Explore

Guide to Web 3.0

The ultimate goal of Web 3.0 is to empower the creation of intelligent, organic, and open websites, applications, and platforms.

Blake Faulkner

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Blockchain

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Utility Tokens

A utility token is a crypto token that serves some use case within a specific ecosystem. These tokens allow users to perform some action on a certain network. A utility token is unique to its ecosystem.

Social Tokens

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Social tokens are a type of cryptocurrency that a brand, community, or influencer can use to monetize themselves beyond the typical means. Many influencers, celebrities, and businesses these days use social media or other media streams to monetize their skills or services.

Personal Tokens

Personal tokens are created by individuals to exchange forms of labor. For example, $ALEX is a bet on the potential of crypto entrepreneur Alex Masmej through an experiment that’s often called a “human IPO”.

Community Tokens

Community tokens are created for memberships or communities. For example, $JAMM is a social token that’s required to gain access to the organization's discord, newsletter, and other platforms in the Jamm Session ecosystem.

Social Platform Tokens

Social platform tokens are created to participate in the potential upside of a group. For example, $SWAGG is a social token backing SWAGG Network creations, including Forefront and upcoming community-initiated products.

Governance Tokens

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Governance tokens are cryptocurrencies that represent voting power on a blockchain project. They represent the main utility token of DeFi protocols since they distribute powers and rights to users via tokens.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Finance & Investment DAOs

Grant DAOs

In a Grant DAO, the community donates funds into the grant pool and collectively votes on allocating and distributing the funds.

Collector DAOs

Acquiring cultural collectibles for its community, distributing ownership of various high-ticket digital assets equally among all community members.

AMM (Protocol) DAOs

AMM (automated market maker) DAOs use smart contract protocols to bring decentralized financial services to users.

Venture DAOs

CityDAO that bought land in Wyoming or ConstitutionDAO that was bidding in Sotheby’s auction on the constitution of the United States.

Social & Media DAOs

Social Media DAOs

Entertainment DAOs.

Entertainment DAOs (or decentralized entertainment) open up a whole new creative outlet for collaborators and artists to come together to make exciting, creative projects available to users.

Social DAOs

Though most DAOs have their own distinct community, some are explicitly built to focus on a particular objective, such as preserving arts and culture or pursuing projects aligned with their community values. Example, the Friends with Benefits (FWB) DAO which unifies artists and cultural thinkers with shared values and incentives such as allowing them to network with other members at events.

Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs)

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Non-fungible tokens, often referred to as NFTs, are blockchain-based tokens that each represent a unique asset like a piece of art, digital content, or media. An NFT can be thought of as an irrevocable digital certificate of ownership and authenticity for a given asset, whether digital or physical.

Utility NFTs (uNFTs)

Interactive utility, the uNFTs have an increased level of functions and create user experiences that have became increasingly elaborate. uNFTs are the future of NFTs.

Access NFTs

Get access to exclusive experiences, online and offline which can include events with celebrities/athletes, premium content, voting on brand decisions, and much more.

Community

Ownership of exclusive NFTs comes with access to special fan communities. Ownership can be transferred if desired. (Bored Ape Yacht Club)

Evolving Utility NFTs (U-NFTs 3.0)

Permissioned-through-ownership innovation, fostering continued earnings for holders of Utility NFTs.

Gamified NFTs

Users compete for special NFTs that are dropped as a perk for their activities or as a part of a gaming universe.

The Sandbox⁠

is the most prominent example of in-game NFTs as an important facet.

Gambling NFTs

zed.run, NFT gambling games where users can buy/sell/trade NFTs and use them to gamble for other virtual goods or cash.

Fantasy NFTs

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Sorare⁠

comes to mind in the realm of fantasy sports leveraging gamified NFTs. Players can purchase player card NFTs and each week, they can create lineups and earn points based on players’ real-life performances.

In-game NFTs

Fractal.is, NFTs created and minted with the purpose of deployment within video games. Another great example is Axie Infinity, the largest play-to-earn game where users can buy and sell virtual NFT creatures.

Engagement NFTs

Engagement NFTs encompass NFTs that can be used to engage with other users within a community. If anything, we are inspired by the social constructs from Twitch and Discord.

Social NFTs

NFTs that can be used socially like GIFs, emojis, badges, profile pictures, comment embeds, etc. Our approach here is similar to Discord with channel/role-specific emojis but users can earn them as NFTs and use them within that community or across the NFTverse. Example being Twitter’s recent deployment of technology to facilitate Social NFTs as profile pictures on Twitter.

Decentralized Applications

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Decentralized Publishing

Through decentralized, user-owned, crypto-based networks, publishing platforms will revolutionize the way we share, express, and monetize our thoughts which is currently best displayed by Mirror.xyz. When you become a writer on the platform you become a co-owner. The platform is run and built by its contributors. So the contributor’s interests are at the front and center of the roadmap. To join the platform there is a process to go through “to ensure a quality foundation.” Mirror.xyz uses crypto tokens. When you possess the $WRITE crypto token you are given the ability to publish on the platform. This allows you a custom domain for your own publication. The publication can simply be your name.

