In these countries, Web3.0 is their bread for tomorrow

Author: Wu Tianyi, Reporter from The Paper

++"In poorer countries that develop from the bottom up, there needs to be an upward channel. If young people engage in traditional businesses, they simply have no opportunities. Some of them are involved in investment trading, while others are learning Web3.0 technologies to change their lives."++

++"What does Web3.0 and blockchain mean to me? In the future, humans will definitely spend over 90% of their time living in a virtual world. In such a large environment, there will definitely be some designs oriented towards rules. Web3.0 and blockchain will undoubtedly be the most important economic systems."++

"WAGMI" is a piece of "slang" in the Web3.0 community, short for "We All Gonna Make It." Initially representing community members' recognition of projects, it has now become a catchphrase among Web3.0 practitioners. This phrase is also firmly believed by Wu Xiao, the founder of "Pure White Matrix."

When Wu Xiao entered the Web3.0 field, it was a time when the industry was not well-regarded. However, believing in the power of decentralization, he spent several years visiting multiple countries and regions, connecting with local developer ecosystems. Compared to the economically stable and technologically advancing countries in Europe and America, he was more impressed by some smaller countries in Asia and Africa. In those places, Web3.0 became a bank for deposits and withdrawals, a company providing jobs, and even a stock market, while cryptocurrencies became essential goods for life. Recently, Wu Xiao shared his stories of exploring the applications of Web3.0 in countries like Turkey, Nigeria, and Egypt with The Paper (www.thepaper.cn).

Wu Xiao, founder of "Pure White Matrix," participating in a Web3.0 offline event in Turkey

"Blockchain should not become a tool controlled by large companies"

The Paper: Why did you join the Web3.0 field and travel to various countries?

Wu Xiao: I entered the Web3.0 industry at the end of 2017. At that time, I encountered the Ethereum game "Crypto Kitties" and discovered for the first time that distributed ledgers could be used to write programs, such as Ethereum being able to write Turing-complete programs. At that time, various Dapps (decentralized applications) were emerging on Ethereum, including crypto celebrities, crypto nations, and other strange crypto-related games, and I started playing these games. When we first played these crypto games, most Chinese people did not understand smart contracts; they only followed a rule similar to "the price you buy first will be lower than the price you buy later," which led to losses for many Chinese players.

Later, some people who understood technology and were willing to play emerged, leading to a phenomenon where some focused on the addresses of smart contracts while others focused on the front and back-end addresses, and then a group of Chinese people would buy together. This was equivalent to the first time they turned against foreigners, which they called "hitting foreigners," somewhat reminiscent of an expeditionary force.

After that, I started writing code myself. Once I entered this industry, I found it very new and interesting, with new technologies being developed every day, which was advantageous for us tech-savvy individuals. In the early days, we developed blockchain games like "Cell Evolution" and "The Last Journey." Since blockchain games were not that popular at that time, we naturally transitioned to Web3.0 development.

I believe my entry into the Web3.0 industry was partly due to market opportunities and partly because I received positive feedback here. Although Web3.0 was not popular in the last cycle, I managed to find something I could do. The blockchain games we designed received various awards from Google, Facebook, and others, amounting to around four to five million in prizes, which served as the driving force of positive feedback for us.

In fact, as early as 2019, when the entire industry was in a bear market, we were already stepping out and interacting with overseas communities. We attended the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco to communicate with developers on the international stage, participated in InfoComm (International Audio-Visual Exhibition) in the U.S., and engaged with top conferences in the computer field to connect with scientists and overseas projects. At that time, we were quite confused and wanted to see what was happening abroad. After going out, we found that the situation abroad was also quite pessimistic, but we still insisted on external communication. There were still a group of people abroad who believed in the native power of blockchain, thinking that writing various programs on blockchain was correct and that its tokens should not be extracted separately or its incentive layers changed, ultimately becoming tools controlled by foreign governments or large companies.

As time passed, Web3.0 gradually reached this cycle, not only did the market return, but many commercial scenarios also landed abroad, whether it was NFTs (non-fungible tokens), DeFi (decentralized finance), or Compound (blockchain world bank). The applications on Ethereum increased, and the entire market prospered again, with those who previously saw no hope becoming stronger. In this cycle, we are more willing to reach out because we hope to connect with more developers to understand what developers in different countries are doing and focusing on.

"Even fishmongers know about Web3.0"

The Paper: Why do you say that in some countries, Web3.0 has become a tool for people's survival?

