On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome resides a very famous fresco. Its centerpiece, The Creation of Adam depicts God giving life to Adam, their fingers extending towards one another, poised to infuse a spark of creation.
It’s a vivid visualization of the creation of mankind. But it’s also an effective metaphor for the gulf between Web2 and Web3: So close and yet just out of reach.
For Web2 businesses trying to bridge that gap, the spark they’re missing is the Web3 wallet that will connect their app with all the functionalities on the other side.
Until they reach out and forge that connection, they will remain isolated from everything that lies beyond.
It’s just a crypto wallet; another way for your customers to pay. But it’s also everything.
Saying that Web3 wallets are only for crypto payments is like saying the internet is only for porn. A crypto wallet isn’t just a graphical user interface for private key management. In fact, controlling crypto is the least interesting thing it does. It’s a gateway to web3 and the jumping off point that separates the old web from the new.
It’s a dApp browser, a digital ID, a ticket holder and an access pass. It’s a neo bank, an express checkout, an avatar and an authentication mechanism.
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Brands such as Tesla that have integrated a Web3 wallet aren’t just catering to customers who’d like to pay with crypto: they’re building a docking station that connects their planet to the rest of the galaxy.
A portal to another dimension
It may look unobtrusive, nestling in your browser as just another web extension, but don’t underestimate the crypto wallet. Ostensibly a tool for connecting onchain users to decentralized finance — as well as degens to the crypto trenches — the Web3 wallet becomes a whole lot more when it’s integrated into Web2 applications.
You might be wondering why a business that’s not in the crypto industry would go out of its way to add a conduit to Web3. Isn’t it accelerating its own obsolescence, or at the very least risking confusing its customers?
Hardly. You don’t need to be Michael Saylor to see a future in Web3, or go all-in on building your own blockchain like Sony recently did. To misquote Satoshi Nakamoto, “It might make sense just to add a Web3 wallet in case it catches on.”
There’s no need for Web2 companies to bet their balance sheet on Bitcoin, launch their own memecoin, or release a 10,000 PFP collection.
In fact, they don’t even need to touch crypto, just merely to lay the rails that will allow crypto to touch them.
But the reality is that companies are already adopting wallets and crypto, with some 36% of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the United States accepting crypto payments.
This could indicate that, in a short matter of time, companies that don’t have wallets will be a minority.
Future-proofing your business doesn’t mean betting the house or making a dramatic pivot. It just means being receptive to new ideas; to accept that there may be better ways of doing things and acknowledge that in the near future, the way we onboard users, retain customers and grow revenue may be different.
Even if your business has zero interest in accepting crypto payments, the benefits of integrating a Web3 wallet extend much further. There’s the ability to authenticate users without being tasked with storing customer details and hashed passwords; the freedom to create loyalty programs and gamify user experience; the option of adding peer-to-peer marketplaces and new incentive structures. You don’t have to, but with Web3 connectivity, you can.
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Not everything needs a crypto wallet. Your pe-sitting app is probably okay without one right now. But for a significant proportion of Web2 businesses, failing to connect with the Web3 world that lies beyond risks leaving money on the table and customers with their competitors.
It takes a brave business to be the first to add a Web3 wallet, and a craven one to be the last.