Source: Twitter @a16zcrypto; Compiled by: Songxue, Golden Finance
a16z shared some cryptocurrency topics worthy of attention...
1. Entering a new era of decentralization
As we have seen time and time again, when control of a powerful system or platform is in the hands of a few, let alone a single leader, it becomes all too easy to infringe on user freedoms. This is whyDecentralization is important:It is a tool that allows us to democratize the system by enabling a trustworthy neutral, composable Internet infrastructure; Competition and ecological diversity; and allowing users more choice and more ownership.
However, achieving decentralization in practice has always been difficult – especially when pitted against the efficiency and stability of centralized systems. At the same time, most Web3 governance models involve DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) using simplified but cumbersome governance models based on direct democracy or corporate governance... and these models are not suitable for decentralized governance. sociopolitical reality.
However, thanks to various experiments with Web3 over the past few years, better decentralization practices have begun to emerge. These practices include decentralized models that can be adapted to applications with richer functionality; and DAOs adopting Machiavellian principles to design more effective decentralized governance and hold leadership accountable. As these models evolve, we should soon see unprecedented levels of decentralized coordination, operational capabilities, and innovation. @milesjennings, General Counsel and Head of Decentralization
2. Resetting the User Experience for the Future
While there have been many complaints about fundamental issues with cryptocurrency user experience, in reality The basic situation here has not changed much since 2016. There are still too many complexities: keeping keys autonomously; connecting wallets with decentralized applications (dApps); sending signed transactions to an increasing number of network endpoints, etc. This goes beyond what we can expect users to learn in their first few minutes in a cryptographic application.
But now, developers are actively testing and deploying new tools that could redefine crypto front-end user experience (UX) in the coming year. One of these includes passes that simplify how users log into apps and websites on their devices; unlike passwords, which are more vulnerable and require manual action from the user, passwords are automatically and encryptedly generated. Other innovations include:
Smart Accounts, which make the accounts themselves programmable and therefore easier to manage;
Embedded wallet, built into the application, thus making the onboarding process smoother;
Multi-party computation (MPC), making it easier for third parties to operate without custody Supports signing without user keys;
Advanced remote procedure call (RPC) endpoints that can identify user needs and fill gaps, and more.
All of these will not only help promote Web3 to be more popular, but also make the user experience better and more secure than Web2. @eddylazzarin, Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
3. The rise of modular technology stacks
In the online world, there is one force that always inevitably dominates other forces: the network effect . Network effects are often so powerful that there are really onlytwo ways to modularize—modularity that extends and enhances the network effect; modularity that disrupts and weakens the network effect. Except for extremely rare cases, only theformer makes senseespecially when it comes to open source technology. At the same time, the advantage of a monolithic architecture is that it allows for deep integration and optimization at what would otherwise be the boundaries of modularity, leading to higher performance...at least initially.
But the biggest advantage of an open source, modular technology stack is that it unleashes permissionless innovation; allows participants to specialize; and incentivizes more competition. We need more of this in the world. @alive_eth, General Partner
IV. Integration of artificial intelligence + blockchain
Decentralized blockchain is a kind of centralized artificial intelligence balancing force. Currently, AI models such as ChatGPT can only be trained and operated by a handful of tech giants because the computing resources and training data required are prohibitive for smaller players. But with cryptography, it is possible to create multi-party, global, permissionless marketplaces where anyone can contribute to the network and get paid for it, providing computing resources or new data sets to those who need them. Leveraging the long tail of these resources will enable these markets to drive down the cost of AI and make it more accessible.
But as AI changes the way we generate information—changing society, culture, politics, economics—it also creates a rich world of AI-generated content, including deepfakes. Cryptozoology can also come into play here, to open black boxes; trace the origins of things we see online, and more.
We also need to find ways to decentralize generative AI and govern it democratically to ensure that no one participant ultimately owns the decisions for everyone else The power; Web3 is the laboratory to solve this problem. Decentralized, open-source cryptographic networks will make AI innovation more democratized (rather than centralized), ultimately making it safer for consumers. @ahall_research, professor at Stanford University;
@DarenMatsuoka, data scientist;
@alive_eth, General Partner
5. "Play and earn" has become "play and earn".
In play-to-earn (P2E) games, players are often able to earn real-world (not just virtual) money based on the time and effort they spend in the game. This trend ties into broader changes that are transforming gaming and other fields—from the rise of the creator economy to the changing relationship between people and platforms. Web3 allows us to break from the current norm, where all revenue from games goes solely to the gaming company. Users spend a lot of time on these platforms and create a lot of value for them, so they should also be paid.