Wu Xiao: Beyond being a developer, I have actually traveled to many places. I have conducted field research and governance investigations on Web3.0 in the Middle East and North Africa. Unlike advanced Europe and America, these regions are relatively underdeveloped.

This statement comes from our blockchain education-related content a few years ago, where we first explored African countries with Web3.0 ecosystems online. One thing that impressed me was when a Nigerian developer told me during a lecture that the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that purchasing cryptocurrencies was illegal, but at the same time, he also told me that their government's currency depreciation rate was as high as 40%.

Wu Xiao witnessing a Turkish driver constantly monitoring cryptocurrency "candlesticks"

He also mentioned that they trust Binance (cryptocurrency exchange) because many American exchanges are unwilling to provide services to Africans. At that time, Binance was expanding Binance Chain and paid considerable attention to Africa. Therefore, many Nigerians purchased cryptocurrencies despite their national currency depreciating by 40%, and many people's lives underwent dramatic changes. In Africa, cryptocurrencies might be their bread for tomorrow. If someone is willing to teach them to code, allowing them to start their own businesses, they can create applications and sell them to international buyers.

This sparked my curiosity, and we subsequently connected with local developers in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Vietnam, discovering that the situations in various countries were different, and developers were doing different things. In Pakistan, locals had little understanding of Web3.0; during our first visit, we taught about NFTs, but we found that everyone enjoyed learning new knowledge. In wealthy places like Abu Dhabi and Dubai, they requested us to arrange classes and hold forum activities for locals. The wealthy Middle Eastern countries, rich in oil production, hope to convert their natural resource advantages into technological advantages because oil will eventually be depleted.

At Istanbul Airport, the driver who picked us up was watching cryptocurrency candlesticks, which shocked me. I felt that the Web3.0 atmosphere in Istanbul was very strong, with numerous NFT trading markets visible on the streets, and the volume of local people buying cryptocurrencies was also significant.

The unemployment rate among young people in Turkey is very high; they are like apprentices, willing to work for free for 8-12 months as long as someone provides transportation or bread, because without work experience, they cannot find jobs. This is a strange paradox, and many young people see no way out.

I met some local university student Web3.0 groups who shared a rented house, and they hadn't even graduated yet. When I asked them why they didn't go to school, they said the knowledge taught in schools was too outdated and couldn't keep up with developments. They created a developer studio, dividing it into two rooms for Web3.0 work, resembling the American TV show "Silicon Valley," where one room was filled with people working, while the other was a living area.

Local university students introduced me to a small village in the southern part of the country, which was very small but had a strong Web3.0 atmosphere; even the fishmongers knew about Web3.0. When I asked a fishmonger what Web3.0 was, he said there was a physical building for Web3.0 in their area, where activities were held every day. Sometimes it felt like a "paradise of Web3.0." In Dubai and the UAE, holding an event once a week is already quite good, while there, events can be held every day.

Locals exaggeratedly mentioned that even the dowry for marriage is directly transferred in Bitcoin to accounts. Many people there have lost hope, unable to find jobs or opportunities, and some choose to grow alongside Web3.0. But overall, Web3.0 is accompanied by a mixed state, with both opportunities and risks, and these individuals are continuously advancing using it as a ladder.

Jordanians do not have a particularly high level of awareness and understanding of blockchain, but they are quite familiar with blockchain games. Jordan has developed almost all mobile games in the Middle East; apart from games exported from China, the largest mobile games in the Middle East are produced by locals. They combine blockchain with gaming, and some local universities, such as Jordan University of Science and Technology, offer game design majors, which is quite rare in other countries.

During my travels, I also encountered some tourists from the Philippines and South Korea who were buying cryptocurrencies, proving the large-scale application of Web3.0—it has penetrated various countries, groups, and peoples.

Egyptians are also involved in some Web3.0-related content. Aside from China, Egypt is the only country also working on consortium chains, with some educational and logistics-related consortium chains. Additionally, due to Egypt's laws explicitly prohibiting the use and creation of blockchain exchanges, there is a very large black market in Egypt.

The black market is packaged as a shopping mall, but when you enter a small dark room and hand over local currency to someone, they will transfer Bitcoin or Ethereum to your bank account within 24 hours. It is reported that this black market has been operating for over three years and even attracts a number of local businesses to purchase Bitcoin in the small dark room when investing abroad, which I did not expect.

