Author: ODIG Invest
Web3 is undergoing a profound "backend-ization" transformation.
For mainstream users, the future focus will only be on payments, transactions, and account management; while blockchain, smart contracts, and settlement networks, like databases and cloud computing, will gradually disappear from the perception layer.
Backend-ization is the technological form, SaaS is the business model.
But the real question is no longer "Will Web3 become the backend?"
But rather: When Web3 becomes the backend, is it laying the foundation for a decentralized world?
Or will it be absorbed by "Fintech"? The most important question to discuss is: With the trend towards backend development, which sectors of Web3 still offer significant opportunities? I. Analysis of Web3 Backend Development Trends under Cyclical Rotation Before discussing backend development trends and opportunities in various sectors, we need to review the changes in several cycles: With innovation accompanying bull markets and reflection during bear markets, each round of innovation focuses on resolving bottlenecks from the previous cycle, ultimately driving the next round of growth. From 2017 to 2021, the main focus was on programmability (smart contracts); from 2021 to 2023, scalability was initially addressed; and since 2023, the focus has been on "practicality," where differentiation has emerged. Technological evolution follows a spiral path of "infrastructure/protocol → application → infrastructure optimization," ultimately achieving mature integration of technologies. This conforms to the following positive cycle: Infrastructure improvement → Potential asset innovation → Enhanced product experience → Expanded user base → Increased infrastructure demand. We observe the value flow direction of the entire Web3 industry from several levels: infrastructure, assets, and products: Infrastructure Layer: Provides underlying technologies and protocols; value capture comes from network effects and protocol fees. Asset Layer: The product layer connects users and value; value capture originates from user experience and economies of scale. Among these, technological complexity and user distance have an inverse relationship: Technological complexity... The essence of Web3 backend development is the abstraction of complexity: by standardizing interfaces to shield underlying details and directly address user experience. This is an inevitable result of professional specialization during the maturation of an industry—the more fundamental the technology, the more specialization is needed; the more user-facing the technology, the more simplification and abstraction are required. The reason for this unprecedented convergence is that the key drivers needed for Web3 backend development have all emerged within this cycle: User Experience: Traditional mnemonic phrases and gas operations hindered widespread adoption, while mature infrastructure and technology have brought the experience closer to Web2; Compliance Requirements. The FIT21 Act and other regulatory frameworks impose specific requirements on issuing entities, streamlining compliance processes. Practical Needs: AI agents and the automated economy require seamless payment and settlement. In the "front-end" aspect, AI is becoming the dominant interaction paradigm of the future. So, what problems can Web3 solve in the next cycle, given its inherent technological irreplaceability? Where are the opportunities and entrepreneurial directions? II. The Core of the Irreplaceability of Web3 Technologies What are the irreplaceable aspects of Web3 technologies? This can be summarized as follows: Macro level: Decentralized trust infrastructure (trust minimization mechanism, global settlement layer attributes, no single point of control) Meso level: Programmable value network (smart contract automation, tokenomics, composability) Micro level: Cryptographic primitives and technology stack The current Web3 is retreating from "assets" and "narratives" to the "underlying protocol layer of settlement, identity, and trust." In "Big Ideas 2026," a16z clearly stated this shift: the future of Web3 is not in the front end, nor in replacing Web2 products, but in becoming backend infrastructure. Going forward, macro-finance, AI agents, and transactional infrastructure represented by high-performance blockchains will be key to the true large-scale development of crypto. Corresponding to the aforementioned "differentiation and integration," Web3 is a maturing, diversified ecosystem that will differentiate in two directions: Fintech: This is the direction of integration between Mass Adoption and Web2, which may make Web3 a new SaaS, belonging to "Fintech."
