The past two years have seen the rapid expansion of the Web 3 industry. Starting out as something that only a select handful of the population knew about, Web 3 is now seemingly everywhere we look. However, onboarding hasn’t always been such an easy process. The industry of Web 3 has had to break down knowledge barriers and come up with methods for facilitating the movement of Web 2 users onto their new platforms.
There are several examples of companies that are taking an alternative approach when it comes to bridging this gap. For example, Binance has created a knowledge base that allows Web 2 users to rapidly educate themselves on Web 3 concepts. Similarly, Lost Worlds has bridged Web 2 and Web 3 by designing ways of getting players started as quickly as possible.
In this article, we’ll dive into how Web 3 companies can help onboard new players into this world, using Lost Worlds and Binance as our prime examples of two companies making waves in this regard.
Breaking Down Knowledge Barriers
Despite the phenomenal growth that the blockchain industry has seen, still only around 16% of Americans own cryptocurrency. The percentage of the population that actively engages in blockchain or Web 3 as a whole is even smaller, making onboarding vital. In order to do this, the largest centralized DeFi exchange platform, Binance, is focusing on education.
Binance offers Binance Academy, a free site for Web 3 resources. On this site, users can click through modules, articles, and videos that explain core concepts about blockchain and other useful information they will need to navigate this world. For many users, the lack of understanding of how blockchain works is the biggest factor that prevents them from moving into Web 3 technologies.
By providing free education for these people, Binance effectively demonstrates that Web 3 isn’t so complicated or scary. Education will help to increase literacy around blockchain, cryptocurrency, and Web 3, which will further streamline the general onboarding process for all Web 3 technologies going forward.
While Binance isn’t the only company using education to shorten the gap, they’re certainly the platform that’s achieved the most dramatic results.
Finding New Ways of Sharing Web 3 Technology
One of the biggest preventative factors that have plagued Web 3 since its creation is the lack of understanding of its financial system. As we’ve seen with Web 3 companies like Binance, there are efforts to overcome this through education. However, many people aren’t in a position where they particularly want to learn about new technologies.
Knowing that’s the case, some Web 3 companies like Lost Worlds are focusing on narrowing the technology gap, making it as easy as possible to onboard people into this world. Every single person that wants to interact with Web 3 is going to need a cryptocurrency wallet. Instead of teaching people what that is and potentially scaring them away with a long process, Lost Worlds has made it easier than ever before to create one.
Users are able to create a non-custodial wallet solution in less than 15 seconds. Instead of having to go through rounds of questions, linking accounts, and an extended process, users simply enter their details, and they’re ready to go. The power of this is that Web 2 users are able to enter the world of Web 3 without hassle.
Interlink with Web 2 Technology
Even if we see a radical uptake of Web 3 technology in the next five years, that doesn’t mean that Web 2 is going anywhere. Instead of completely rejecting Web 2, it’s a much more sustainable idea to integrate Web 2 technologies into the Web 3 system. Not only will this streamline adoption, but it will also give users that aren’t confident with Web 3 a method of interacting with this new system.
In Lost Worlds, a great example of this is allowing users to buy geoNFTs with their credit cards or Apple Pay. By giving payment options that users are familiar with, users can acquire real-world NFTs without any of the hassles behind Web 3 technologies. For users that aren’t familiar with this world, the ability to use Web 2 payment systems will lower the knowledge bar, allowing them to get involved as quickly as possible.
Although Web 3 offers a range of innovative technologies, we don’t have to reject past systems to embrace them.
Final Thoughts
Web 3 technology is rapidly expanding, offering unique and highly-scalable alternatives to legacy Web 2 systems. Especially in the world of gaming, we’re seeing Web 3 at almost every turn. The integration of NFTs is one thing, but the ability of games like Lost Worlds to push this even further through hybrid experiences is truly the next step.
However, no matter how attractive Web 3 offerings are, the general public is still not at a stage where they’re ready to dive into this world completely. Instead, companies must focus on onboarding users from Web 2 to Web 3 by all means necessary. In lieu of brute force marketing, making use of tactics like education, bridging technologies, and bringing past and Web 3 systems together will narrow the gap between these user groups.
Once the Web 3 industry begins to take advantage of the various ways that it can start to onboard users more effectively, we’ll see a massive shift in the speed with which this industry sees new users.
