2022 was a rollercoaster year for the crypto world, but despite the market crashes, ecosystem collapses, and hacks, the fundamentals of the technology remain unchanged. With the speculators and hype riders leaving the space, 2023 is set to be a year of innovation and growth for the crypto world. In this post, I'll be sharing my 4th yearly forecast on the crypto space, now commonly known as Web3.
The Rise of Web3 Social
My favorite crypto sector is Web3 Social, also known as Decentralized Social (DeSoc). In my previous forecast, I predicted that decentralized social media would become a trend in 2022, and this prediction has proven to be true. The Lens Protocol by the Aave team, for example, has seen significant growth despite the bear market.
As Web3 Social continues to gain traction, I predict that the UI/UX for Web3 Social applications will improve in 2023. The Lens team has already announced a scalability update that would allow the Lens Protocol to handle up to 50k transactions per second, making it as scalable as Web2 social platforms. Additionally, I expect to see more apps that leverage the unique characteristics of Web3 in 2023.
On-Chain Credentials
The emergence of Web3 Social is also driving the increased usage of on-chain credentials, such as NFTs. NFTs can be used to represent and prove various attestations like certificates, grades, and work experience. In 2022, we saw an increased usage of POAPs, NFT collections, and soulbound tokens, and this trend is set to continue in 2023.
There are already multiple Web3 LinkedIn projects, such as Social3, that are leveraging on-chain credentials, and this trend will only continue to grow in the coming years. NFTs as work credentials will play a crucial role in the future gig economy.
Mobile-Friendly Web3 Applications
Experts have highlighted the importance of user-friendly Web3 mobile applications in onboarding the next billion people to crypto. Currently, most Web3 applications have a poor mobile experience, making basic actions like connecting a wallet challenging.
In 2022, we saw increased development of mobile decentralized applications, especially in the Web3 Social sector, where most consumption on social media happens via mobile. I predict that we will see significant improvements in the mobile UI/UX for all major crypto sectors in 2023, including DeFi, NFTs, Metaverse, Gaming, and Social. It will also be interesting to see how the big Web2 players, like Apple and Google, will adapt to the trend of Web3.
Account Abstraction
Another trend in the crypto world is the abstraction of the blockchain from the end-user. As technology matures, it becomes less technical for the end-user, and the same applies to blockchain applications. I expect to see more mobile-friendly and user-friendly Web3 applications in 2023, making it easier for the average end-user to interact with the technology.
In conclusion, despite the turbulence of 2022, the future of crypto, now known as Web3, remains bright. With the speculators and hype riders leaving the space, 2023 is set to be a year of innovation and growth. The rise of Web3 Social, on-chain credentials, mobile-friendly Web3 applications, and account abstraction are just a few of the trends that will dominate 2023 and beyond.
Post a Comment