2022 was the year of “Web3” and the “Metaverse”.
As a result of the hype, people started using the terms inflationary until they became almost meaningless buzzwords.
Jay-Z and “Ye” would say: “No one knows what it means… but it’s provocative… it gets the people going!”
Among marketers, it became en vogue to have a “Web3 strategy” or to “have a presence in the Metaverse”. The media fueled the hype further.1 Even Time Magazine was carried away by it: “Into the Metaverse: The Next Digital Era Will Change Everything”, it titled in July 2022.2
As we approach the end of 2022, nobody knows exactly what they mean, or even how they differ. For some, Web3 is Bitcoin. Or cryptocurrencies. Or a scam. Or an unnecessary buzzword as often heard in nascent industries. Or the next version of the internet. Or the matrix. Or the Metaverse. Often, the terms are used interchangeably.
Also, people’s expectations about it differ wildly. It’s comparable to the internet in the early 90s. It varies from "it will change everything" to "it's the most unnecessary thing since Segways or Google Glasses".3
Spoiler alert: “Web3” and “Metaverse” are two separate things, even though they’re tightly related. And their potential is huge.
VC investments in Web3 in 2021 exceeded $32.4 billion in 2021. McKinsey expects the Metaverse to have $5 trillion in value by 2030. It’s “potentially the biggest new growth opportunity for several sectors in the coming decade”, they write.4
