Without Wallet Awareness, We’re Just Building Another Web2

This op-ed is part of CoinDesk’s Web3 Marketing Week.

As an analyst, I believe that being conscious of your digital wallet is essential for crafting a captivating and distinct experience within the realm of Web3, rather than just enhancing what we have in Web2. By harnessing the abundant pseudonymous data within our wallets, we can create one-of-a-kind interactions. Regrettably, this awareness remains elusive in the current Web3 landscape, leaving a significant void in the potential for an immersive and customized digital voyage.

Currently, Web3 wallets serve as distinct interfaces from standard logins, enabling connection, signing transactions, and content access. However, these sites fail to utilize the abundant data stored within your wallet, thus restricting wallets’ roles to mere gatekeepers without significantly improving the digital experience.

As a crypto investor, I’ve noticed the lack of integration between websites and my digital wallet is quite striking. In the world of Web3, content should adapt to my wallet data to provide dynamic and customized experiences. This goes beyond what some Web2 sites offer with personalized recommendations based on user data. With Web3, we have an opportunity to leverage wallet information to deliver targeted content, curated recommendations, growth marketing tailored to me, and valuable insights without having to opt in explicitly. It’s about making the most of my digital assets and enhancing my overall investment experience.

In simpler terms, wallets contain vast amounts of pseudonymous data about our preferences and desires. Being conscious of this information allows for a highly customized digital experience. This is a groundbreaking innovation that sets Web3 apart from its predecessor, Web2. Furthermore, on-chain growth marketing is expected to witness significant adoption in the near future.

Wallet awareness is rudimentary

Despite its potential, wallet-aware Web3 interactions remain sparse.

In the decentralized finance (DeFi) realm, it’s quite common for users to link their digital wallets to engage with various applications. Yet, customized suggestions are scarcely encountered. DeFi apps predominantly function on transactions, thus reducing wallets to mere entry points rather than portals to enriched, personalized experiences.

In the crypto world outside of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) apps, there’s a significant lack of awareness around wallet usage. Wallets are essential for managing digital assets, yet they’re often overlooked or hidden in the background during user experiences. From exploring new projects to investing and staking assets, users may navigate the entire process without ever interacting with a wallet. Instead, wallet-related functionalities are usually relegated to community portals or secondary interfaces, where they serve only transactional purposes.

As a researcher in the field of cryptocurrencies, I strongly believe that there is a significant opportunity for improvement when it comes to wallet awareness on crypto research platforms. Instead of having to manually connect my wallet on each individual site, I envision a seamless experience where my holdings are recognized and tailored content is presented to me. This personalized approach would make my browsing experience much more efficient and valuable. It’s essential that these platforms prioritize this feature to better serve their users.

To fully comprehend the usage and potential of digital wallets in the Web3 environment, a fresh perspective on their implementation is necessary. Pioneering applications such as Warpcast (Farcaster) and marketing solutions like Spindl, Serotonin (my firm), and Addressable are paving the way, yet significant progress remains. Cultivating awareness of digital wallets is an ambitious goal, but a crucial one if we aim to construct a distinctive web experience in Web3.

To move beyond the constraints and intrusive methods of traditional Web2 platforms and tap into the power of decentralized technology, it is crucial to focus on utilizing digital wallets. This approach enables us to construct a more tailored, evolving, and interactive Web3 experience that distinguishes itself from the past and lays the groundwork for an optimistic and advanced digital era.

The Path Forward

The future of Web3 lies beyond just decentralization and improved privacy. To set it apart from Web2, we need to prioritize “wallet awareness.” This approach involves constructing a digital landscape that adapts to each user’s preferences, utilizing the wealth of data stored in their wallets to generate personalized experiences that are distinctly Web3.

As a researcher exploring the potential of emerging technologies, I envision a Web that goes beyond impersonal interactions and delivers content customized specifically for me. This vision is not just a far-off dream but a tangible reality we can achieve today through the implementation of a wallet-aware Web3 system. By leveraging pseudonymous data from my digital wallet, this innovative approach has the power to revolutionize how I engage with the digital realm, providing a more enriching and personalized experience tailored to my unique needs and preferences.

As a crypto investor, I’ve come to realize that being aware of my wallet activity has far-reaching benefits beyond just enhancing my on-site experience. Onchain marketing firms can leverage this awareness to deliver targeted advertisements based on my wallet transactions. This method not only respects my privacy by utilizing pseudonymous data but also avoids delving into my personal background. By analyzing my wallet data, on-chain marketers can establish a mutually beneficial advertiser-user relationship, providing me with ads that are both relevant and valuable to my interests and holdings. This approach results in a more captivating and meaningful marketing experience, setting it apart from the intrusive advertising practices prevalent in Web2.

In the realm of Web3 development, it’s essential for us as pioneers and trailblazers to go beyond mere enhancements and instead aim for transformative advancements. We must construct a Web that transcends decentralization and offers a profoundly customized and interactive experience for its users.

The process of realizing the full potential of Web3 continues, and becoming aware of wallets is an essential part of this development.

Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.