Web3 is experiencing something of a renaissance, despite the market for altcoins remaining tepid at best through the recent bitcoin-driven macro cycle. This means that while Bitcoin has seen significant growth, many alternative cryptocurrencies haven't experienced the same level of market enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the underlying technological ecosystem continues to develop in meaningful ways.
The Historical Challenge: Infrastructure First
In previous years, to be a builder in the Web3 space, it was necessary to first run a node. Whether Ethereum or a Cosmos chain was the decentralized network you were interested in, the data on the blockchain being imported into your application's code was the most challenging part of the puzzle. Running a node required technical expertise, computing resources, and patience – creating a significant barrier to entry for many developers.
At PageDAO, we weren’t interested in the expense of running infrastructure because we were underfunded - but, no regrets: our project would have probably died in this bear market if our continued existence required financial inputs on that level!
What's really cool is that, now that we've survived this long, there are some very smart people solving this problem for us and all the other builders.
Our Experience at PageDAO
PageDAO is a decentralized collective focused on creating and distributing literary works on the blockchain. We became proficient at creating assets onchain (such as NFTs representing literary works) but never really developed a robust solution for retrieving data from the blockchain. Instead, we relied on third-party services such as OpenSea to display and interact with our assets.
This dependency created several challenges:
- Limited Control Over User Experience: We had to design user experiences that worked within the constraints of these third-party applications, which we had essentially no control over. This restricted our ability to create tailored experiences for our specific community needs.
- High Conceptual Barriers: The complexity of the underlying technology created a steep learning curve for both our team and our users. Creating meaningful interactions required understanding multiple layers of technology that was still being built. Despite our best efforts, we struggled to deliver quality technologies on time due to these barriers.
- Accessibility Hurdles: Selling assets was challenging because users needed to complete numerous technical steps correctly to access the value we were creating. This limited our potential audience and impact.
Today's Web3 Builder Environment: Four Key Areas
Coins: A Low-Lift Conceptual Challenge
The cryptocurrency aspect of Web3 has become more accessible on the technical side with platforms such as Clanker and Pump.Fun automating most of the underlying details. Creating tokens or integrating with existing ones no longer requires the same level of technical expertise as before. Simplified frameworks, improved documentation, and user-friendly tools have lowered the barrier to entry for token-based projects.
However, the challenge remains in creating tokens with genuine utility rather than speculative nonsense–and the bear market reflects the lack of trust that has followed from events such as FTX's historic collapse. Coins that hold only memetic value have done exceptionally well, but the general value proposition seems lacking. This situation yields an opportunity for insightful builders to deliver trustworthy tokens and compete with the nihilistic fervor of the memecoin market.
Content: Still Little to No Product-Market Fit
Despite years of development, Web3 content platforms continue to struggle with finding a sustainable product-market fit. While there are promising experiments in decentralized publishing, music distribution, and digital art, most have not yet achieved the network effects and user experience necessary to compete with centralized alternatives. The fundamental question remains: what content genuinely benefits from being on a blockchain versus a traditional platform?
Additionally, while there may not be a specific type of content that is a clear breakout with respect to Web3 adoption (aside, of course, from Web3-specific content), we may see that breakout anytime that Web3 projects deliver better tools to provide users and authors with the experiences they expect and deserve. This is the thesis that keeps PageDAO building throughout this long, strange bear market.
Chains: Data Availability is Here, and it is Free (but Limited!)
One of the most significant developments is the improved accessibility of blockchain data. New services now offer free access to blockchain data through simplified APIs, eliminating the need to run your own node in many cases. This democratizes access to blockchain information and enables developers to build applications more quickly. KYVE, in particular, and DAODAO deserve a shout-out here. They provide free APIs that deliver high-quality Osmosis data streams.
However, these free services often come with limitations:
- Rate limits on API calls
- Restrictions on historical data access
- Potential centralization concerns
- Limited support for less popular chains
For simple applications, these free services are sufficient, but complex applications may still require dedicated infrastructure. Due to the increasing quality of the free solutions available, including serverless functions such as Netlify’s, it is becoming possible to build serverless applications that subsist on information from public APIs. Here is a recent example: https://github.com/PageDAO/page-token-frame
Social: Warpcast Community is Still Building!
The Warpcast community (built on Farcaster protocol) represents one of the more promising social experiments in Web3. Unlike previous attempts at blockchain-based social networks, Warpcast has managed to cultivate an active community of builders who continue to develop and iterate on the platform.
What makes this community noteworthy:
- Focus on actual utility rather than token speculation
- Strong emphasis on developer tooling and interoperability
- Organic community growth driven by shared interests
- Experimentation with new models of content creation and curation
While still small compared to traditional social platforms (~1M active users), Warpcast demonstrates that Web3 social experiences can attract and retain dedicated users when the focus is on community value rather than financial speculation.
Looking Forward
The Web3 landscape is gradually maturing from its initial speculative phase toward more practical applications. The lowered technical barriers mean that developers can focus more on creating user value and less on infrastructure challenges.
For projects like PageDAO, this evolution opens new possibilities for creating decentralized literary experiences without being constrained by the technical limitations of the past. The challenge now shifts from "how do we make this work at all?" to "how do we make this useful enough that people will adopt it?"
Join our channel on Warpcast (/page) to learn more and even help us solve these final remaining problems. Visit our website at https://pagedao.org for more information about PageDAO, $PAGE, and our various social channels. If you have ideas for solutions, make a Warpcast post explaining your approach in the /page channel! Aligned concepts will be supported! And remember: It's always a good day to build open source software.