III. Opportunities and Entrepreneurial Directions in the Backend Trend
From the perspective of infrastructure, assets, and products, we will sort out potential Web3 opportunities and entrepreneurial directions. 3.1 Infrastructure Layer Under the trend of Web3 backend development, infrastructure and protocol layer projects have the greatest potential for value capture, especially middleware layers for cross-chain interoperability and AI integration. Public chains should abandon the homogeneous TPS competition and instead focus on vertical scenarios such as AI and payments, creating dedicated chains with differentiated backend value. (1) Web3 Commerce / Programmable Payments: Stablecoins will handle trillions of dollars in transactions by 2025, proving that "programmable money" has officially moved from laboratory theory to large-scale commercial practice. Based on the programmable nature of stablecoins, business models are undergoing a fundamental transformation: Automated Execution: Utilizing smart contracts, automatic rebates and condition-triggered dividends are achieved without human intervention. Crowdfunding and Distribution: The integration of cash flow and business flow reshapes the transparency of crowdfunding and profit distribution. Agent-based interaction: The ideal business model will involve AI or intelligent agents making decisions on behalf of clients, ensuring the immediate fulfillment of contracts through code. Value capture will focus on two directions: lowering barriers to entry and reshaping distribution. Pay attention to: Programmable payments and commerce: Agentic commerce based on stablecoins, using smart contracts to achieve automatic rebates and crowdfunding. Prioritize products with huge traffic entry points and the ability to leverage Web3 protocols to reshape distribution logic, returning profits more fairly and transparently to contributors. Account Abstraction (AA) Middleware: Account abstraction middleware eliminates the entry barrier for non-native users through a seamless experience. For example, it supports direct login with Web2 accounts, and automatically generates smart contract wallets in the background. Furthermore, it may also spur a new wave of service providers/consulting firms offering on-chain services to traditional enterprises. (2) Privacy Computing Currently, there is a lack of enterprise-level privacy computing protocol standards, but institutional privacy needs are clear, and Web3 technology has a high moat in this field. Attention can be paid to ZK coprocessors, ZKP+AI fusion, privacy AI computing networks, etc. (3) DePIN 2.0 The DePIN track retains the restructuring of production relations and new models for coordinating resources. Focus on areas such as AI computing power networks, energy grid optimization, geospatial data collection, and the "financialization" of hardware collateral. 3.2 Asset Side In the "Tokenization" stage, assets are "embedded." Tokenized assets originate off-chain; legal issues, defaults, and bankruptcies occur within the traditional system. On-chain transactions are merely for "distribution and display." Conversely, when on-chain power and risk coexist, with risks generated, settled, and absorbed on-chain, such Web3 native assets are difficult to backend. The most successful products are perpetual contracts, lending protocols, AMMs, etc. (1) Perpification of everything: From native assets to traditional financial assets, a trend of "comprehensive perpetual contractification" is emerging. "Perpetual contracts (Perps) are more in line with the product logic of the Web3 market than spot trading," the core of which lies in price anchoring and liquidation mechanisms. The success of Hyperliquid demonstrates that the combination of high-performance application chains (App-chain) and backend native liquidation allows on-chain native assets to possess a complete self-liquidation mechanism, a feature that traditional financial systems cannot achieve. The PerpDEX track, the perpetual contract trading market, and the on-chain commodity market deserve long-term attention. (2) Origination on-chain issuance This is a crucial part of the integration with Web2 and RWA, suitable for top-down implementation by traditional giants. This requires assets to be created on-chain from the outset, not just "on-chain." For example, on-chain lending protocols will conduct issuance, settlement, and default handling entirely on-chain, within the same programmable ledger. Stablecoins will act as "patches" to the core ledger of banks, enabling traditional financial institutions to achieve real-time payments and programmability; RWA will become a "patchase" for companies issuing assets and securities, deconstructing the inefficient processes of traditional asset issuance and introducing on-chain advantages. Protocols/products that can provide better liquidity for the above assets will be worth paying attention to. 3.3 Product Side (1) Compliance Technology (RegTech) and Solutions: The scale of stablecoins/RWA and payments is increasing at an unprecedented rate. A report by McKinsey and Artemis Analytics states that stablecoins settled approximately $35 trillion on-chain last year. The stablecoin market is forming a "front-end non-custodial + back-end licensed" structure. Faced with the dual pressures of heavy banking license costs and regulatory compliance, the industry urgently needs a "middleman" solution. This may require a "Stablecoin bank" role or a solution based on "new compliance interfaces." For example, Circle applied for a national trust bank license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the United States, built the Arc blockchain, and partnered with Visa, forming a complete "front-end non-custodial + back-end licensed" ecosystem. This also indicates that the industry is moving towards a "middleman" model. The "fund pool" model is shifting to a "regulatory interface" model. Under this paradigm, regulatory agencies may introduce a globally applicable system: shifting from regulation of protocols to regulation of front-end/entry points (Frontend-level Regulation), rather than the fund pool itself. This is to retain the advantages of being borderless and low-cost, while solving compliance issues. (2) AI and Boundary Expansion: The advancement of Web3 in DePIN, privacy computing, and RWA makes Web3 a potential AI The "Trusted Execution Layer": AI is responsible for production: releasing production capacity through AIGC and intelligent agents. Web3 is responsible for settlement: ensuring the assetization of AI output through protocol-based revenue distribution and rights confirmation. Based on this, attention can be paid to the Agent Economy, digital personality, and AIGC rights confirmation. Furthermore, with the development of AI-native Builders... With the increase in AI, individuals not only need to expand their production capacity with the help of AI, but also need to use on-chain tools to solidify accumulable assets. This may give rise to new dedicated blockchain environments, as well as developer communities and service platforms for AI. In the more distant future, the top-level logic of future competition will be: how will the top resource owners of human society (such as OpenAI, NVIDIA, etc.) use Web3 technology to infinitely push the boundaries of AI to every corner of the real economy and digital civilization? (3) Financial entertainment In the direction of financial entertainment, there is the possibility of shifting from pure financial applications to consumer scenarios. Integration with consumer-level scenarios such as social networking and gaming brings a larger user base. According to the latest data from a16z, applications with strong AI interactive attributes (such as AI companions and AI creation tools) exhibit a "smile curve"—meaning that after initial user churn, the iteration of AI capabilities and the accumulation of content result in a very high rate of repeat visits. Successful projects will possess Web2 user experiences (such as social login and fiat currency deposits) and Web3 value capture (such as asset ownership and profit-sharing agreements): Prediction Markets AI-Native Gaming Socialized DeFi AI-Enhanced Social Platforms
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