built-in economic incentives to ensure files are stored reliably over time. While in Lisbon, I met storage providers currently using the Filecoin network to target web2 companies, offering a whopping 80% cost reduction to their AWS storage costs, which is great to see how web3 is able to abstract the backend and simply offer better products to the end user.
There is, however, one caveat — the cost reduction is mainly subsidized by inflation rewards offered by the Filecoin Foundation, which raises a few questions. Leaving aside the “decentralization” motivation that is viable by itself, is Filecoin’s incentive program sustainable? Without a clear economic case justifying a decentralized data sharing model, this begs the question….
How can Filecoin eventually become economically better than existing solutions?
While it’s ok to use inflation rewards to bootstrap the network, what is the economic case to achieve 80% cost reduction for a service that is already in a competitive market (controlled by major players like AWS, Google cloud and Azure, but still competitive)
Could there be indeed an economic justification for pooling together many SMB’s and storage capacity to compete with the incumbents’ data centers?
I’d love to hear your thoughts and inputs on this (drop a comment below or DM me).
If you’re curious how decentralized storage based on web3 technology will ultimately replace many public cloud-based storage services, I strongly recommend reading this white paper sponsored by Protocol Labs.
Filecoin vs. IPFS
Another realization I had was regarding the importance of differentiating between Filecoin and IPFS, the open-source and complementary data protocols. Both store and share data in the distributed web and share many building blocks, including data representation formats (IPLD) and network communication protocols (libp2p). However, they offer different solutions, therefore, understanding their differences is important in helping users decide which approach is best suited for different use cases:
- Filecoin can be looked at as the underlying storage solution infrastructure and will provide users storage service when uptime and availability aren’t needed on an ongoing basis. Think about running backups or datasets you rarely need, and the time to retrieve is not a factor.
- Meanwhile, IPFS will be suitable when you need your app to access data on a timely manner
DataDAOs for the win!
Time for my humble brag and personal achievement unlock: Filecoin is launching its own native smart contract layer called FVM (Filecoin Virtual Machine), and one of the key use cases highlighted are DataDAO’s. Three years ago I started ideating the concept of DataDAO, and 2 years ago launched DataDAO MVP as part of Ocean Protocol’s Data Economy challenge, winning the hackathon 1st prize. It’s great to see that my vision is now becoming a reality, allowing people to collaborate on dataset creation and enjoy the economic value created by pooling data togethe
Impressive growth of Lens Protocol’s decentralized social media platform
‘Not your keys, not your content’
Lens Protocol is a user-owned, decentralized and composable social network putting creators in control of their content and data. In building a user-owned social graph, we unlock so much more value when platforms no longer control users and users can move their content, data and audiences to any competing alternative (i.e. any other frontend) they wish to.
This means users are now in power, both in deciding what experience they want (more ads, more engagement, more original content), and in earning a fair share of the value they create. Furthermore, the use cases are multiplying quickly, just as @davidev.eth listed out:
At the ETHLisbon, I enjoyed listening to @Fabriguespe from Lens protocol speak about the progress they have made in terms of users, engagement, and developer activity. 👉 See more data from Dune.xyz here.
While I thought we were just months away from a “vampire attack” on web2 social media platforms, there are still a few obstacles to overcome. One such obstacle and the main bottleneck for Lens is infrastructure level scaling, which still relies on Layer-2 infrastructure to allow them to onboard more users and improve the user experience. I’ve been using Lens for a while now and can see the progress in the user experience since the mobile version was released, which is why I am excited to see this project grow.
👋 Let’s connect on Lens @liorg.lens
(credit to Fabrizio Guespe — @fabri.lens, @Fabriguespe)
Casual Bitcoin vs. Ethereum debate over a VC dinner
It is never a truly web3 dinner without a discussion of whether ETH will flip BTC.
Sitting at a dinner table with other VCs, there was pretty much overall consensus that ETH would flip BTC in the next cycle. Although one might think it is natural for VC’s, who invest in technology built on top of Ethereum, to be biased, one thing resonates with me — it has been proven time and time again, that areas that do not nurture innovation on an ongoing basis, eventually become obsolete, no matter how innovative they were in the first place.
There is no denying that Bitcoin is one of the most innovative inventions of our century, but providing the base layer technology for an entire industry has its “Achilles Heel” — its fixated mindset of preservation over innovation. I find it difficult to believe that with all the innovation and building happening on the Ethereum ecosystem, it will stay second for much longer.
At the same time, BTCs “Achilles heel” can also be its main value proposition — a fixed and known supply for a trust-less digital asset. So while some believe that Bitcoin will die, there is also an above 0% chance that which makes it weak becomes its greatest strength, allowing it to position itself as the global reserve and settlement asset in a world that is already challenging the USD’s domination in global trade.
Is there a future for browser extensions?
No…
At ETHLisbon, Metamask offered bounties for hacker to build “Snaps” — a system that allows anyone to safely extend the capabilities of MetaMask.” With Snaps, Metamask is building an ecosystem in which anyone can build their own feature on top of Metamask, essentially ‘plug and play’ for a unique customized wallet experience.
So is Metamask the future of browser extension wallets? With an estimated 30 million monthly users and one of the biggest brand names in the industry it’s hard to imagine any other wallet besides Metamask take the lead in development now that anyone can openly build on top of it
Summary: Lisbon was great.
Shoutout to Web3Chess Club for hosting a fun meet-up with Fuel Labs and Fluid Protocol, too. I quickly learned Idan needs to do his homework and up his chess game:
Now you’re back home. Did you follow up, anon?
Meeting so many great people and having amazing conversations is one of the things I like most about conferences. You may not find an immediate customer or partner, but by growing your network, be sure one day this network will pay off — more than you even think. The best connections form when you spend quality time with people (optimize for quality > quantity). It’s better to spend a whole evening forming deep relationships or experiences with few than meeting 10 in a very shallow interaction — you won’t remember most of those people anyway.
Fun fact: People don’t follow up.
Here are a few networking tips:
- Follow up, for real. If you met someone you actually enjoyed spending time with and had an interesting conversation, follow up and schedule a next call once you’re both settled back home.
- On that call, try to take one concrete action item that will make this connection more than just “met at a conference” — think about how you can provide real value to your new friend.
- Keep a list of the people you met and want to connect with, with their contact info.
- Enjoy. the people you enjoy the most spending time and talk crypto — are the people you will also find your ways cross again in the future, usually in places you never even expected.
Rough markets are for real builders — let’s connect
It’s always a pleasure to attend industry gatherings like ETHLisbon (shoutout to Lightshift Capital for an amazing organization) to reconnect with old networks and learn about new ones. We most look forward to meeting the incredibly talented builders and creators that bring the confidence the industry needs to move the needle forward with web3.
In murky financial and regulatory climates like these, community is more important than ever.
At Collider we are excited to connect with more and more talent and new projects, and see this ecosystem thrive. My DMs are always open, connect with Collider on Twitter, and stay tuned for more updates!