NFT Aggregators

Considering there are thousands of NFT projects available to be purchased across many marketplaces, it can be difficult to cross-evaluate NFTs. The usage of an aggregator allows users to use quantitative tools to evaluate and purchase NFTs without having to create accounts on different marketplaces.

NFT Marketplaces

NFT marketplaces are platforms where users can buy, store, trade, and create NFTs and collections.

Utility Assets

Assets that are users are able to buy, sell, and trade that make crypto more accessible. Great example being the Ethereum Name Service which allows crypto users to translate their machine-readable crypto addresses to human-readable addresses and is comparable to a nickname generator for public Ethereum addresses.

NFT DeFi Lending & Financing

Platforms that support NFT loans allow holders to borrow funds and set terms without an intermediary. Borrowers can expect to get a loan amount of approximately 50% of the value of the NFT, with interest rates ranging from 20% to 80%, depending on the popularity of the NFT.

Metaverse/Virtual Worlds

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Centralized Metaverses/Virtual Worlds

Controlled by a singular centralized entity or corporation that dictates the services and economy offered to virtual world users/participants. Often, centralized metaverse platforms have unlimited virtual space and offer users a wider variety of experiences and high quality developer tools. An example of a centralized metaverse would be Roblox, where Roblox Corporation has complete control over the native gaming currency Robux, which accessories a user can use for their avatar, control over the in-game economies, and more. Design and display is often up to the creators of an experience, creators choose how to present and texture their worlds without too much constraint from the corporation. One of the fascinating aspects of the centralization vs. decentralization of metaverses is that centralized metaverses often offer players greater freedoms than the decentralized worlds.

Decentralized Metaverses/Virtual Worlds

Can either be controlled by a corporation, DAO, or by players who own specific crypto tokens. Often, there is limited land owned by crypto-holders on the platform with limited accessibility for players to interact on those lands. Often these decentralized metaverses/virtual worlds place a much higher focus on the ownership and economy of virtual goods mostly embodied by gamified NFTs. Most virtual worlds in decentralized metaverses are currently textured with voxels, which is unique in many ways to the decentralization movement within the metaverse. Examples of voxel metaverses/virtual worlds are The Sandbox, Decentraland, among others. There is a growing trend of NFT projects looking to create utility for their projects by creating their own metaverses, large scale projects like Upland and NextEarth intend to do that over the coming years.

3D Metaverse Marketing/Advertising

The next wave of digital marketing and advertising will happen in the metaverse where brands will reach users through nontraditional mediums such as utilizing embedded advertising forms within 3D virtual worlds including virtual billboards, embedded advertising in virtual communication devices, among other forms. There are startups facilitating this, one example being BloxBiz which allowed advertisers to reach over 25m+ users on the popular metaverse platform Roblox which recently was acquired by Super League Gaming, a public company for $6 million in 2021.

In-Game/Metaverse Items

Gaming assets earned by players that are the property of publishers or game studios. Equivalency to earning weapon skins in CSGO or earning character outfits on Fortnite. Often in-game items are sold in “grey markets” where the buyers and sellers don’t have explicit permission from the game publisher or studio to be selling or buying these items, but the game publisher and studio is incentivized to let it happen as it keeps players playing their games.

Game/Metaverse Development Assets

Virtual assets including artwork, 3D models, scripts, and more that go into developing the virtual worlds in the metaverse. Each metaverse has specific needs and requirements as it pertains to which assets you can deploy within each metaverse. Metaverses can be polygon, voxel, or platforms depending on which assets they allow creators to use. Providers of virtual game-development assets include TurboSquid, CGTrader, Unity Asset Store, Bloxsmith, among others.

Future of Platform

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Widgetization of the Internet

More customizability than ever before, renaissance of display-alteration of traditional applications/platforms. Web 3.0 is a movement of radical change in the designs and displays of traditional platforms including significant changes in the user interfacing of traditional platforms.

Decentralized Manufacturing

Startups like Cana will play a major role in Web 3.0 by decentralizing manufacturing. A decentralized supply chain occurs in consumers' homes as a result of decentralized manufacturing. Startups like Cana are building centralized software platforms that connect to networks of hardware inside the homes of consumers, allowing them to create any beverage they desire without having to go to a grocery store. This innovation is fascinating, but another aspect of decentralized manufacturing is the ability for startups and brands to be created on these digital platforms where consumers can choose beverages or products from, allowing startups to sell direct-to-consumer beverages without ever handling stock or managing supply.