But games are not necessarily designed to be workplaces (at least not for most players). What we really need are games that are fun and allow players to capture more of the value they create. As a result, P2E has increasingly evolved into “play and earn,” establishing an important distinction between gaming and the workplace. As P2E moves beyond its initial growth stages, the dynamics governing the associated game economy will continue to change.
Ultimately, however, this will not be a standalone trend but will become part of the game. @AriannaSimpson, General Partner
6. When artificial intelligence becomes the game maker, cryptocurrency provides guarantee
As a long-term thinker about Web3 games and the future of games People, it's obvious to me that artificial intelligence agents in games must come with guarantees: that they are based on certain models, and that these models are not broken while executing. Otherwise, the game will lose its integrity.
When lore, terrain, narrative, and logic are all procedurally generated—in other words, when AI becomes the game maker—we will want to know that the game maker is a trusted neutral party. We will want to know that the world is built on assurance. The most important thing cryptography provides are these guarantees—including the ability to understand, diagnose, and punish when AI goes awry.
In this sense, "AI alignment" is really a motivational design problem, just like dealing with any human agent is a motivational design problem... and This is exactly what cryptography is about. @carrawu, investment partner
7. Formal verification becomes less formal
Although formal methods are popular for verifying hardware systems, they are less used in software development . For most developers not involved in hardware or safety-critical systems, these approaches are too complex and can add significant cost and latency. However, smart contract developers have different needs: the systems they develop handle billions of dollars; bugs will have catastrophic consequences and are often not hot-fixable. Therefore, there is a need for more accessible formal verification methods in software development, especially smart contract development.
In 2023, we see a wave of new tools emerging (including ours) with much better developer experiences than traditional formal systems. These tools take advantage of the fact that smart contracts are architecturally simpler than regular software—with atomic and deterministic execution; no concurrency or exceptions; a small memory footprint and few loops. The performance of these tools is also improving rapidly, by taking advantage of recent breakthroughs in SMT solver performance (SMT solvers use complex algorithms to identify or confirm the absence of defects in software and hardware logic).
With the increasing popularity of tools inspired by formal methods among developers and security experts, we can expect the next wave of smart contract protocols to be more robust and less vulnerable. Vulnerable to expensive hacks. @0xkarmacoma, research engineering partner
8. NFT has become a ubiquitous brand asset
More and more well-known brands have begun to launch digital products to mainstream consumers in the form of NFT assets. For example, Starbucks launched a gamified loyalty program in which participants collect digital assets while exploring the company’s coffee products. Meanwhile, Nike and Reddit have also developed digital collectible NFTs that are explicitly promoted to a wide audience.
But brands can do more: they can use NFTs to represent and strengthen customer identities and community relationships; connect physical goods and their digital representations; and even co-create new products with their most loyal fans. Products and experiences. In 2022 and 2023, we see a trend toward the curation of consumer goods in the form of low-priced NFTs as mass collectibles—often through custodial wallets and/or “second layers” with correspondingly low transaction costs "Blockchain.
This year, many conditions have been put in place to democratize NFTs as digital brand assets for various companies and communities - as @skominers and I discuss in a forthcoming book as explained in the book. @skominers, research partner
9. SNARK becomes mainstream
Historically, technical experts have used the following strategies to verify computing workloads: 1) On trusted machines Re-execute the computation; 2) perform the computation on a machine dedicated to the task, i.e. (TEE Trusted Execution Environment); 3) perform the computation on a trusted neutral infrastructure, such as a blockchain. Each strategy has limitations in terms of cost or network scalability, but now, SNARKs (Succinct Non-interactive ARguments of Knowledge) are becoming easier to use. SNARKs allow the computation of a "cryptographic receipt" for a certain computational workload via an unforgeable, untrusted "prover": in the past, computing such a receipt cost 10^9 times the original computation; recent advances have brought this figure Closer to 10^6.
Thus, SNARKs become feasible in situations where the initial computation provider can afford the 10^6x overhead while the client cannot re-execute or store the initial data. The resulting use cases are numerous: Edge devices in the IoT can verify upgrades. Media editing software can embed authenticity and conversion data into the content; while reworked memes can pay homage to the original source. LLM inference can contain authenticity information. We could have self-verifying IRS forms, bank audits that can't be faked, and many more consumer-friendly uses. @samrags_, investment projects
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