In summary, any economy needs both exports and imports. In certain regions, this entry point might be electronic pets in blockchain games. For example, some wealthy ladies who like electronic pets hire Filipinos or Vietnamese to help them play games, and these individuals make a living from it. Traditional banks cannot reach some impoverished areas; in China, everyone feels that saving and withdrawing money is commonplace, while in some places abroad, it may not even be possible to open an account.

In a documentary, an elderly couple from Southeast Asia relied on "gold farming" (earning cryptocurrency through gaming) to obtain cryptocurrencies for bread and medicine. They had no visas, no green cards, and not even bank accounts. There are many such countries; for instance, in Thailand, 40% of young people have bought cryptocurrencies, and over 51% of people in Latin America have used Mastercard to purchase cryptocurrencies. This proportion will continue to grow, and as many grassroots enterprises and developers gather together, along with new applications bringing new business models, products, and services, and some smart regulators pushing from within, a synergy will form. This synergy requires political support.

"In Web3.0, everyone is equal"

The Paper: What are some impressive scenes from your travels to various countries?

Wu Xiao: In Karst, there were many Russian programmers and engineers. When we went to share, a crowd squeezed into a small room to listen to discussions on Web3.0 and blockchain, which I found quite shocking. They had light in their eyes and fire in their hearts, coming from the bottom but wanting to change their fate and learn. Their willingness to strive was truly remarkable.

At some events in Dubai and the UAE, some leaders dressed in white robes expressed their acceptance of Web3.0, and we suddenly felt that Web3.0 seemed to have undergone a tremendous transformation. These politicians and managers became very welcoming to Web3.0, which was completely different from the previous situation where it was widely criticized.

At the largest tech exhibition in the Middle East, I had not contacted Alibaba in advance, but we developed a Web3.0 developer tool, and the next day, Alibaba's team invited me to speak on stage. Not only Alibaba, but also Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Huawei have started to actively embrace Web3.0. This feeling is completely different from the past when we were a group of people who couldn't even afford a booth and were looked down upon; we felt a tremendous sense of achievement.

The Paper: Are there aspects of these countries that are worth learning from and emulating?

Wu Xiao: Definitely. I think domestic partners, especially with Hong Kong's policies being relatively open now, should explore Web3.0 opportunities more, not just considering investment but also building Web3.0.

Today, there are many blue oceans in Web3.0, with numerous things to do. This is a great time to carve out your own direction and position. In three to five years, if the Web3.0 industry matures, it may also age and become rigid. If you don't take the plunge now, there may be no opportunities left when the industry truly matures.

Consider the level of informatization in countries where technological development is not very strong. There, even those without formal training dare to venture, while many interested individuals in our country should also step into the field and take a step forward. Today's Web3.0 is a world worth building.

The Paper: What does Web3.0 and blockchain mean to you? What might the ultimate form of the future develop into?

Wu Xiao: In Web3.0, everyone is equal. In poorer countries that develop from the bottom up, there needs to be an upward channel. Web3.0 is a tool that can climb upward while ignoring battlefield rules, which is why these places rely on Web3.0. If young people engage in traditional businesses, they simply have no opportunities. Some of them are involved in investment trading, while others are learning Web3.0 technologies to change their lives.

This upward channel changes destinies and can, to some extent, transcend economic conditions because it does not require banks; operations can be conducted with just an internet connection, allowing even those from the bottom to have opportunities. In the past, even if some people understood the internet and wanted to work for Americans, they couldn't open a bank account without a visa, and dollars couldn't be transferred. However, on the blockchain, any cryptocurrency can be sent to someone from anywhere within seconds.

What does Web3.0 and blockchain mean to me? In the future, humans will definitely spend over 90% of their time living in a virtual world. In such a large environment, there will definitely be some designs oriented towards rules. Web3.0 and blockchain will undoubtedly be the most important economic systems. You cannot expect that in such a world, only dollars and euros will be used; even game currencies will certainly be based on blockchain.

Therefore, Web3.0 is first an economic infrastructure, and second, it may be a legal and regulatory infrastructure. What kind of people commit what kinds of acts inside it and what kinds of punishments they will face—all these rules must be publicly transparent and automatically executed. This is particularly suitable for blockchain, which has already gathered global user and developer consensus at its core, to conduct notarization and write rules using smart contracts. Since everyone develops and uses this chain, it indicates that everyone has implicitly agreed to abide by the rules of this chain. The chain is neutral, and these rules are suitable for blockchain and can only be formed using blockchain.