Why Web3 Won’t Succeed Until It Feels Like Home

I hear that Web3 is the future. Decentralization! Ownership! Freedom! But here’s the thing: the future doesn’t happen just because it should. It happens when people actually want it. And right now, this place we are building does not feel like home.

Think about it. Why did people flock to Web1? Because the internet gave them access to information like never before. Why did Web2 take over the world? Because it made connecting with people effortless. Humans adopt technology when it fits into their lives, not when it requires them to read a 12-step guide just to log in.

I think Web3 feels like a gated community that’s difficult to enter. Wallets, seed phrases, gas fees—it’s like moving into a house where you have to build the door yourself and remember 24 words, or you lose the keys forever. That feels like a nerdy escape room, not a home to live in.

I seem to be one of those nerdy residents, but for Web3 to truly become the next era of the internet, it needs to do what every successful technological shift has done. We need to feel familiar with the home we are creating, and Web3 platforms should obviously be as easy to use as Web2. Pretty please, education in blockchain technology is hardly the way to mass adoption. How many people have completed a course in Word or Office 365 before using it?

One more thing. Nobody cares what version of the web they’re using. I have never heard, “I love Web2!” People just use it.

This is one of the reasons why I renamed the Cryptobeyer newsletter to The Human Web—because the '3' in Web3 needs to work in the background. It is not the headline.

Most of all, Web3 needs to solve human problems. Our problems. Not just create a new massive market for financial speculation or the ability to “own” a profile picture.

Good news. Real-life use cases seem to be a growing market in cryptocurrencies. This is a sign that solving problems matters, even for profit.

So we are on our way, but I wonder—when will it feel like home for not only nerds? What do you think is needed?