Income and Wealth Creation in Web3

Case studies demonstrating economic outcomes

This report explores nascent Web3 use cases and projects that purport to support greater equity in income generation, wealth creation, and ownership opportunities. It features evidence-based documentation of new Web3 approaches to income generation and ownership via case studies.

“We have to be able to inspire confidence in our brands. That is why we are developing a feasible [trustworthy] and verifiable methodology.”

Florence Bouché commenting on the importance of building trust to scale the adoption of Web3-powered use cases.

Report Goals

  • Move beyond the headlines about crypto, and provide a reference for policymakers, Web3 builders, and investors to consider evidence-based measures of impact in the broader Web3 space.

  • Understand how Web3 companies frame financial opportunities, bring solutions to market, and evaluate success.

  • Pose critical questions that policymakers, builders, funders, and observers can consider as this rapidly evolving sector continues to develop.

What’s in it:

  • This report assesses the current frustration with a perceived lack of progress in the Web3 space — and identifies emerging areas of opportunity to create wealth-building and income-generation impact for people using Web3 tools and services.

  • The report provides a detailed overview of nascent uses with the most traction or activity in Web3 today, informed by rigorous desktop research and consultation with industry and community leaders.

  • The report also provides detailed case studies that leverage extensive primary research with founders, builders, team members, and board members.

Key Takeaways

  1. New economic opportunities in Web3 are not yet transformational for most people.

  2. Web3 development appears to be driven by a small, homogeneous group of investors and builders.

  3. Progress is being slowed by gaps in new digital infrastructure.

  4. Real-world benefits of Web3 innovations are not being tracked in a meaningful way.

Diagram from the report illustrating how novel decentralized models for managing personal data may change control and flows of data and revenue by shifting intermediation away from major Web2 platforms.

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