The Future is T.B.D.*

*TBD - to be decided

We often hear that Australia lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to innovation and trends. 

As of current, Australia ranks 9th in the world in interest in cryptocurrencies. In comparison to the US, Singapore and Ukraine, the scene of events, startups and general presence is relatively scant. 

Seeing this, our Founder, Emilya Colliver, spent three weeks in the US this year, attending web3 events and meeting new people. She participated in gatherings at DCentral in Austin, seminars at Consensus 2022 in Dallas and presentations at NFT.NYC. Emilya’s goal was to understand perceptions of web3, crypto and blockchain technology in a crypto-fluent nation - and she has brought back this new knowledge to Sugar Glider Digital. 

Here are the top five things Emilya has learnt about web3 during her enlightening weeks in the US… 

1. The next wave is the social wave 

Although the NFT has been around since 2014, it didn’t really gain traction until 2021. This popularity can be attributed to Beeple’s $69 million USD sale at Christie’s, but community utility must be credited for its lasting presence today. NFTs have become deeply community-driven - the people investing in collection-based NFTs are investing in innovation, and so they expect to be rewarded for it. 

Projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties have active communities of people surrounding them. When you buy a collectible NFT you’re essentially buying into a ‘club’ of like-minded people. 

2. The Metaverse is really just another form of marketing 

Facebook started as a social platform in early web2 days, but quickly became a marketing tool for companies looking to speak to a large organic audience. Metaverses like Sandbox and Decentraland have a lot of virtual land to fill, and it has become a race to find and purchase property. 

The metaverse has essentially become a landscape of possibility for companies to purchase digital real estate and establish a presence on a platform already filled with willing audiences. 

3. We’re not in web3 yet

Web1 was characterised by passive sites like MySpace and GeoCities. Web2 is social, interactive and user-generated, like YouTube, Google Docs and Flickr. Web3 should refer to the next layer - decentralised and hyper-connected computer networks that understand data instead of just storing it - but the technology for it is not really ‘there’ yet. 

Because we are still very much in its early stages, there is a lot of disorganisation. We cannot truly enter it or make the most of it until we learn to streamline these processes and technologies. 

4. It’s all about owning your own data 

One of the biggest selling points of decentralisation is the fact that users are able to own their own data. Conglomerates like Google and governmental bodies are no longer able to access or own your data without your permission - people have full custody of their digital identity. 

A movement towards web3 means that not presenting your passport, membership card or driver’s licence (centralised identifiers) will not invalidate your credentials. 

5. The Future is to be decided

It’s undeniable - change is hard and we are creatures of habit, and we still have a very long way to go into this weird, new space. We are in the technology cycle, and our tools are still being built. We have to be careful not to run faster than our legs can carry us, but we can’t stand still just because we don’t know what’s next.