How Web3 will Open New Business Opportunities for Enterprises
We recently wrote about Web 3.0 (Web3) and how it's different from its predecessors. To recap, Web3, is driven by decentralization, leveraging the blockchain technology. Gartner estimates that blockchain could generate as much as $3.1 trillion in new business value by 2030, spanning the launch of new products/services across B2B and B2C verticals. As the understanding of blockchain and cryptocurrencies matures, so is the mindset of Enterprises. A few proof points on the mind-shift are:
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon praised blockchain technology and DeFi, a striking contrast to his previous crypto statements. Dimon now believes there are “many uses where a blockchain can replace or improve contracts, data ownership and other enhancements.”
Barclays Corporate & Investment Bank’s Ramsey El-Assal said at its March summit meeting: “We see blockchain technology’s potential as being on a similar scale to the transformative, decades-long IT shifts from mainframes to PCs to the web to mobile. We further believe the move from “centralized” to “decentralized” technology will be the dominant theme in FinTech for the next couple of decades.”
Nigel Morris, the managing partner at fintech firm QED Investors and Capital One cofounder, admits he’s been a crypto skeptic and that “this time two years ago, I didn’t understand it. I didn’t grasp the use cases for it and I truthfully never knew whether it would gather global adoption. I was wrong.” He leans in further, saying, “We believe that all of our portfolio companies will have to affirmatively develop a view on crypto and Web3 for both defensive and offensive reasons in short order.”
The reason, why most of the comments are from financial sector, it is because blockchain technologies have impacted the financial sector the most. In Web2, consumers increasingly see banking-as-a-service solutions embedded in consumer goods. For example, Target partners with the digital payment service PayPal, as well as with the buy-now, pay-later service Affirm to provide point-of-sale financing. According to Activated Consulting, 40% of fintechs’ current customers are likely to trade crypto next year.
Whilst, Web3 is only partially in existence within enterprises, it is already making an incredible impact and altering strategies. A few use-cases, how Web3 is automating the Enterprise segments:
Commerce & Payments, Evolution:
Legacy payment systems have embedded transaction costs which are also passed on to consumers, which is increasing consumer demand for online and retail payment acceptance in digital assets. This is leading to digital assets as an alternative medium of exchange. The faster the process, with least amount of overhead, the higher the path to acceptance, both by consumers and enterprises.
Analytics & Intelligent Decision Making:
Data, as it exists today is disparate and closed loop to state the least. Solutions focused on decentralized storage or enabling data indexing, querying and transacting will be vital to unlocking new value across many business functions. This, and the use of smart contracts, will have enormous implications for secure enterprise automation and decision-making.
Enterprises offering their own tokens:
There has been an influx of tokens, both pegged and non-pegged. This provides enterprises an opportunity to offer their own tokens, which can be exchanges for certain perks. Similar to loyalty programs of today, providing their own coins, can provide a competitive advantage. The higher the coin value, the more offerings consumers will be attracted to the Enterprise.
To conclude, whilst cryptocurrencies are only one form of Web3, its quite evident that most, if not all Web2 services will transform to Web3 versions.
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