What can we expect from Web 3.0? What are NFTs and how are they disrupting industries? How can we start our journey in the dynamic crypto space? Members joined the virtual workshop held on 19 Feb 2022 to hear from Alyssa Tsai (Founder & CEO, Panony), Christina J. Chua (Founder, so-far) and Ola Kohut (Head of Ecosystems and Partnerships, so-far), as they broke down broad concepts in the Web 3.0, Blockchain and NFTs space, and provided useful tips to kickstart their journeys into the evolving world of Web 3.0, Blockchain, NFTs and DAOs.
The Web 3.0 Movement
Web 3.0 is a movement about bringing back open, blockchain-enabled community-controlled internet. Many proponents of the new web believe it is about fundamental digital rights. The basic idea is that the same types of human rights enjoyed offline should also be enjoyed online, with the goal of creating a human-centric decentralised web. Ola added that the Blockchain technology has enabled the idea of a decentralised web to become a reality.
DAO and the Future of Work
The future of human coordination and creation of open economies can perhaps be reimagined with Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs). DAOs seek to provide members with a voice through governance, flatten hierarchies and fluid work-streams. They are emerging as new ways of coordinating, measuring and rewarding contributions to previously complex systems and are said to replace corporations in the future. While it is early in the evolution of DAOs, there are already real organisations, managing billions of dollars in capital, providing products and services to millions of peoples and also creating new ways for people to earn a living.
Real Function and Utility of NFTs
Art is something close to Christina’s heart given her experience in the fine art world. Some of the most compelling reasons for NFTs are that they allow creators to collect royalties on sales of their artworks in perpetuity and to verify authenticity. What interests her is that a whole new media of on-chain generative art is now being discovered. DAOs are also revolutionising traditional art houses by collecting significant crypto art. Her passion for the art space has led to the start of her platform in 2019, so-far which is the first curated NFT marketplace for fine and new media artists.
Similarly, NFTs in the music industry promote better engagement. Artists can connect directly with fans dropping tracks and albums as NFTs, and even digital artworks, concert tickets and rewards. Musicians can also lead DAOs around fanbases. The shift in power to artists has been enabled through new on-chain music streaming platforms. Christina also sees gaming as a major on-ramp for users onto Web 3.0. NFTs-powered pay-to-earn games allow players to earn and own in-game items which can be exchanged for cryptocurrencies. Users can also show off virtual clothing, buy plots of land and display their art on virtual metaverse.
Pivoting Into the World of Crypto
Alyssa shared her personal experience on pivoting into the world of crypto with her background in media and publishing. In the early days of 2016, Alyssa and her Co-founder started Panony as they saw an opportunity to be one of the firsts to produce high-quality content in the crypto space since there were few media publications then. Venture investment was however an acquired skill set for Alyssa. Through the consulting arm of Panony, she had access to projects and worked with industry players which gave her learning opportunities. Through the years she accumulated experiences and gained knowledge to hone her investment skills.
On her advice to someone who is just starting out and wants to follow in her footsteps in selecting robust crypto projects, Alyssa shared that in the early days, she also started small with just a small team and just her Co-founder and herself deep-diving into projects. In crypto, it is important to have a strong CTO, developers, and a mix of people from Web 2.0 and 3.0 with positive attributes. On valuation, she looks at it from the angle of the progress of the project and team. She adds that product market fit has to also make sense to the current market.
Women Community in the Crypto Space
Alyssa recalls candidly that it is indeed true that men outnumber women from the events she has attended. However, she says that the rise of NFT has also seen more females joining the space. She sees many bright female founders in the space, and loves that the community is tight and supportive of each other, and believes there will be more females joining crypto soon.
For women who are keen to start their own projects, Alyssa recommends looking into Komorebi DAO which is an investment DAO supporting only female founders. While she points out that the market is rather saturated in crypto and NFTs with many ideas already tested in the space, the aim is to question if one is able to deliver a better product, and move ahead of competitors who started months earlier. Alyssa advises that success is about idea and execution. If the project makes sense and there is commitment, people are friendly and willing to help, especially the female community.
First Steps in the NFT/ Crypto World
Set up a crypto wallet: Metamask and Phantom are popular crypto wallets compatible with Ethereum and Solana blockchain respectively.
Join a Discord channel of your interest: Surge is an empowering community of female Web 3.0 women who want to work in Web 3.0/ NFTs. There are also many female-led NFT projects and their communities such as Crypto Coven, Crypto Chicks, World of Women.
Seek out resources: There is a wealth of content on Twitter and Telegram for learning.
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Organising Committee: Member Engagement Organising Team: Rachel Kuo, Kelley Wong, Colette Zheng Speakers: Alyssa Tsai, Christina J. Chua, Ola Kohut Partners: Panony, so-far Artwork: Liesa Desisca, Joanne Tan
Author: Eunice Tan Editors: Rachel Leow, Quah Xuan Lin, Rachel Tan, Joey Ong