Conference Insights: The Current State and New Trends in the Web3 Industry

This year I mainly attended the Breakpoint conference and some private gatherings. Here are some of my observations and thoughts on the current Web3 industry:

Investment Institutions Face Challenges

Many tier-one investment institutions are currently in a difficult situation. They are holding a large number of unlisted or listed but still locked tokens, which are performing poorly in terms of price. Over-the-counter trading institutions reflect that many trades are difficult to find buyers.

The scale of the new round of fundraising has significantly shrunk, and the actual funds received may only be one-tenth of what is publicly claimed. To maintain the investment scale, some institutions have no choice but to increase the investment amount for individual projects, driving up project valuations, but this practice may lead to more project failures.

It is worth noting that many investment institutions have expressed their intention to enter the incubator field. However, there is a significant gap between the personnel configuration and general partner capabilities of these institutions and the demands of incubated projects, and they even lack the experience of taking projects from zero to success.

The Pursuit of "Real Applications"

In conversations, many institutions have mentioned that they are looking for projects with real income, users, and application scenarios. Common keywords include RWA, AI, Depin, etc. However, these terms seem to be more about filling the current narrative void rather than having a real reference.

In fact, the practice of forcibly applying Web3 narratives to Web2 scenarios was proven to be unfeasible in 2022. Currently, the applications with so-called "real scenarios" often perform the worst on trading platforms. This does not mean that Web3 does not require innovation, but rather that these projects are largely unrelated to the true positive externality of the cryptocurrency ecosystem - asset liquidity.

The new generation of users enters the market in new ways

Many industry insiders believe that there is currently a lack of new users and new capital entering the market. However, the reality may not be so. Some emerging content creators are attracting new users in unprecedented ways. For example, some young social media influencers are reporting and interpreting Web3 events in unique ways, drawing a lot of attention from people outside the circle.

It is worth noting that many founders of emerging projects are around 20 years old. The operational and communication methods they adopt differ significantly from traditional practitioners. This signals that the narrative logic, operational methods, and communication logic of projects in the entire industry may be on the verge of fundamental changes.

Reflection and Outlook

When the industry faces challenges, people often instinctively call for a return to "real yields, real users, and real scenarios," or hope for traditional capital to enter the market. However, historical experience shows that these traditional mindsets are difficult to genuinely drive innovation in Web3.

The biggest bottleneck of Web3 is not the products, but the people. The way people think and their learning abilities are limited. Therefore, during specific periods, the way the audience understands and accepts Web3 determines how they participate in the Web3 ecosystem, and also determines the direction in which Web3 needs to evolve.

In short, the widespread application of new technologies requires the growth of a new generation of users. It is difficult to discover new opportunities in Web3 by adhering to old ways of thinking. The key lies in whether we can learn from history and recognize that the future has quietly arrived.