If we think Web3 is about tech, we're ngmi

Transcript

hello everyone I'm here today to share something that is very dear to my heart and I assume to all of yours too we're all here in Paris we're clearly all very passionate about web3 for a reason I think a lot of us see so much potential in this space so much that we've shifted our careers and lives to be a part of this and we all want to see that potential realized but there seems to be a general understanding that if we build better technology we will get there our conversations especially at conferences like these seem to revolve around that and I'm afraid that that couldn't be further from the truth

if we think web3 is about tech we're not going to make it better technology alone will not get us to where we want to go and I'm here to share what will I'll start by just sharing who I am and what is chain safe uh just in what helps with the context of this this uh presentation so I'm my name is Amir I'm VP of product and project management at chainsafe um let's just say I hit my personal Rock Bottom five years ago and did a complete career change to web3 it was merely a dream to end attend something like etcc at that time and I really could have never imagined giving a talk so I'm very grateful to be here and for all of you to to be listening um a bit about chainsafe we are a web 3

research and development firm that's partnered with major blockchain ecosystems to help drive web3 forward however we can we work with ecosystems like ethereum filecoin polka dot and Mina very closely and I joined as the first PM three and a half years ago and we've now grown to um about 120 people all over the world with a loving culture that we're all very lucky to be a part of chainsafe is also a collective of people with strong values in fact it was by becoming part of the chainsif community that I truly understood web3 and I'm here today to share a vision and values that has inspired me to dedicate my life to a purpose that is worth fighting for one that the chains of community helped instill in me

unfortunately I believe this narrative the values and vision that inspired the web 3 movement is getting lost in the hype and there's a lot of hype I've seen firsthand how the growth of his face just seeing these events how hard it is to even get a ticket and I've seen so many friends start working in this space but I'm not sure that everyone entering the space today really gets it and as I'll explain considering the point we are at in history this is a very dangerous thing and my hope is that we can Inspire each other as Believers Builders and leaders in web3 to help Steward this vision and values forward for the betterment of society

so let's first set the context and make sure we're on all on the same page what are we even talking about what is web3 um and we'll do this quickly because I'm sure most of you know but you know web one was the original iteration of the internet which was read only where you could go and look things up online and it would be the same for everyone web2 is the web that we're more used to Now read and write interactive application based things like Wikipedia that you can actually update or social media like Facebook and Instagram that can show a different feed to each person that goes um and this is really most of the world today and so what is web 3 web 3 has applications that are not only read and

write but also verify and own verifiable applications so you know exactly what's happening and you know exactly what will happen and ownership of assets and so in example to just illustrate this we can talk about gaming there's gaming in web 2 and gaming in web 3 but the difference is in web 2 Gaming if they say there's a limited edition item and they say there's only 10 of an item you just have to take their word for it you can't really know for sure if there's only 10 of them and also in web 2 if that game just disappears or one day you log on and the item's gone there's not really much you can do about it but in web 3 you know you own that item and no matter what

happens you can take it with you you could even take it to another game you can sell it it really is yours and so this is the new paradigm that we're building towards um and one other thing I'd like to talk about in terms of defining exactly what web3 is is talk about web3 versus blockchains because a lot of us interchange those two terms and so the way I see it blockchains are a fundamental element of web3 but web3 encompasses everything that facilitates applications that are read write verify and own there's a lot of adjacent or alternative technologies that facilitate these new paradigms that are not just blockchains so we can for example talk about oracles that help us verify data that are off

chain or cryptographic Primitives like zero knowledge proofs that help us verify things or blockchain Alternatives like hashgraphs or tags direct directed acyclic graphs these are all things that I would classify as part of the web 3 space but may not be blockchains so just so we know what we're talking about and we can be inclusive of all these Technologies and people working in the space but who cares um my parents definitely don't I've tried really hard but they still don't uh same with 90 of my friends people might think it's cool or Innovative but they're not compelled to change what they do on a daily basis even slightly because of it

and in my opinion no amount of speed scalability or ux is going to change that build it and they will come simply is not true but we all care for some reason we've many of us have traveled across the world to be here but can we actually explain why we care in order to understand why anyone should care I think we need to ask ourselves the following question and I think Kevin posted this just a few like a week ago why are we here what is the purpose of web3 and I think we all need to be able to understand uh ask answer this question really well in order for us to be able to convince

