Web3 and the future of work

Every new technological wave leads to massive disruption and (reinvention) in the way work is done. 

Industrialization led to entirely new forms of economic, social, and political organization. 150 years later, the rise of the internet economy has reshaped the way we live and work, from remote work to e-commerce to influencer being a real job title. 

We believe that blockchain, crypto, and the new web3 paradigm could be equally transformative in changing the way we work. 

In this article, we want to dive into why we think web3 could change how we work, highlight some interesting projects leading the revolution today, and talk about some future areas of innovation. 

Web3 & Professional Social Networks 

LinkedIn is the dominant professional social network of our time. They’ve effectively monetized you and me with recruiters and companies paying top dollar to get access to our profiles. One of the promises of web3 is more user-owned networks, and that is true of talent networks as well. 

There are a couple of interesting attempts to leverage web3 technologies to build tools that help users own their own data, resumes, and careers:

Entre is a professional networking site aimed toward web3 individuals. The platform allows you to sign up with your preferred wallet and is built on top of the Deso blockchain. The site allows you to earn money based on the expertise and content that you share on the platform. They also have a marketplace in-app that allows you to discover new opportunities and part-time work. Topped off with features like AI-based matchmaking, livestreaming, discounts, and more. Entre focuses on bridging the gap between Linkedin and web3.

Talent Protocol is a little more out there in the web3 landscape. Dubbing themselves as the place for high-potential builders to have a strong support network instead of loose connections, every user on the platform has a correlated token. Nicole, for example, could have a token under $NICL. If people believe in you and see potential in your career, they are able to invest in you and support you as you continue to climb up the ladder. As you grow, your supporters will get rewarded. With Talent Protocol, people can now have communities who are committed and incentivized in their growth.

Web3 & Learn-to-Earn 

As web3 expands, there is a lot of new technology and trends that are very technical and difficult to understand. There is a natural learning curve that has become very steep. To combat this, we have seen multiple companies pop up that have a learn-to-earn model. These companies reward you for learning about new protocols, tokens, and features. 

Layer3 is arguably the most popular of these platforms. As a user, you can participate in bounties, contests, or projects. Each of these sections rewards you for either discovering, learning, building, or competing in web3. For example, you can earn $100 if you are in the top 5 of the #zetachain tiktok challenge. Under projects, you can also become a freelance writer for Layer3 and earn 1000 USDC. Every week there are new ways to earn debuted on the platform. 

101 is a course-based learning platform that rewards you for taking courses on web3 topics. Upon completion of these courses, you can earn rewards and credentials for your time. All courses on the platform are 10 minutes and under and range from topics like “Wallet Safety Essentials” to “The Refi Movement”. 

Credentials and On-Chain Resumes

One of the characteristics of the blockchain is that activities recorded on the blockchain are immutable, and all of these transactions and signatures are recorded and stored on-chain forever. They can’t be edited or erased.

Project Galaxy issues verified credentials that allow users to showcase all they have done on-chain. For example, if you were a liquidity provider through Uniswap, you could get an easy-to-read credential for this action (pictured below). These credentials are custom to your wallet address only and provide a third party (like your potential employer) with an easy-to-read catalog of your on-chain experiences. 

Because of these characteristics of the blockchain, people have started talking about “on-chain resumes’, or records of all activities recorded on the blockchain. 

These “resumes” are meant to show relevant experience in the space. All you have to do is provide a wallet address and someone can see when your first transaction was, what tokens you have traded, what NFTs you own, which DAOs you are a part of, and more. 

We’re very early in discovering the practical implications of this, but you could see long-term how this could be used to do everything from verifying payroll data to employment histories to proof of educational attainment. 

Final Thoughts

We’re still so early in seeing the ways that blockchain technologies and web3 can change the way we work. Will DAOs explode in popularity and end up challenging corporations as the dominant organizational identity? Will a new tokenized network end up supplanting traditional job and hiring platforms? 40% of resumes contain lies or embellishments. Can decentralized tools for verification and proving work help fight that? Can professional or freelance reputations and proof of work be decoupled from big platforms like Linkedin or Upwork and be user-owned in their own wallet?

We don’t know, but we’re excited to find out 🚀