Can Web3 Survive the Current Slump in Crypto Prices
Crypto prices have slumped to historic lows in the past couple of months, costing the crypto market trillions of dollars in value and raising questions about the industry’s future. More than 70 cryptocurrencies have lost 90% of their value since January 2022, while Bitcoin and Ethereum have dropped by more than 50%. As experts predict that Ethereum and Bitcoin could drop by as much as 85%, how will the newest version of the internet, dubbed Web3, fare?
The internet has become increasingly centralized over the past decade as a select number of companies have gained a monopoly over internet services and data. However, Web3 is built on the concept of decentralization, which is the same principle behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and doesn’t rely on trusted third parties, including payment processors and banks. As such, Web3 uses cryptocurrencies to fund online purchases and send money online.
To enhance security and provide transparency, Web3 is built on the blockchain technology that records all cryptocurrency transactions on a ledger. It is intended to support next-generation, user-controlled online services that could well disrupt the internet giants of today. But with the crypto market facing an unprecedented fall that could potentially collapse the crypto industry, does Web3 even stand a chance?
To get an idea of Web3’s future, let’s go back more than 20 years to the infamous dot-com crash. The introduction of the worldwide web in the 1990s made internet-related companies the hottest things around. Fueled by predictions of the internet’s impending significance, investors spent millions of dollars in the hopes of killing it big. Just like cryptocurrencies, the dot-com bubble was sparked by revolutionary technology — the internet — that had the potential to take centralized power away from the business and political establishment and give it to the people.
Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies Stephane Kasriel believes that just like the dot-com burst cost publicly traded internet firms $1.7 trillion (60% of their value) and left a stable tech industry in its wake, the crypto winter we are experiencing now will do the same. He says just like the internet craze of the 1990s was based around a product that could solve real-world problems, the blockchain technology behind cryptos and Web3 “solves a real problem for some people” and could be useful for quite some time.
On the other hand, Forrester Research analyst Martha Bennet says it is simply too early to judge whether blockchain and Web3 will survive. She states that while the worldwide web had tons of utility by 1995, Web3 currently has none. Computer security expert Bruce Schneier, who was part of a group of academics and scientists who sent a letter to Congress calling blockchain technology risky, flawed and unproven, says most applications that run on blockchain would be better without it.
With most experts divided on the future of blockchain and Web3, only time will tell if the latest iteration of the internet survives the crypto winter. Companies such as Tingo Inc. (OTC: TMNA) shoulder a significant responsibility to bring this technology to the masses through developing products that deploy blockchain in the different daily activities that ordinary people engage in. If these efforts register widespread success, there will be no doubt about the place of blockchain tech in the decades to come.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Tingo Inc. (OTC: TMNA) are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/TMNA
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CryptoCurrencyWire (CCW) website applicable to all content provided by CCW, wherever published or re-published: http://CCW.fm/Disclaimer
Crypto prices have slumped to historic lows in the past couple of months, costing the crypto market trillions of dollars in value and raising questions about the industry’s future. More than 70 cryptocurrencies have lost 90% of their value since January 2022, while Bitcoin and Ethereum have dropped by more than 50%. As experts predict that Ethereum and Bitcoin could drop by as much as 85%, how will the newest version of the internet, dubbed Web3, fare?
The internet has become increasingly centralized over the past decade as a select number of companies have gained a monopoly over internet services and data. However, Web3 is built on the concept of decentralization, which is the same principle behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and doesn’t rely on trusted third parties, including payment processors and banks. As such, Web3 uses cryptocurrencies to fund online purchases and send money online.
To enhance security and provide transparency, Web3 is built on the blockchain technology that records all cryptocurrency transactions on a ledger. It is intended to support next-generation, user-controlled online services that could well disrupt the internet giants of today. But with the crypto market facing an unprecedented fall that could potentially collapse the crypto industry, does Web3 even stand a chance?
To get an idea of Web3’s future, let’s go back more than 20 years to the infamous dot-com crash. The introduction of the worldwide web in the 1990s made internet-related companies the hottest things around. Fueled by predictions of the internet’s impending significance, investors spent millions of dollars in the hopes of killing it big. Just like cryptocurrencies, the dot-com bubble was sparked by revolutionary technology — the internet — that had the potential to take centralized power away from the business and political establishment and give it to the people.
Meta’s head of commerce and financial technologies Stephane Kasriel believes that just like the dot-com burst cost publicly traded internet firms $1.7 trillion (60% of their value) and left a stable tech industry in its wake, the crypto winter we are experiencing now will do the same. He says just like the internet craze of the 1990s was based around a product that could solve real-world problems, the blockchain technology behind cryptos and Web3 “solves a real problem for some people” and could be useful for quite some time.
On the other hand, Forrester Research analyst Martha Bennet says it is simply too early to judge whether blockchain and Web3 will survive. She states that while the worldwide web had tons of utility by 1995, Web3 currently has none. Computer security expert Bruce Schneier, who was part of a group of academics and scientists who sent a letter to Congress calling blockchain technology risky, flawed and unproven, says most applications that run on blockchain would be better without it.
With most experts divided on the future of blockchain and Web3, only time will tell if the latest iteration of the internet survives the crypto winter. Companies such as Tingo Inc. (OTC: TMNA) shoulder a significant responsibility to bring this technology to the masses through developing products that deploy blockchain in the different daily activities that ordinary people engage in. If these efforts register widespread success, there will be no doubt about the place of blockchain tech in the decades to come.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Tingo Inc. (OTC: TMNA) are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/TMNA
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CryptoCurrencyWire (CCW) website applicable to all content provided by CCW, wherever published or re-published: http://CCW.fm/Disclaimer