anyone else to care and so in my opinion if we think web3 is about technology we're ngmi we're not going to make it it took me five years of immersing myself in web3 to see that technology is the least important aspect of this movement unfortunately most people are focused on the price and the technology what will the price of Bitcoin be in a year how many transactions per second we're missing the forest for the trees this isn't about technology or making money this is a revolution but it's not a technological one this is more like the American Revolution or the abolishment of slavery than it is like AI self-driving cars or the internet

this is not about technology that can make our lives easier this is about values this is about a massive societal shift this is about a beautiful vision for the future of humanity and I would say that this is a cultural revolution a perfect example of the cultural revolution is the shift that's occurred within me over the past five years ago I was working at a bank and I got laid off today after embarking on a career change I'm helping lead a blockchain r d firm five years ago I thought about buying Bitcoin and ethereum to try and make some money today I believe we should all shift our assets to these systems and has nothing to do with making money five years ago I could care less about

decentralization privacy or censorship resistance today not only have I changed what applications I use but I've become annoyingly vocal about the importance of these values for society five years ago I acknowledged that the world was far from perfect but I wasn't too concerned about it today I'm Gravely concerned with how our society and power is Shifting and I'm deeply afraid of the dystopian world that is being built in front of my eyes five years ago I didn't have long hair but now I do and five years ago I didn't have a vision for how to improve the world or values for how to structure society today I'm so passionate and vocal about our vision for the future that I've dedicated my life to seeing it through this is what matters

it's not the technology it's the shift in people's minds heart and soul the shift was not only eye-opening for me but the vision has completely changed my life it's lit a fire inside of me I'm so motivated to continue contributing to this movement to drive it forward this technology web 3 is merely a medium it's a medium for a narrative that is a catalyst for Monumental change by understanding why Satoshi Nakamoto created bitcoin we can see the issues with the current system more clearly like a bulletproof vest implies that it's possible to get shot web3 reveals the issues that we currently face in society by understanding how our systems are

currently hurting us we can build a vision for the future where we are liberated from them like the American Revolution driven by a compelling vision for a society where everyone should have a voice web 3 is a revolution with a beautiful vision for society so what is this vision of this cultural revolution web3 and blockchain means so many things to so many different people sound money censorship resistance decentralization ownership new forms of governance what is the common thread that ties all of these together for me it's about systems and the values that are embedded in them our interactions with and our interface

to society and ultimately one another are through a series of man-made systems money economy technology Financial systems government over time these systems have evolved in such a way that it significantly disadvantages the majority of people and ultimately causes a lot of suffering in other words I think there exists a privileged minority that benefits more from these systems and I don't think most people would argue with that I would go as far as to say though that in many cases our fundamental human rights and freedoms are being compromised and we don't have to look very far to see that look at Edward Snowden he risked his life and sacrificed his

freedom to show us what that we're being spied on this is risking free speech and thought which ultimately risks democracy more recently the Canadian government throws bank accounts of people who are peaceful peacefully protesting against vaccine mandates there is no violence and the government enacted martial law with an emergency act meant for catastrophic events this allowed them to freeze anyone's account without due process even people who just donated and weren't even part of the protest themselves to be clear with your funds Frozen you can't work you can't pay rent you can't even buy food you simply can't live

this is in clear violation of our basic rights and freedoms as a human being and this happened in Canada of all places and so I think the worst part is really that we're so dependent on these systems that we can't opt out easily it's very hard to work without technology it's very hard to move countries it's impossible to live without using fiat currency and this has put us all in a precarious situation the way I see it is that the essence of web3 is to use advancements in technology to create alternatives to these systems that preserve our human rights and Empower individuals or more simply put web3 is a movement to protect human rights and Empower individuals

many would say though that we're living in the best time that's ever existed for Humanity and others would say well things are not so bad for me and so why is this so important right now the issue is that we're not in such a stable point in society we can acknowledge that things are always changing but thanks to technology things are changing faster than ever and the pace of change continues to accelerate we are evolving into a world with AI self-driving cars blockchains CD cbdc's and who knows what else we've all heard the famous phrase software is eating the world as technology continues to become the

