Over the last few months, we discussed how Elon Musk and X are breaking down barriers. The old lines separating industries are going away. Amazon is another company that has done a fabulous job of adopting a similar path.
For this reason, the idea of being social media, finance, retail, or anything else is going away. It will be absurd to describe one's company in that manner. If done, that is likely on the path to bankruptcy.
All of this is providing a model for Web 3.0. It is all going to be part of digital platforms. As we are seeing, the bridge out of the digital realm is also taking place.
For this reason, I think the banks, who are attacking crypto, are fighting the wrong fight. While it can present an ultimate challenge to them, there are other wolves venturing after their business.
This is coming from technology. Any company that is into tech is going to mount an offensive.
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Walmart is recognized as the worlds leading retailer. This is a logical conclusion based upon the revenues and where they come from.
The problem with this is Walmart is also a technology company. It spent a fortune making this transition over the past decade. While it is not at the level of Amazon, at least to the consumer, it does have a lot of infrastructure in place.
One area the company long wanted to enter was banking. Over 30 years ago, it saw itself as a future banking entity. Unfortunately for it, the regulators always put a stop to that.
This caused Walmart to take a more measured approach. It is now possibly starting to pay off.
Walmart is the majority owner of a company called One. It is an investment that goes back more than a decade.
Here is the recent news:
Walmart’s majority-owned FinTech startup One has begun offering buy now, pay later loans for big-ticket items at some of the retailer’s more than 4,600 U.S. stores, CNBC has learned.
Up to this point the company was partnering with different financial entities such as Capital One. It is also looking to cause major disruption.
It also likely signals that a battle is brewing in the store aisles and ecommerce portals of America’s largest retailer. At stake is the role of a wide spectrum of players, from FinTech firms to card companies and established banks.
One’s push into lending is the clearest sign yet of its ambition to become a financial superapp, a mobile one-stop shop for saving, spending and borrowing money.
There is a lot of money at stake:
One could generate roughly $1.6 billion in annual revenue from debit cards and lending in the near term, and more than $4 billion if it expands into investing and other areas, according to Morgan Stanley
I would expect this to only be the start. We are likely to see a host of financial products offered through this entity. Walmart is using its "platform" to leverage over services. Here is another example of the implementation of the digital platform business model.
While the online aspect of the company is limited, the application for the financial services is an adjunct to what Walmart is already doing. This can be combined with its own online app for cross pollination.
Web 3.0 networks should take note. This is the future.
By now, most are aware Web 2.0 is a siloed system. This created some enormous players which generate massive amounts of revenue. These entities are all technology based and spreading into other areas.
Those that operate in the physical realm are going to have more issues. Walmart, however, is one that is looking to break the trend. It does have the revenue stream to match some of the major technology players. This can be leveraged in a manner few physical entities can consider.
Which brings us to Web 3.0.
As the "big get bigger", we are going to see few companies controlling even more industries. This is the entire premise of the digital platform model. The network captures value and spread it throughout. It matters none the size of the increase since it is replicated by a large number of users.
Wall Street looks at this in regards to revenues and profits. While that is one metric, there are many others.
Web 3.0 must follow a similar pathway. A blockchain is, after all, a digital network. It also have the ability to monetize and financial distribute value. This can also be transferred, something vital for commerce.
The idea here is to consider every industry that we come across. At some point, there is going to be a crossroad where the decision is going to be made as to whether it is on Web 3.0 or not.
Here is some of what we are looking at:
To frame this another way, consider X, Amazon, Google, or Walmart.
Which of these fields are they not able to enter? The answer is none. Any of these companies could access these markets in some form. Whatever is digitized could then be integrated into their platform. Certainly, for many there is a physical component but that is where the bridge comes in. Advancements in robotics, for example, are making that connection likely.
The point is to not thing either/or. Instead, Web 3.0 platforms have to think all. There will be decisions of where to focus based upon time and other resources. However, success is going to come from building as much as possible. Here is what will eventually feed into the concept of the network-state whereby an ecosystem operates similar to a country including having its own economy.
We are looking at the race for trillions of dollars. These entities would not be embarking upon this if there was not a lot of money to be made. Disruption is going to provide some big time winners. We are also going to see many household names fall by the wayside.
Web 3.0 is an opportunity. The question is what will people do with it?
