#Web3

Web3 promised a decentralized internet powered by blockchain, where users own their data and content. Venture capital poured $30B+ into Web3 startups (2021-2022). Vision: crypto wallets as identity, DAOs replacing companies, NFTs as ownership, decentralized apps (dApps). Reality: high gas fees, terrible UX, scams, ponzinomics. Critics (Moxie Marlinspike, Molly White) argued Web3 re-centralized around Alchemy/Infura infrastructure and VC interests. By 2023, Web3 hype collapsed alongside crypto crash, leaving infrastructure experiments but no mainstream adoption. “Web3 is going just great” (Molly White) documented daily failures.

Sources: Pitchbook Web3 VC data, Moxie’s “My first impressions of web3” (2022), Web3 Is Going Just Great blog