Historically speaking, in the public blockchain space, web2 companies have not built web3-related technology products.
What do I mean by that?
Apple didn’t build MetaMask, Tencent Cloud didn’t build Alchemy, Goldman didn’t build Lido, Oracle didn’t build Polygon, etc.
Rather, web2 companies built applications leveraging these technologies:
Nike launched tokenized phygital shoes, Reddit launched tokenized avatars, Starbucks launched tokenized loyalty rewards.
This has been the norm. However, while this is great and needed to gain mass adoption, I also think we’re seeing a fundamental shift from web2 organizations to the less sexy side of web3.
Let’s look at some publicly available examples:
Wallet Infrastructure
Example Web2 Companies Building Own Web3 Wallet (non-exhaustive):
NTT Docomo, KDDI, SK Telecom, LINE, Telegram, Samsung, Robinhood, Rakuten, SBI Holdings
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Node And/Or Staking Infrastructure
Example Web2 Companies Building Node / Staking Services (non-exhaustive):
Deutsche Telekom, STC, Swisscom, Franklin Templeton, Zodia Custody, Google Cloud, AWS, Infosys, Worldpay, Rakuten
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Blockchain Infrastructure
Example Web2 Companies Building Public Blockchains (non-exhaustive):
Sony, Nubank, Line, Telegram
That’s an impressive list of organizations — I’d bet, no matter where you live in the world, you’ve heard of many of these companies and would NOT associate them with web3 at first glance.
And, what’s more — I’m certain the publicly available examples are only a subset of the innovation below the public arena surface.
Pay attention to the trend: web2 companies have the users, have the transactions, and are now building certain parts of the technology in-and-around the protocols.
Web2 companies are building core infrastructure. More on this in future blogs!
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Disclaimer: the content written in this article is solely for information purposes and does not convey financial advice. It is not intended to be a recommendation for bitcoin nor against, but rather an informational piece on the current state of spot bitcoin ETFs and the details behind them. Do your own research.
