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WhatsApp Web3: Everything You Need To Know

 

By Nerly Shammah Jul 03, 2023

 

WhatsApp Web3 is a concept of a privacy-first version of WhatsApp messaging app on Web3.

 

 

In 2017, the 6th largest ICO at the time according to reports earned a staggering $107 million in funding from various Web3 enthusiastic venture capitals. The funded project was a messaging platform that promised to deliver "WhatsApp on Web3'', a product pitch which was found potentious at the time amongst investors and users and even so now. 

 

However notably, at the time, the concept of Web3 was far from mature or even largely recognised as it was just still a fresh thought from the former Ethereum co-founder and Polkadot's founder Gavin Wood. The platform in mention was Status, a privacy-oriented messaging application looking to deliver the WhatsApp of Web3 on the Ethereum blockchain but however, failed to live up to the hype or even the services with the flexibility formally promised.

 

Some say this was due to the limitations in the target market such as the obviously small space of cryptocurrency users at the time(estimated slightly over 106 million) when compared to almost 8 billion people in the world today. 

 

Others however say the failure of Status to attain a huge amount of users was due to the faults with the tech being leveraged, citing the not-so-flexible nature of the Ethereum blockchain when factoring in on the fees and network congestions that follow respectively, it becomes a highly rigid and not very user-friendly environment for a messaging application. 

 

However, fast-paced to 2023, the concept of a decentralized internet with decentralized and private service providers has become widely discussed by various investment firms, developers and product builders, users and even the government repeatedly. 

 

Web3 became the marketing front for many projects in the last 3 years running. That said, even though the majority of the projects are yet to deliver anything close to what is perceived as a feeling of Web3, the number of builders as interest in not just Web3 but the immersive version of the internet called The Metaverse grows is also on the rise. 

 

As previously reported by Techcrunch, a new alternative WhatsApp for Web3 is being developed by OP3N, a Web3 platform founded in 2021 as a subsidiary of EST Media Holdings. OP3N leverages several technologies including AI, Web2 infrastructures 

and Web3 technologies to deliver a Superapp where chat, commerce, community and unique and memorable experiences are at the forefront. 

 

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I wanted to make a connection for creators, chats and commerce in one place,” Jaeson Ma, co-CEO of OP3N, said to TechCrunch. “It’s a web3 version of WhatsApp meets Amazon, or WeChat meets Alibaba. 

 

" 

 

OP3N reportedly raised a staggering $28 million Series A round that values the company at $100 million. 

 

OP3Ns' funded Superapp looks to build WhatsApp for Web3 via the integration of Web3 technologies in Web2 by leveraging blockchain security and privacy layer and decentralized technologies for an open, tokenized and distributed web.

 

 

According to TechCrunch, the funding round was led by Animoca Brands and included investments from Dragonfly Capital, SuperScrypt, Creative Artists Agency and New Enterprise Associates’ Connect Ventures, Republic Crypto, Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund, Galaxy Digital and Warner Music Interactive. Additional investors include GSR Markets, The Spartan Group, BRV Capital Management and NBA player Russell Westbrook, among others. 

 

Jaeson Ma, co-CEO of OP3N opened up about the limited knowledge of blockchain networks, assets and cryptocurrency protocols citing the ecosystem unawareness observed amongst users when the company did an NFT drop to fans and figured the majority were not aware of the difference between blockchains like Avalanche, Solana, or Polygon. 

 

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It’s not going to happen overnight that a billion people will know how to download a wallet and use it, so we are solving for that.

 

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OP3N looks to not only deliver WhatsApp for Web3 but also deliver it with an environment that takes away all the complications of cryptocurrency, blockchain and Web3 protocols, serving the flexibility that comes with Web2 social platforms but packed with Web3 security, monetization and utility structures. 

 

The Future Of WhatsApp On Web3 

 

In recent times, platforms like SimpleX have emerged as a redefined model of WhatsApp for web3 as the first messenger without a need for user ID. 

 

Similar to how blockchain protocols work, SimpleX protocol does not rely on any real-world user info to enable communication or transfer of information between two or more parties, this project has been acknowledged by a couple of blockchain and web3 social media enthusiasts like Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter and now the founder of the functioning Twitter alternative called Bluesky. 

 

Jack has been largely involved in blockchain developments in the past couple of years and has shown great support for Bitcoin and emerging decentralized protocols that merit the Bitcoin network. 

 

That said, the web3 options for a WhatsApp replacement on web3 still have a long way to go in order to achieve what feels like WhatsApp but at the same time come with all web3 features and the flexibility of blockchain protocols. 

 

An example of these added features includes token economy, integration with decentralized applications (dApps), smart contracts for communication and interoperability with the web3 ecosystem. 

 

This would allow WhatsApp for Web3 to seamlessly connect people around the world to not only transfer information or data between themselves but also the ability to move monetary value in a matter of seconds across different protocols and networks, allowing also for the automation of various activities, a great example of the everything app that is often discussed amongst tech and blockchain enthusiasts. 

 

As technology takes on a new leaf with blockchain, web3 and artificial intelligence, social networks and messengers are expected to be redesigned with prioritized user control and experience.