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Cana: Molecular beverage printers unlock the era of decentralized manufacturing⁠

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FinTech & Credit Evolution

Web 3.0 is introducing new financial services and major changes to existing ones, including more startups that provide banking and credit services to young people. With innovative FinTech providers like CashApp and other platforms lowering the age of eligibility to 13+, users are now able to create accounts and make payments online, which will have a huge impact on multiple industries and drive a surge in capital into the metaverse. Young people's access to credit is also being revolutionized in significant ways, with platforms like Perch and Fizz offering new ways for them to build credit through everyday activities and their monthly subscriptions. Separately, DeFi is also undergoing innovation focused on blockchain technology like Strike.me where users can send and receive instant and secure borderless payments with no added fees.

Self-Monetization of Data

The movement to compensate users and stakeholders for their data being collected and profited from by large corporations will continue to gain traction in Web 3.0. Consumers will likely drive Big Tech and other platforms to develop business models that benefit users, especially as startups continue to change the narrative surrounding user data.

Embedded Platforms

The prevalence of Web 2.0 social media platforms and applications will be put to the test in Web 3.0, as companies will be incentivized to embed their software and user interfaces into metaverses/virtual worlds/games. Platforms that are embedded go where users spend their time and where they have friends, and with hundreds of millions of people in the metaverse/Web 3.0, companies are adapting to the changing environment. Virtual world users may soon have the ability to stream Spotify directly from their virtual cellphones, or upload selfies directly to Instagram from the metaverse.

Digital to Delivery Ecommerce/Vcommerce

In the metaverse/Web 3.0, consumption will change dramatically with an increase in new forms of commerce including the evolution of traditional ecommerce to interactive, video-based (often live) ecommerce supported by platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Shopify. Additionally, users will be able to buy virtual clothing in the metaverse and receive the same clothing in the real world.

Digital to Physical Partnerships

The development of "phygital" experiences for users through digital-to-physical partnerships is a new trend headed by companies such as Vans, Hasbro, Warner Bros, Nike, Adidas, among others who have commissioned and created virtual worlds on platforms like Roblox and Decentraland that bring real products and content to virtual spaces.

Learn more

Blockchain

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The Growing Utility of NFTs⁠

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The History and Future of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs - World's Largest Web 3.0 Brand⁠

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Best Play-to-Earn Games with NFTs or Crypto - Play to Earn⁠

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https://bettermarketing.pub/the-first-decentralized-writing-platform-that-pays-writers-is-here-9e0fe9b2df16⁠

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The Utility NFT Classification Guide⁠

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Your DAO Guide - The most important DAO categories defining the space | Ledger⁠

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Crypto Coin vs Token (Differences + Examples)⁠

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The NFT Stack: Exploring The NFT Ecosystem⁠

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What is Social Token (Fan Token)? Community value on another level⁠

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The next big thing in crypto is here, and it will revolutionize the future of work⁠

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Explained: What are social tokens and how are they different from NFTs?⁠

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Welcome to BitClout⁠

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⚡️ $ALEX ⚡️⁠

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The 3 Types of Tokens and Why They’re Worth So Much⁠

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https://learn.bybit.com/nft/what-are-nft-loans/#:~:text=NFT%20loans%20are%20offered%20by,using%20solutions%20such%20as%20lending⁠

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Are 'social tokens' the next big thing?⁠

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Council Post: Social Tokens: A Web 3.0 Playbook For Monetizing Yourself⁠

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What is an NFT Aggregator Tool and How Does it Work? Top 10 NFT Aggregators⁠

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What Is a Utility Token? A Comprehensive Overview | SoFi⁠

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Social Tokens, Community Tokens, and The Future of Web 3.0 | ZenLedger⁠

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Mutant Ape Yacht Club: Evolving Utility⁠

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Metaverse/Virtual Worlds

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The Metaverse: 101⁠

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What to Wear in the Metaverse⁠

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Metaverse is coming: With increased significance of VR, crypto and AI, the future is here⁠

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A YEAR ON ROBLOX: 2021 IN DATA - Roblox Blog⁠

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Roblox developers and creators earned over $500m in Robux during 2021⁠

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2021 Year in Review — A Letter from Our CEO - Roblox Blog⁠

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Obsess: 70% of consumers who visit virtual stores have made purchases⁠

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#5 Blake Faulkner: Bloxsmith, Venture Capital, Web3, the Metaverse, NFTs, and more⁠

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Future of Platform

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Widgets Are the Best Thing Apple Has Ever Added to the iPhone. Well, Almost⁠

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The Future of Platforms | MIT Sloan Management Review⁠

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Want Our Personal Data? Pay for It⁠

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Spiderman PS5 Miles Morales Swinging with Spotify Music part 2⁠

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Cash App - P2P, debit card and banking for everyone 13+⁠

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Fizz: Fizz is a debit card for college students that builds credit. | Y Combinator⁠

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Perch Credit: Breaking the barriers of traditional credit building. | Y Combinator⁠

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Balenciaga and Fortnite Team Up for a Digital-to-Physical Partnership⁠

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Blockchain

Metaverse/Virtual Worlds

Future of Platform

Learn more

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