Panelists at #TNC2022 agree everyone should be a part

One thing that has always been the fear of many when they hear Web3 or Web3.0 or any of its other variants is the hardcore knowledge of the technical details they need to know. However, panellists at Technext Coinference 2.0 cleared up the doubts about that.

The event, which was held at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, had a breakout panel discussion on “All you need to know about Web3”.

Speaking on the panel, we had Oloye Oluniyi, Co-Founder, CryptoRoundupAfrica; alongside Ebenezer Ugo Akachukwu, Artist and Web 3.0 Advisor, Rywave; Oluchi Enebeli, Founder, Web3Ladies; and Hanu Fejiro Agboje, CEO, Patricia, speak on what Web3 is and how everyone can play a part in this new internet.

According to Oloye, “everyone can play a part in web3. You don’t really need to know the technical and coding aspects to consider doing something with Web3.”

This was re-emphasised again by Oluchi as she said that the Web3 space has lots of components, “Blockchain technology, crypto, NFTs, DAOs, and others, which require diverse skillsets other than just coding.”

This resembles the internet as we currently know it, with the major step up being that you now own your own assets and ideas. So Web3 is the most recent version of the internet, like iPhone 13 is to iPhone 6.

This is based on the premise of Web3 itself, as it embraces decentralization and is being built, operated, and owned by its users, which puts the power in the hands of individuals rather than corporations who have currently monopolised the internet.

This means, no censorships like we currently have from the big techs, a unique identity that will reduce fraud and complete ownership.

So while Web 1 was ‘read-only’, and the internet we currently know is ‘read-write only’, Web3 is ‘read-write and own’

Web3 in Africa: Where are we?

According to Oluchi, this is still only the “early days” and “grand-scale adoption is still a few years away before we move to the full decentralised system.” Hanu reiterated, saying this is why we currently have centralised exchanges for various components of this new internet.

However, as adoption grows, we will begin to see more use cases for web3 beyond what we currently have. According to Akachukwu, there will be more DAOs and more blockchain solutions, including those on social issues, and in turn, we will begin to see more innovation and a shift towards full decentralisation.

As such, web3 might not be banking the unbanked just yet as the technology is still early.

Not until adoption reaches a certain level, which Hanu says will be a “long transitional phase and policy and regulation must come into place and web3 concepts must be broken down into simpler terms to aid it.”

One of the ways the panellists suggest improving adoption is through education. According to Akachukwu, people need to be educated that “Web3 is just beyond making money by buying crypto or minting NFTs, but also about creating value and improving lives”—while still getting rewarded for it.

How to position yourself for Web3

According to Akachukwu, Web3 has “currently evolved to a ponzinomics kind of setting where only adopters get the benefit of it” which is not how it should be. But as adoption grows in the next 10-15 years, more people get into it using it for every facet of life, the whole “ponzinomics” system will go away.

The way to do that is to build network nodes of real values for the Web3, how can this be done? By being a part of it

There’s no one size fits all but according to Hanu, one way will be to be in places where relevant conversations are being held around this technology, so as to be able to jump on the next big thing.

Similarly, Oloye advised that people should join communities, attend events such as Technext Coinference 2.0 and also get in early and be part of the early adopters who will herald this new phase.

One last thing the panellists all agree on is that the next best time to be a part of web3 is yesterday.