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Web3 Media president Chris Lyons is always looking for “what’s next” in technology. On the latest episode of Financial Freestyle with Ross Mac, Lyons sits down with Mac to discuss the future of blockchain and Web3.
Lyons started in the music industry, then used his music engineering skills to transition to the tech world. He says that his background in music helps him to have knowledge of what will be done in the future.
“At the end of the day … the things we use every day from Uber (UBER) to … Airbnb (ABNB), you know, even when Google (GOOG, GOOGL) first came out, all of these seemed like terrible ideas when they came out, right?” says Lyons, who is also a senior partner at Andreessen Horowitz. He notes that the founders of these companies were forward-thinking enough to follow through on their ideas despite setbacks.
Lyons believes that blockchain and Web3 will herald the next wave of such companies. He describes the blockchain as, “a computer system that really verifies ownership,” saying it’s “like a computer built on top of the internet…which now runs in its own ecosystem.”
He argues that there have been three internet eras so far: Web1, Web2, and Web3. Web1 is the era of reading, Web2 is the era of writing, and Web3 allows users to read, write, and take ownership of their internet content. Blockchain technology makes Web3 possible.
Lyons sees this ownership as the future of the internet. “We are still in all these projects that are creating centralized ownership. And I think that the only true way forward is, you know, decentralization and blockchain,” he says.
In the future, Lyons believes that users won’t have to think about how blockchain, Web3, or AI works behind the scenes. These new technologies will be integrated into user-friendly applications, similar to how GPS applications are used now. He says that even NFTs should not be thought of as “NFTs”:
“All these technical terms will eventually be put on the back burner because people just want to be able to use … the benefits of technology.”
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This article was written by Meredith Lawrence.