Web3 will provide a vastly superior user experience to Web2

Is it truly possible for Web3 to deliver a user experience that’s vastly superior to Web2?

Yes – it is. We just need to flip the paradigm on which Web3 is being built.

We need to stop building Web3 to a Web2 paradigm that’s application-centric and switch to a paradigm that’s token-centric because tokens are user-centric and user-first. Whereas Dapps are Dapp-centric and Dapp0-first.

And that’s the problem behind today’s Web3 user experience. The user is a distant second, just like in Web2.

We used to believe Web3 should be built on DApps

A few years back most believed DApps were the logical building blocks of Web3 – the logical bridge between users, smart contracts and the web. They would connect users to the blockchain and smart contract logic and unlock the promise of a decentralised Web3.

Unfortunately, the model hasn’t worked. Web3 has complicated and confusing layers of tech that are hard to navigate and interact with. Super DApps in the wallet and the DEFI space are simply replicating the centralised, walled garden models of Web2.

All knowledge about rendering a token and constructing a transaction about the token is kept in a “host” web app. The “host” web app becomes a centre in the marketisation and integration, recreating data interoperability, security and availability barrier – precisely the same set of issues that prevented tokenisation before blockchain’s invention.

The user isn’t in control – they are corralled into an ever-narrowing set of choices and opportunities. And a Dapp-first Web3 has failed to deliver on the core promises of trust, interoperability, privacy, and security.

A superior experience, built on smart tokens

At Smart Token Labs we believe in a token-centric, user-centric model for building Web3.

It’s a paradigm switch that puts the user first. It puts the user in control in ways never previously imagined. Smart tokens provide infinitely composable building blocks that allow for seamless authentication, transaction, ownership and rights verification.

A token-first Web3 will deliver a vastly improved user experience over Web2. Smart tokens that connect to smart contracts in the same way as DApps but via a smart token interface that can connect to other tokens, user agents, web services, Web2 and Web3.

Users will hold tokens in their digital wallets that represent who they are, what they own, and what they have rights to. Tokens will dictate how they interact or transact with other tokens and service providers.

Tokens will make connections to Web2 and Web3 both seamless and frictionless. Tokens will become the integration points in users’ hands and make the whole internet fully integrated for each user. No more signup/sign in and copy/paste, users bring the full context via tokens to any applications or services they want to use.

They will put the user in control of what they connect with and what they share. They will remove technical barriers and the need to interact with the underlying blockchain technology.

Two core bridges to a token-centric Web3

Since 2017, Smart Token Labs has been building two core bridges to a tokenised Web3 – TokenScript as a smart token interface and AlphaWallet as a super user-agent for smart tokens.

TokenScript will set a new standard for token composability in Web3 where tokens are as ubiquitous as web pages and tokens are the primary objects of ownership, identity and transaction. TokenScript will enable unlimited token logic and endless composability.

It will deliver the promise of a fully integrated web and seamless user experience

AlphaWallet is the only 100% open source wallet in an ecosystem that has centralised around a few key players. It is the most forked wallet on EVM and the first open source wallet using Secure Enclave from 2019.

It is the counterbalance to centrally controlled wallets and the primary, market tested, open source wallet for Smart Tokens and NFTs.

A Web3 experience with the user first, not second

We believe Web3 will vastly improve upon the user experience of Web2 when users are placed first via a shift to a token-centric build model.

We are fully committed to helping deliver this future via a 100% open source rollout of TokenScript and AlphaWallet and by helping developers accelerate Web3 adoption in three key areas: NFTs, gaming and the Metaverse.

Victor Zhang is the CEO of Smart Token Labs