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Did NFT Impact The Growth of Web3 Negatively?

Scofield Idehen on August 31, 2023

Some school of thought in the web3 space would argue that NFT was the Achilles hill that disrupted the growth of web3.

Would you agree?

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy πŸŽ–οΈ • Edited

The 'achilles heel' for the 'Web3' space was made up mainly of two things in my opinion:

  1. Making it all about blockchain (mostly an overcomplicated solution in search of a problem) - which was never what Web3 was originally about, although it did fit in with some aspects of it
  2. Over-promotion by parties only interested in a quick financial win and nothing else - usually at the expense of others, with schemes of dubious legality/worth. The same parties also greatly contributed to (1), as all their noise drowned out everything but blockchain

NFTs were just one product of the latter.

"Web3” as initially discussed online, was mainly about the semantic web (including many ideas about decentralisation, but not necessarily Blockchain). The definition later expanded to encompass the other upcoming trends of AI, and the 'metaverse'. The semantic web part of all this was, to my mind, one of the most interesting parts of all this buzz - even being championed and pushed by Sir. Tim Berners-Lee (yes, that guy, 'inventor' of the Internet), who is still working on this with the Solid Project.

It's really sad that the 'tech bros' co-opted the Web3 moniker to encompass basically just all blockchain/crypto related stuff, which is only a fraction of the original Web3 vision. They essentially buried some really great ideas under a torrent of get rich quick scams. They made it all about money, and created an obsession with an overly complex technology - whilst at the same time sweeping away the promise and ideas that were much more interesting and transformative.

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel πŸ•΅πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ Fayard • Edited

Broken from the start was also the assumption that you "need" the blockchain to have a decentralized web.
The internet and the web were in fact decentralized from day 1.

The centralization problem of the modern web is due mostly to the platforms monopolies and oliglopolies :
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, App Store, Google Play, ...

Here comes the blind spot of the engineer : having only a software hammer in the hand, he will assume that eveything is a software nail.

In fact breaking the power of the tech robber barons is something that we know how to do because it has already done for others in the past, and that doesn't require software.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

really, what a unique way to put it?

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel πŸ•΅πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ Fayard • Edited

United Fruit Company is a great historical example of a company that had way too much power - in this case over the "banana republics" of Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras.

To break its power you needed not understand not how bananas work but how power works

Same thing if you replace bananas with software.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit...

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

I think i share same thought in the over-promotion by parties only interested in quick gain and this killed many interest in the idea.

I would also agree that blockchain was never about NFT but NFT was used to scam many and also became the face of money laundering.

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy πŸŽ–οΈ • Edited

I would also agree that blockchain was never about NFT...

I didn't say that at all. I said that Web3 was never ALL about blockchain. Also, people have been scammed in many ways, not just with NFTs.

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy πŸŽ–οΈ • Edited

A lot of the replies here seem to reinforce my opinion. For most people now, Web3 IS blockchain.

Money wins, and ruins everything. As normal

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

whats your thought?

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parth51199 profile image
parth51199

NFTs have the potential to both positively and negatively impact the growth of Web3. On the positive side, they can create a more secure and transparent way to track ownership of digital assets. However, they have also been criticized for their high energy consumption, potential for fraud and scams, and lack of regulation. The ultimate impact of NFTs on the growth of Web3 will depend on how these issues are addressed.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

Question, would interest with the current trend ever give rise to such growth?

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parth51199 profile image
parth51199

It is difficult to say for sure whether the current interest in NFTs will give rise to their widespread adoption and use in Web3. There are a number of factors that could affect their future, including:

  • The continued development of NFT technology to address the challenges of high energy consumption, fraud, and scams.
  • The increasing popularity of the metaverse, where NFTs could be used to represent digital assets such as land, avatars, and clothing.
  • The growing demand for digital ownership and authenticity, as more people become aware of the benefits of NFTs.
  • The regulatory environment for NFTs, which is still evolving.

If these factors are favorable, then it is possible that NFTs could play a significant role in the growth of Web3. However, it is also possible that they will remain a niche technology, used by only a small number of people.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

I agree,

But with the current trend of growth and specualtions one would argue that the rise of NFT's been used energy consumptions as the alternative are still widely used.

Metaverse is a future too soon as we saw with mark getting burnt but that is still speculation if that would happen in the nearest future.

Digital ownership are not longer looking interetsting as it was some years back, the high scam rate and rung pulls pushed people away.

I would argue that a better and more robust system is developed to allow user feel secure with the struture first or there would be no one left to use the platforms if it keeps bringing grief.

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parth51199 profile image
parth51199

I agree with your assessment. The current trend of NFTs is driven by speculation and hype, rather than by any real-world use cases. As a result, the environmental impact of NFTs is a major concern, and it is likely to become an even bigger issue as the NFT market grows.

