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Web3 should draw newcomers, not be a ‘money grab from brands’ — Tech CEO

Using Web3 and NFTs to create another slate of millionaires isn’t a good use of the technology, says EndeavourXR CEO Amy Peck.

The crypto industry should focus on building blockchain-based solutions everybody can benefit from instead of launching cash grabs for brands, says Amy Peck, CEO of tech-focused consulting firm EndeavourXR.

Peck told Cointelegraph at the Lisbon Web Summit that Web3 firms should be build-first oriented and create attractive products to draw newcomers.

She added using Web3 and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as “just another money grab from brands” to create another slate of multi-millionaires “doesn’t seem like a good look” nor a good use of what is an “elegant technology.”

“This is an infinite landscape. The money’s going to be there, right? Let’s build a better bread box. We have the opportunity to do something really interesting and reinvent this economic construct, invite more people to the party, not just create another 1%.”

Obtaining an on-chain proof of identity, taking control and ownership of one’s data, connecting blockchain-based assets to the real world and interacting in the creator economy are among the top things Peck says builders should focus on to extract the most value from Web3.

Following FTX’s collapse and other industry shortfalls, Peck said much of her firm’s client base says they “don’t want to touch crypto” and that “Web3 is all shenanigans.”

Lisbon Web Summit on Nov. 16. Source: Joe Hall/Cointelegraph

Peck acknowledged it’s currently unrealistic for big brands to fully transition to Web3 but says there’s already a “Web2.5 center lane” that these firms can leverage.

Providing consumers with more control and ownership over their data is already possible with blockchain, Peck stressed.

Related: How AI is changing crypto: Hype vs. reality

She added a more “transparent exchange” is becoming more crucial than ever, particularly with the emergence of devices collecting data such as fingerprints and faces.

“What is coming with these immersive devices is biometric data that will allow the people who own that data to know more about us than we know, and the level of manipulation will be exponential.”

On cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, Peck said it’s great that Wall Street firms are now taking the industry seriously but is wary that they will try to twist what has been built to suit their liking.

“They’re going to try and wrestle it to the ground and make it behave like these existing financial mechanisms.”

Magazine: Singer Vérité’s fan-first approach to Web3, music NFTs and community building

Additional reporting by Joe Hall.

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Individual creators will ultimately shape the metaverse: Sandbox founders

As the firm moves to open up The Sandbox Map, co-founder Sebastian Borget said he believes individual creators and brands will ultimately drive what the metaverse of the future will offer.

Individual creators and brands will ultimately determine the future of the metaverse as opposed to any centralized entity, according to the co-founders of The Sandbox.

On Nov. 3, the team behind the Ethereum-based metaverse announced on X it had made The Sandbox Map accessible to everyone, where “LAND” owners can publish their own experiences without needing to partake in an application process (which was previously required).

“Now [anyone] can open their experience to the public [and] make it accessible, which will increase the amount of experience and content that people can play and discover on the platform,” Sandbox co-founder Sebastien Borget told Cointelegraph in an earlier Nov. 2 interview during Hong Kong FinTech Week.

The notion that users can create and own content and property in Web3 is at the forefront of Sandbox’s strategy, Borget iterated.

“They discover blockchain not because of the value of the asset, but because they can create content.”

Updates to Game Maker and a new fund

Sandbox said it will also update its Game Maker tool before 2024, its experience-building and testing tool that is set to introduce new gameplay mechanics, templates and social interactions to make content production even easier.

The firm will also “reignite” its new 100 million SAND Game Maker Fund (currently worth $36 million) next year to build on those updates.

Borget said this will drive engagement across a range of industries:

“[It will] drive more engagement, more replayability, more fun and new social interaction as we define the future of music, the future of fashion, sport, entertainment, art and culture on the platform.”

Borget said Game Maker’s tools have simplified the process for new creators to get started:

“Game Maker has been a gateway to bring a new breed of creators that then design new experiences and then over time monetize it by selling on marketplace and introducing their own.”

Meanwhile, Sandbox co-founder and CEO, Arthur Madrid, said the firm has helped connect brands to fans of late by running contests to rebuild New York’s Times Square and architectures in The Walking Dead, among other things.

The firm is working to incorporate multiplayer capabilities which will drive this audience engagement. But Madrid acknowledged the difficulty with integrating multiplayer capabilities in metaverses at scale, particularly on blockchains.

Related: Metaverse ‘explosion’ will be driven by B2B, not retail consumers: KPMG partner

Over 400 partners have signed up to The Sandbox, including Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, Gucci Vault, Snoop Dogg, Invincible and Adidas.

Looking ahead however, Borget acknowledged that metaverse adoption won’t take off until more defined use cases are established in virtual worlds, as incoming users are ultimately looking for memorable experiences to gravitate towards.

Magazine: Web3 Gamer: Apple to fix gaming? SEC hates Metaverse, Logan Paul trolled on Steam

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Self-sovereignty in the creator economy and Web3 — Is there room for both?

NFT Steez chats with Web3 advocate Julie Plavnik to discuss the concepts of self-sovereignty and digital identity in Web3-based creator economies.

On Oct. 28, NFT Steez, a bi-weekly Twitter Spaces hosted by Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond, met with Web3 content writer, Julie Plavnik to discuss the importance of self-sovereignty while building a digital identity in Web3. 

Plavnik references author Gavin Wood when describing Web3 and says that “communication” is a core tenant in the subsequent iteration of the internet. “Web3 is the communication of encrypted channels between decentralized identities,” Plavnik affirms.

According to Plavnik, the emerging concept of Web3 placed a magnifying glass on user data and ownership, especially concerning the creator economy. Plavnik describes the creator economy as a place with “no entry barriers or casting.”

During the show, Plavnik explores how users are coming around to the notion that they can potentially monetize from their individuality in Web3, but she also questions how they can maintain their self-sovereignty?

Awakening self-sovereign identity in Web3

When speaking to Plavnik regarding how self-sovereignty is intertwined with Web3, there was no hesitation in explaining that the core tenet of Web3 is to uphold a self-sovereign identity — meaning decentralization is vital.

Decentralization, Plavnik explains, is fundamental to ensuring that user data is rightfully controlled and owned by no third party.

However, not all users have the level of awareness or interest to understand this. Understandably so, as Plavnik describes the fact that Web3 features, protocols and platforms are still in “its infancy.”

Despite being in an experimental and developmental stage, Web3 has also shed light on how the creator economy can continue to evolve and minimize intermediaries. Through the use of blockchain technology and decentralized platforms, users are beginning to build their brands without intermediaries and networks that profit from users’ data.

Related: NFT Steez and Lukso co-founder explore the implications of digital self-sovereignty in Web3

As a creator, Plavnik explained how maintaining self-sovereignty in Web3 is “exciting” because it already serves as a way to build a “blockchain resume” sort-to-speak, whereby users can readily track and find all their interactions, participations, and engagement in a domain, for example.

In the future, Plavnik expects NFT domains to be an attractive feature even though the current users are limited to only facets of their digital identity based on their crypto wallet.

Plavnik posits that an NFT domain can give the user more dynamic freedom in which information they want to disclose, and which digital identities will serve for different purposes.

To hear more from the conversation, tune in and listen to the full episode of NFT Steez and make sure to mark your calendar for the next episode on Nov. 11 at 12 pm EST.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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