Growing the Web3 Pie

As a part of my role at Partisia Blockchain Foundation, I meet a large number of interesting people at various conferences and events. Some are in Web3 in nature and others are more institution based. And I find there is a difference between these two types of people that highlight what I think is one of the biggest challenges in Web3 currently.

In Web3 conferences, I’m usually meeting the same people I met year after year.  

My recent trip to Malaysia and Germany showed this phenomenon clearly.  During the Malaysia Blockchain Week, I met with Web3 people who were all in the industry for many years working on similar projects as they were last year.  On the other hand, outside of the blockchain conference, I also met with leaders in the health tech industry whom we had deep conversations about how to solve real world problems using Partisia Blockchain’s MPC technology.  At the IAS event in Germany, with over 25k in attendance, we were the only blockchain company presenting a Web3 solution.

Kurt Nielsen, our president, put it best in this interview where he speaks about the importance of “growing the pie” in Web3.  Meaning that in order for Web3 to succeed, we must find new users, new real world use cases, and new ways to solve real problems using this wonderful technology called the blockchain.  Yet, everyone I meet in Web3 conferences is always telling me, “I’ve been in this space for the last x number of years.”  It is extremely rare to meet someone who says “I’m new to the blockchain space and interested in learning how this can solve our real world problem”.

Fighting for a share of the same pie

Share of the same pie

The current Web3 conferences, for the most part, have people who are fighting for the “share of the same pie” it has been fighting for multiple years, so to speak.  It’s the entity that has the same players, building the same type of applications for the same group of people year after year.  And while you have a few real world industries looking to experiment with blockchain, most, if not all of the Web3 focused events I go to are full of people building the same thing, but packaged just slightly differently.  Why is this the case?

And so we see two different themes emerging.  Those who are the early adopters, the visionaries and pioneers building Web3 and integrating blockchain technology into real world use cases to solve real problems, and those who are looking for the quick token launch and get rich plan disguised with the pretense of revolutionizing an industry.  One has a long and promising future.  The other… Well, you can only go so far when everyone is fighting for the same pie..

“Privacy, interoperability, and scalability are fundamental principles that have been pillars of past successful technology innovations and they will be for the Web3 industry as well.”  

Partisia Blockchain’s focus has always been about collaboration and solving real world problems.  We have founders who understand the challenges of the real world.  In the real world, privacy is a fundamental human right, and your private information should not be disclosable to everyone.  In the real world, people collaborate and work together to grow the market you are in rather than close off your ecosystem to only those who can pay with your own currency.  In the real world, infrastructures are scalable, available to support the world’s population.  (Think the internet for example)  These fundamental principles play out in real world scenarios and while blockchain provides an incredible value proposition, one of decentralization and trustlessness, it is not a complete solution.  Privacy, interoperability, and scalability are fundamental principles that have been pillars of past successful technology innovations and they will be for the Web3 industry as well..  

This has been our focus, and the reason why our blockchain architecture is built different.  And, as a result, we have quite a number of real world partners working to build things that impact the real world.  And we continue to garner interest from people who are looking to solve real problems.  

We are committed to growing the pie by bringing the technology to non Web3 industries.  Use cases like the humanitarian token system, where we are able to distribute financial aid to those impacted in conflict regions.  A donation platform where using blockchain technology, aid can be distributed not only quickly, but also transparently giving the donors full visibility to whom and how their donations made an impact.   Tackling counterfeit medication in Africa through a combination of transparent and private supply chain infrastructure.  These are samples of real world problems Partisia Blockchain is tackling to solve.

In the Web3 space, we are also focused on adding these fundamental principles that are currently missing to help grow the pie within.  Providing DeFi solutions that solve for interoperability, scalability and privacy.  Partnering with academia to create a framework for DID that governments can support.  Building solutions that enable a real trustless, secure, and interoperable self custody solution that can be built to suit the users individual requirement.

The Web3 industry will undoubtedly continue to survive.  Thrive even.  But it will also evolve from the current hype cycle to something more mature.  As this maturity continues, the need to meet these basic fundamental principles will become more apparent.  We also need to work together to grow the pie, rather than fighting for a share in the existing pie.  And those who understand and share in this vision will help drive the next generation of Web3 solutions.  We hope, through this maturity, we will grow the pie, and perhaps see a new friendly face join the next Web3 conference.

Stay updated: Website • X • Discord •  Telegram • LinkedIn • Facebook • Instagram • GitLab • Medium • YouTube