The metaverse is still in its early stages of development, and it is not clear how NFTs will be used in it. However, there is potential for NFTs to play a significant role in the metaverse, as they could be used to represent digital assets such as land, avatars, and clothing.

Digital ownership is a promising concept, but it has not yet been widely adopted. The high scam rate and rug pulls have pushed people away from NFTs, and it is likely that more needs to be done to make digital ownership more secure and reliable before it becomes mainstream.

I agree that a better and more robust system needs to be developed to allow users to feel secure with the structure of NFT platforms. If the current problems are not addressed, then NFTs are likely to remain a niche technology, used by only a small number of people.

I think it is important to be realistic about the future of NFTs. They are a new technology, and there are still a lot of challenges that need to be addressed. However, I also believe that NFTs have the potential to be a powerful tool for innovation and creativity. If the problems can be solved, then NFTs could play a significant role in the future of the internet.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

intresting, i would love to follow up on your NFT concept but we might have to dive deep into more technical stuff because i am seeing this in new light and quite intriguing.

Let me know if we can schedule a call here/slack and a get a few more people to join.

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miketalbot profile image
Mike Talbot ⭐

One of the problems with NFTs is that they mostly rely on Web 2 - after all the NFTs are mostly just an immutable link to a normal web asset, an asset that can be changed. There are some NFTs that contain the asset on the chain, but mostly this is too expensive - this is the current problem with Web 3, it's expensive to use and slow.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

I share same thought as well, deploying on the web3 chain is so expensive mostly gas fees and and some technicalities can make you lose alot if you are not careful

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ben profile image
Ben Halpern

It probably did leave a boom/bust tinge on everything in a way that is tough to shake.

Blockchain is pretty strongly associated with scummy opportunists for a number of reasons, not just the NFT craze, but it didn't help.

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy πŸŽ–οΈ

It's pretty sad that all anyone thinks about when you say Web3 is Blockchain/crypto stuff. That really isn't what the original vision was about at all - it was so much more than that.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

I agree but since the founder did not share his vision properly or it was hijacked it was watered down to meet the needs of some greedy capitalist.

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ben profile image
Ben Halpern

Greed robbed the real potential

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

True, but i believe there is a possibility of great potential if we look at the upside, wouldnt you agree?

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abhikbanerjee99 profile image
Abhik Banerjee

It was that "breaking out" moment for Web3 where who's who started coming into it. But that itself "broke" the ecosystem because there were also scamsters who realized the potential of making a huge amount from a week of work and be untraceable.

So yeah, it kind of broke the Web3 ecosystem. Current innovations in ZKP and rollups don't really matter so much to institutions because they saw first-hand how unregulated and unsafe the space was.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

I thought so too, the massive rug pulls and high volatility gave the web3 space a very bad name, and while the future holds alot of prospect, it is going to be a slow grulsome process.

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beggars profile image
Dwayne Charrington

The Achilles heel for the Web3 space was greed. Instead of focusing on decentralisation and the tech, the focus was first and foremost on the monetary aspect.

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annaofcryptosphere profile image
Anna

Well, I think it contributed to the growth of web3, more so because innumerable artists get recognized for their work and receive their due in a much accountable way than in conventional modes. Besides, gaming, social communities, and virtual estate have given a further boost to the era of NFTs. Because of their non-replicable nature, they carry the potential to change the way of ownership and identity in all sorts of industries, lately which is adopted as DIDs by some web3 platforms.

And they are not just for financial purposes! Some wallets like AnCrypto recently came up with free NFTs based on the 7 wonders of the world, which itself is a very unique and priceless concept.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

One question Anna, what is the worth of those NFT today?

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annaofcryptosphere profile image
Anna

In terms of cryptocurrencies, some of the NFTs, especially those endorsed by celebrities are fetching millions of dollars today. And since cryptocurrencies are already in process of legalization and regulation, the future scope of NFTs is gonna be brilliant!

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

I do not think so, many of these celebrities once they sell the NFT to user, they become worthless, is the votalitiy riskable?

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annaofcryptosphere profile image
Anna

Crypto realm does come with risks and benefits! Their prices will keep rising and falling as per the demand. But in the long run, as more people invest and trade in cryptocurrencies and NFTs, their values will rise, as has been witnessed in case of the first crypto, Bitcoin.
As far NFTs are concerned, their utilities are yet to be exploited fully, until then the industry will remain volatile.

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scofieldidehen profile image
Scofield Idehen

True.

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theaccordance profile image
Joe Mainwaring

Sounds like those who think this need more schooling, they're missing the forest for the trees; there are far more eggregious areas of rot in web3.

Bad actors and the fact the technology isn't revolutionary are two major reasons why growth is disrupted.