What's Web3 and the Metaverse?
Web3: Next evolution of the internet that is more decentralized so that no single (tech) company can control the flow of information. It’s owned by the builders and users, orchestrated by tokens. Crypto & NFTs are digital assets that enable Web3 to be user-owned. Smart contracts are Web3 software applications that are user-owned. Blockchain, pioneered by Bitcoin, is the tech that enables crypto, NFTs & smart contracts.
Metaverse: Immersive, social, and ideally interoperable and persistent virtual worlds in mixed reality that allow brands to build branded worlds. It can combine virtual and physical and provides a space between identity (individual sense of presence) and activity.
Web3 and Metaverse are related concepts (but not the same) and can be powered by different core technologies. NFTs are digital assets that enable Web3 to be user-owned. Smart contracts are Web3 software applications that are user-owned. Blockchain is the tech that enables crypto, NFTs & smart contracts.
Hypothesis
Core technologies of Web3 (blockchain), the metaverse (AR/VR, virtual worlds, etc.) and advanced computing (AI) are converging at scale. The metaverse is the driving force bringing these elements together in a unified, immersive, social, user-owned experience at scale.
Here are a few primers to get you started: