Over the past few months, I've been thinking a ton of the future web3/crypto wallets as transforming from custodians of assets to custodians of data. It's been cool to see this attention pick up as a narrative - in particular this post below.
I will share a longer-form post but ultimately here are some quick thoughts here today.
Why Now? Creating a wallet has become incredibly easy. It used to be that the amount of money / attention outweighed the number of usable web3 products. This year will see many new competing protocols competing for the same amount of mindshare - and the web3 teams are starting to care more deeply how about to build / engage / grow / retain / segment their communities.
How Does Today Look? If you are a web3 community manager, chances are that you create a shared forum (Discord), and bring in coverage people to relationship manage specific users. It's chaotic, it's not data driven, and it leads to worse UX.
What's Changed? Data identifiers as well as the correct technology tooling.
Data Identifiers: $1 "Mints", POAPs, onchain Attestations, OAuth
Verified Coinbase onchain attestation Supportive Technologies: Community management, communications protocols, and related developer infrastructure
What Does It Look Like?
I am a DeFi app launching on Polygon and want to find users that understand the value of providing liquidity and can be useful stakeholders in my protocol. Using Polygon's Guild - I can segment the onchain addresses that have provided liquidity in other protocols (Uniswap LP).
I can check all related onchain and offchain credentials of these users using Airstack API.
I can communicate directly to these users on my token-gated Discord, or directly to the wallet utilizing communication protocols like XMTP and WalletConnect Web3 Inbox.
I can incentivize users to complete growth campaigns + convert to users using protocols like Galxe, Layer3, or Rabbithole. I can track conversions and attributions using Multibase and/or Spindl.
Users can see their related "badges" and credentials on their wallets or contextualized using "Passport" apps like Disco.XYZ, Icebreaker, or Gitcoin Passport.
Why Should I Care?
Data identifiers will explode, mostly led by purely onchain issuers (quantity > quality) as well as offchain issuers (quality > quantity).
Wallets will transform into custodians of assets to custodians of data.
Orthogonal technologies + trends such as wallet Passkey adoption, AI agents data training, regulations around data privacy + custody, Apple App Tracking Transparency changes all lead to positive tailwinds for this to grow from something "cute" to something huge.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not reflect the views of my employer. The content provided is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. I am not a financial advisor, and it is important to do your own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. The information I share is based on my personal experience and knowledge and may not be suitable for all individuals or situations.
