Everyone’s busy predicting the death of crypto and Web3 recently, but history shows us that a burst bubble often marks the start of a new chapter. The future of blockchain will see the next billion users transact with fiat to purchase goods and services, with the conversion to tokens for underlying transactions happening discreetly.
Blockchain has already experienced the Crypto Era and the Web3 Era. Now, we are on the cusp of a third stage: the Abstraction Era. In this era, blockchain becomes an invisible infrastructure similar to the cloud. Users won’t need to know or care which blockchain their transactions are stored on, and most people using crypto might not even realize it.
Consider international travel, your dollars are automatically converted to euros by your credit card company without your intervention. If a blockchain like Solana were to facilitate this conversion and save the merchant some foreign exchange fees, it would not affect the user experience. In the Abstraction Era, the focus will be on the underlying blockchain technology, not the cryptocurrencies themselves.
This trend is already taking shape. On OpenSea, users can purchase NFTs with dollars, and Starbucks plans to issue loyalty program stamps on the Polygon network without involving the MATIC token. Reddit offers “Collectible Avatars,” which can be bought using local fiat currency. These examples all simplify transactions for the end-user, enabling seamless purchases with a single click.
Blockchain’s Abstraction Era parallels the cloud computing revolution, where users benefit from enhanced efficiency without needing to understand the technology behind it. Blockchain, likewise, will operate behind the scenes, streamlining users’ experiences.
Soon, there will be no special distinction for “Web3” funds, as cryptocurrency and Web3 technologies will naturally be integrated into the best businesses to reach a broader audience. The Abstraction Era will usher in the next billion users, who might very well be the first billion, as neither the Crypto Era nor the Web3 Era could engage more than 100 million people.
As technology continues to advance and integrate into everyday life, the focus should be on building great platforms and experiences for users, with blockchain as the underlying driving force. The shift to the Abstraction Era sets the stage for a more intuitive, user-friendly future, where the underlying technology is almost invisible but equally vital.
Source: Blockworks
