It was a very interesting year

A look back at a turbulent year in Web 3 - entry 9 in this poet's travelogue

2023 was a very interesting year to 'be in crypto'.  If you are informed about the wonderful world of blockchains through the media aimed at the general public or even the media directed at the worlds of business and finance, you probably think it's all a cesspool of criminality and that it's as good as dead and gone.

But it isn't. Those reports have been telling you about the big stories. The stories that had a huge impact. The stories of how SBF used FTX to swindle a lot of people out of a lot of money. The stories about macroeconomic developments led investors to move their money from Bitcoin to the more lucrative financial flavour of the day.

Behind the scenes, we grew

What you probably didn't read about was the rapid evolvement and development in a technology niche where smart and creative people were looking for new use cases and better ways to organise important things such as social networks. The space, as it is lovingly referred to by those who still believe in blockchains, has evolved from overpriced jpegs to meaningful interaction, creation and community. Well, at least a big part of it. This post on the Union Square Ventures blog is a great analysis of that from people who have been active in Web3 for longer than I am.

Even the terminology has evolved. The term metaverse is hardly heard anymore. The dream is still there, latently, but the technology has once again proved to be too complex to make it a reality soon. Crypto is also a term that is mainly used by outsiders in the financial world when they talk about Bitcoin, Ethereum and the like as tradeable currencies or securities. It's a niche part of the whole blockchain thing. It ignores the smart contracts, the banking the bankless and the potential revenue streams for artists. Not to mention an oft-used term in the space: provenance. No, currently, the move is in the direction of using Web3 and onchain. Web 3 as the next generation of the internet, and onchain as in operating on and with blockchain technology.

You know, it is also seen as the best solution to many of the challenges the upcoming AI technology is presenting.

New life

Anyway, having said all that, I am breathing new life into my Cryptopoet's Guide to the Metaverse. I am just changing it slightly. It will henceforth be known as the Onchain poet's guide to the metaverse. The idea, for now, is to publish a fresh entry into the travelogue each third Tuesday of the month. Starting next week. The post will be free for all. After publication, there will also be an ask-me-anything thread in which you can ask me anything about onchain poetry, and maybe other things you want to know about the wonderful world of blockchains. The first one will be open, but after that, it will only be for paid subscribers.

You can see this post as the Numero Zero, the pilot, the proof of concept.

Now, why do you see this in an inbox poetry magazine? I think that is a valid question. Well, 2023 was an interesting year, in which we likely saw the lowest point in the current cycle of blockchain value. However, 2024 is gearing up to be a year in which we will see a sprint to the next highest point of this cycle, expected to arrive somewhere in 2025 or 2026. That means there will be increased interest, and also increased opportunity for poets to use blockchains not just as a medium for publishing poetry, but also as an avenue to generate revenue. I've been here a while now. I saw the lowest point. And I would love to take you along on the climb to the top.

Enjoy the journey and... ask me anything in the comments.

Useful terms

Onchain

Anything that is recorded on blockchains.

Crypto

Comes from cryptography, because to record something on a blockchain, complex cryptographic verification takes place. However, crypto is often used to refer to a specific way of using blockchain technology as an investment instrument. Most notably (crypto) currency trade.

Web3

The third generation of the internet. Where Web2 saw the rise of centralised social networks, putting the power in the hands of a few tech companies, Web3 is decentralised (no one party or person has the power), immutable (as long as the blockchain on which a transaction is recorded lives, the information recorded is open to see and cannot be deleted) and permissionless (everybody can use it).

Poetry

Why you are here.