dominant and driving force in society it will play a bigger and bigger role in shaping our actions our relationships Our lives our thoughts everything and so the scary question then becomes who owns these systems who controls these systems and what are the values embedded in these systems the answers to these questions will determine all of our lives and the lives of every human to come these questions are being answered as we speak and then this is why web3 matters right now and so the question is what are web3's answers to these questions in web 3 we own our systems

you and I each and every one of us and in web 3 our values are to empower people more specifically empowering people through these values there's open source trustlessness privacy shared ownership and opt-in and to be honest like these aren't explicitly written down anywhere but simply a collection of values that have been instilled in me a lot through being a part of the chainsafe community and through my own research and understanding but let's go through them one by one open source firstly we have the right to know exactly how these systems operate just like we have the right to know what

ingredients are in the food that we consume we also have the right to change it if we don't like it and with open source we value collaboration and sharing freely for the benefit of humanity trustlessness in web 3 we truly honor the individual by empowering them over institutions and traditional hierarchical power structures and we've traditionally had to put our trust in these and so this is a big departure from where we were for many of us living in First World countries with governments and institutions that are generally pretty good perhaps this doesn't seem like a big deal but if you are systemically disadvantaged or live in a country right

with corruption this is a life-changing property just talk to anyone suffering from hyperinflation in Venezuela or Lebanon and in web 3 we believe that we should have agency of our data and our relationships as they are these are essential to human empowerment and dignity privacy we believe that privacy is essential to protecting Free Speech thought and ultimately all of our fundamental human rights as Edward Snowden showed us this is of ultimate importance and in web3 we believe in minimizing surveillance and manipulation of our Behavior we should decide when and how to share

our data shared ownership we believe that everyone deserves the benefits of ownership like capturing the value we all help create so if you think of social media like Facebook or Instagram if you think of a Marketplace like Uber or if you think of even a game like a massive multi-online RPG these things would have no value without their users there's no value to social media if no one else is on there there's no value to a Marketplace if no one else is using it however all of the value is basically captured by the creators and so in web3 we believe that everyone deserves the benefits of ownership including capturing Financial value that

we all help create also in light of shared ownership we believe in having a voice to effectively shape the systems we depend on so if you think of YouTube or Instagram many people make their lives on these platforms however they have no say in the algorithms and those algorithms can change overnight on them and in web 3 we believe that we should all have a voice and finally opt-in I think this is almost like a a property like if you have all the other values you have this one too however I think it's very important to explicitly state it and so in web 3 we get to choose what systems to be a part of rather than having them forced upon us we don't have a choice right now with

Fiat money or the economic systems that massively impact our life and right now we can see in many places they're really having a negative impact but we don't have a choice but in web 3 we get to choose and in web3 We Are Never locked in so we always have the choice to choose and create the systems that are most suitable for us take social media today many of us can see it's harmful I think most of us have probably seen social dilemma the the documentary but we can't just take our data in relationships and go elsewhere even though we know it's harmful to us but in web 3 we would be able to do that and so

what does this mean for the world what would it mean if we have met these values in in web 3 systems what exactly is our vision for the world as a result of these values and I think it's very important to have this Vision because that's what will inspire us to actually embed these values in our systems because we can build a web 3 without these values none of the things that I just listed have to be part of any system you could lock your users in even on in a web 3 system it's a choice and a value not to and so we need to always remind ourselves why we're doing this so that we can always stay true to those values and so I think there's three things that happen if we stick to those values one is protecting our rights and

freedoms two reducing suffering at scale and three reaching New Heights as a society and I'll go through these one by one so firstly protecting our rights and freedoms just as we saw with Edward Snowden and the Canadian government's authoritarian response to a peaceful protest we must protect ourselves before it's too late Central Bank digital currencies are on their way and cbdcs will give institutions one-click access to freeze or debit our accounts on a whim or more bluntly put institutions will have the most powerful tool ever created to manipulate our Behavior at scale and that change can happen overnight

