Why are we building the new web?

The great crash

I know you heard about the great crypto crash of 2022. If you’ve been in the space long enough you also heard about the great crypto crash of 2018. And if you are a “crypto-granny” you also remember the crypto crashes of 2013 and 2011. The OG ones. On all of those occasions, the industry was pronounced dead and the bubble burst. Well… It’s still here, isn’t it?

Bitcoin chart from the first day until now.

Follow the money

Let’s start with some statistics for the latest and greatest bull run. I’m not sure if excitement about the technology, wanting to participate in something hip or just plain old FOMO, but institutional investors almost doubled the amount of money they put into VCs in 2021. Where did that money go? Crypto startups. Almost 33 Billion one-dollar bills to be exact. In an extremely volatile market, it is hard to estimate the total cryptocurrency market cap. It is reported to be around $1.3T at the moment, but it topped out at almost $3T in Q4 2021. In 2020 we saw more than 2000 new ICOs launch on the market. That’s more than two thousand new companies. I don’t want to talk about the industry that will change the way we pay for milk and bread, but no one should ignore it anymore either.

Who survived?

Moon boys 🚀! Just kidding of course. Everyone that was in the “Cryptok” (the crypto corner of TikTok) or crypto Twitter saw the amount of money-grabbing projects (especially in the NFT category) spun up on a daily basis. A lot of those were riding the wave for as long as the wave lasted. A lot of those also failed when the whole market went down. The ones that stayed were proper companies with established teams and innovative solutions to solve real problems. History repeats itself again.

The great crash of Terra Luna in 2022.

What to build?

Coming from the paragraph above, you should think about solving a real problem that can be efficiently solved with web3 technology. The advantage of the bear market is time. There’s less and less media attention and less and less pressure to build something quick. I can’t give you an answer on what to build exactly, but choosing stable technologies and having a long-term vision is always a big plus.

How to build?

As you probably read in many similar articles: prototype, find your customer segment, innovate, launch fast, and iterate often. As mentioned use established technology or, if you are building something completely from scratch, use the knowledge of those who failed. Look for mentors and talk to people. Building a new idea is a learning process, treat it as such.

Wen Lambo?

😀 There are theories, and there also are mathematical analyses that help predict the next surge in the market. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there are hundreds of other factors that contribute to the movement of the curve. Rome wasn’t built in a day nor weren’t successful companies. The earlier you start, the better the chances of catching the next train prepared.

The evolution of the internet is an ongoing process and there has never been a technology rising faster than web3/crypto. It has A LOT to do with social media hype, countless overnight millionaires, and media attention. Don’t let all of that blind you from the potential this technology truly has. It is supposed to be the internets’ redemption. The weight is on our shoulders.