After work, deliberately walked a few kilometers and increased some activity - haven't been to the gym for a long time - and arrived home at 9:30. Feeling a bit tired, a deep bone-deep fatigue hit me. I wanted to lie on the sofa, but I still sat in front of the computer out of habit and typed these words. These words are written for you, and also for myself.
Let me answer your first question first:
"Is it because people find real life boring that they explore Web3?"
I originally wrote a lot of rambling words, but now I have deleted them all. There is a vast amount of information about Web3 that can be found, so I will try not to introduce Web3 itself, and I will only talk about my own thoughts below.
Actually, before entering Web3, I aspired to be a middle-aged person who quit the internet, rid myself of the noise on social networks, and peacefully focus on designing plans, reading, taking notes, and going to bed and getting up early. I have actually achieved some of it, at least I have closed the Moments on WeChat, uninstalled almost all social apps, and never read the so-called headline "news".
Real life is actually pretty good. I don't have high demands for life. As long as I can still do strength training, go for a run, watch movies, read books, and design plans, I think it's pretty good. But Web3 broke my discipline, it made me temporarily detach from the real world. I can't ignore the new home that is presented in front of me. I see countless possibilities on this new continent, and I see many people "learning", "working", and "living" in different ways inside. I can only consider myself as attending a new student training class.
You see, what I'm talking about is "possibilities," something that a disillusioned middle-aged man cares about the most, perhaps a dream. I will never describe to you how "good" this world is, and I will never tell you stories of overnight wealth (although its wealth creation effect is stronger than the real world). If someone is trying to sell you this way, they must be trying to scam you.
Let me tell you an exciting story: a few days ago, a top ten token in the Web3 world, $LUNA, was attacked and shorted by a financial giant, causing it to collapse and its market price to drop by 99%. Its collapse even accelerated the collapse of the entire Web3 world economy. It used to be the fastest-growing emerging force and a highly anticipated Web3 native asset. But within 1-2 days, it almost disappeared. Countless people lost everything because of this.
Is this good? No, it's not good at all.
I think we still can't fully define what the Web3 world is. It is open, and both I and everyone else are just explorers. Even investment institution A16Z is an explorer, and they cannot define the Web3 world either. The future of the Web3 world, whether it becomes a wasteland full of scammers or a new world that gives birth to countless innovations, revolutionizes people's cooperative relationships, and leads the era, largely depends on the contributions of each participant. Its future is in our hands.
Even if, in the future, our decentralized ideals are not realized and the Web3 world is taken over by governments and big capital like a dream, we, as early builders, should have already received substantial returns. I am not a speculator, but I cannot deny that I am very happy to see wealth grow, and it would be even better if it happens at the same time as the realization of ideals.
**
"Is its interest due to our interest in new things?"
No, it's not.
Here I want to tell you a secret: Web3 is not a new thing at all. It is just a story told by insiders to outsiders. This story says that Web3 is the new generation of the internet transformed by crypto-related technologies. In fact, the essence of Web3 is crypto, and crypto is not a new thing.
I came into contact with crypto about 8 years ago. I accidentally learned about Bitcoin from my colleague's son. I read Satoshi Nakamoto's whitepaper in its entirety. I couldn't understand the cryptographic content, but I could understand his meaning. In the abstract, Nakamoto succinctly presented several technical points of Bitcoin: peer-to-peer (decentralization), encryption, blockchain... I was just amazed by this hacker spirit and bought around 9 bitcoins in support.
Later, the price of Bitcoin rose and fell, and I found it uninteresting. After a while, I sold it, probably without making a profit or loss. Since then, I have stayed away from the crypto world until a few months ago, when I discovered that the Crypto world is no longer just about cryptocurrencies.
Now, the core technologies of what we call Web3 are actually mostly built on the foundation of Bitcoin.
The reason I entered Web3 is that I believe in the decentralized ideal, and I believe that individuals can gain more dignity and freedom in Web3 (compared to the Web2 era).