Web3 advocate and author Alex Tapscott on the future of blockchain mass adoption

Web3, blockchain, crypto and mass adoption were major buzzwords in 2021 and 2022, but the public interest in the terms fell to the wayside over the last year as media headlines narrowed their focus to the now defunct FTX exchange and the trial of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.

Fast-forward to the present, where media headlines are focused on pending spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications, more than 100% year-to-date price gains for Bitcoin (BTC) and a revival in the nonfungible token (NFT) markets.

Perhaps, Web3 is back.

On Episode 14 of The Agenda podcast, hosts Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung spoke with Alex Tapscott about his deep views on Web3 and how the tech and ideas backing it will “transform the existing industries.”

The blockchain revolution is still happening

Revolutions catalyze transformation, but these changes tend to happen gradually rather than all at once. Tapscott detailed the impact he sees Web3 having on various industries with The Agenda and in his new book, Web3: Charting the Internet’s Next Economic and Cultural Frontier, where he breaks down and explains all things Web3, from NFTs and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to the metaverse.

While NFTs, DAOs and the metaverse are often presented as full-on replacements for the current structures in use, Tapscott explained that the ideas and the tools offered by Web3 can more effectively be integrated into existing industries:

“But what’s more interesting is that not that the existing companies will change to be like the new thing, but rather that new things will come along that will, if they’re useful and fun, drive adoption. People will use them because they prefer them and think that if they’re in Web3, part of that will be that individuals have more sovereignty and control over their data and their assets.”

Regarding the regulatory challenges that continue to create hurdles for the Web3 industry and whether or not blockchain “fixes everything,” Tapscott referred to a conversation he had with Andreessen Horowitz general partner Chris Dixon. Drawing from his conversation with Dixon, Tapscott said:

“Going back to what Dixon said is that the technology improves and gets more useful and then becomes something that everybody wants to use because we’ve ironed out the kinks. And I think that we’re still, frankly, in the ironing out the kinks phase. So that’s point number one. But point number two is like just because we iron out the kinks and make this stuff better and more useful doesn’t mean it solves every problem.”

Tapscott explained that many people are “looking for salvation in technology” and will likely be disappointed:

“I think a lot of people make Bitcoin into a religion. And I can tell you, like any religion that came before it, it’s maybe, well, I don’t want to get political or anything like that, but like comment on people’s faith. But I just think it’s just not the right way to think about technology as something that can solve all your problems.”