As the Web3 ecosystem remains fragmented, a newly introduced collaboration between industry leaders aims to address this issue and enhance the existing infrastructure within the crypto space.
On July 22, Web3 data provider CryptoSlam announced a project called SlamNet, a collaboration between the non-fungible token insights platform, gaming and venture capital firm Animoca Brands and other contributors, which will be announced later.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, CryptoSlam founder and CEO Randy Wasinger discussed the platform’s vision and how it aims to “bring the industry together.”
The challenge of Web3 fragmentation
Wasinger argued that the crypto space is becoming increasingly fragmented. The executive said that in the early days of the internet, there was a “world of opportunities” for builders to create something like a website, and it became instantly accessible to the world.
However, Wasinger believes that this isn’t the case for Web3. The executive said that it’s becoming very difficult because they have to choose between different platforms and when they do, they are “walling” themselves off from users of other ecosystems. Wasinger explained:
“If you choose Solana, Polygon, Cardano or Flow, you’re instantly walling yourself off from a subset of users, and you’re forced to place this bet on technologies and ecosystems that developers didn't have to place when the internet was exploding.”
The executive argued that the situation is the same for users. Wasinger said that users who may get onboarded to Web3 through one platform will have to “go learn something new” once they want to venture out into the broader Web3 world.
Wasinger believes that this friction is what’s holding people back from adopting Web3. “These are not obstacles we had in the late nineties and early two thousand, and that’s why Web1 has been so much more successful. So, if we can remove those, I think that is the key to the mainstream adoption,” he added.
Bringing the ecosystem together
The CryptoSlam founder said their goal with SlamNet is not to further fragment the ecosystem but to bring it together. He explained:
“We are launching a new ecosystem, but what we are doing, rather than further fragmenting the industry, we are bringing the industry together. We refer to data as the fuel of Web3. We take that data, and we make it easily accessible to the public in a way that developers and end-users have.”
The executive said this “simple, non-fragmented experience” is their vision for SlamNet. According to Wasinger, the SlamNet ecosystem aims to help bring different platforms together through a community-owned and industry-owned data platform.
Wasinger also said that they are not trying to compete with other Web3 ecosystems but are trying to complement the existing platforms.
“We, on the other hand, would be complementary to that because it’s not an application or a community built around an application, it is an ecosystem built for others to build applications on top of,” he added.