so just like we lock the front door to our house to give ourselves peace of mind even when no one's going to break in web3 gives us the tools to protect our basic human rights and freedoms web 3 gives us peace of mind over our lives a quote that I really like from polka dot founder Gavin wood in a blog post he wrote about why we need web3 he says consider web3 to be an executable Magna Carta the foundation of freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot and I couldn't agree more this is basically our Charter of Rights and Freedoms programmed in to our technology and we live the the final thing is

reducing suffering at scale we live in a world right with massive inequality both within societies and between Societies in both cases the gap between the Haves and the have-nots is growing at an increasing rate it's not just that it feels wrong data shows that inequality is seriously harming us a man named Richard Wilkinson spent decades researching this phenomenon and the results are clear it's like a cancer invisible at first but slowly the signs start appearing until it's eventually impossible to ignore these signs are that life expectancy mental illness addictions infant mortality rates teenage birth rates literacy rates and many more indicators are significantly

levels of inequity the statistics are shocking there's absolutely no question that we all suffer more in societies that are toxically unequal our existing systems including web 2 have systematically exacerbated extreme inequality but by Building Systems with the values of web 3 systems that are open source trustless opt-in people will always be empowered to choose what's best for them and as a result inequality will definitely be reduced and ultimately we'll all be better off and so oh I think that I have that twice and so

the question then becomes what can we all do to help realize the potential of web3 as inspiring of a vision as this may be there is absolutely no guarantee that we will win this battle and it is a battle that's being fought we must not ignore that there's a lot of work to be done and we need to do our part let me remind you that I went from working at a bank and not carrying any of these values to dedicating my life to seeing the web through vision through while the technology is fascinating the mindset and cultural shift is truly revolutionary I am now extremely vocal about these values and as I said before as technology becomes the dominant force in the world it will determine our actions

our thoughts our relationships and ultimately every aspect of Our Lives web 3 is about embedding values in our technology to preserve our human rights and Empower individuals to have agency over their lives but as I mentioned before the hard work in web 3 isn't Building Technology although that is quite hard it's instilling Division and values in everyone's heart we have so many new people joining the industry right now for various reasons we have investors joining D5 we have artists and creators joining in nfts and that's incredible it's so nice to see more people getting passionate about this space they've all fallen in love with something but I'm afraid that the core narrative hasn't been shared it

can't just be about cool technology and making money because when the going gets tough in a multi-year bear Market when companies become insolvent when there's pressure from institutions and it feels like it's David versus Goliath it's this narrative that will keep us going a values and vision that's worth fighting for we all make play a part in making this happen and so we must live and breed this values each and every one of us please dive deeper into these ideas and share them widely because that's how we reach our potential share the vision and values with friends and family especially newcomers to the space choose to focus our conversations on that dive into the content that's inspiring and reiterates our values and

vision and I've shared a bunch of um like resources that inspired this talk on that QR code and share them widely let's be as welcoming as possible in web 3 and use your unique position to help push this forward if you're a writer please share these stories if you're a filmmaker we need web3's version of the social dilemma if you're a builder build with these values in mind if you're a leader ensure that the people you hire understand the values and vision the technology works and continues to get better every day but let's remember that it's the cultural shift that will drive us forward by inspiring more people with a compelling Vision the web through vision will inevitably become a

reality thank you [Applause] I don't know if we have any time for questions but I am a great talk thanks very much I'm really glad that this talk happened here and I agree fully with all of the values you put out I have a question though um are you sure that if we allow if we generate an environment where everyone gets the choice to choose what's best for them that that automatically leads to less inequal Society that's a good question

um I think like you know there's probably a lot of assumptions there to assume that that would help but I definitely know that the current systems and the lack of people to have that choice and agency is worsening the inequality so the assumption is removing it will make it better and I don't think inequality in itself is bad but it's when it gets to these extreme situations that it becomes very harmful for society so the assumption is if people have choice and they can choose what's best for them then they won't choose systems and situations that are ultimately not serving them or they'll be empowered to create new ones that that do so you know it is a good question I don't

know for sure I don't think any of us can but I do think it will help thank you we are running out of time awesome thank you so much everyone