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Excitement is building in web3 as we approach 2024. Despite the market challenges, the ingenious builders have been on the grind, tirelessly forging ahead.

I often draw an analogy to those pesky late-night smartphone updates. Much like how those notifications sneak in when we're winding down, web3 builders have been working diligently during these quieter times. They've been upgrading systems, ensuring a faster and safer ecosystem for everyone — giving the web3 world a late-night tune-up!

As the year draws to a close, a tangible sense of optimism is in the air, suggesting that 2024 may be the year when the collective efforts of the community translate into mainstream recognition. And, I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come.

Here are three compelling predictions that signal a transformative year ahead for web3.

Prediction #1: Smart accounts take center stage

Web3 wallets play a key role as a user's gateway to blockchain, but the existing user experience poses challenges for mass adoption. ERC-4337, the account abstraction standard, revolutionizes web3 wallet usability by introducing smart contract wallets — or “smart accounts”.

Launched at our conference WalletCon in March of this year, ERC-4337 serves as a pivotal milestone, streamlining the processes involved in interacting with smart contracts and stirring considerable excitement due to its potential to redefine user interactions with the blockchain.

This standard facilitates more flexible web3 interactions, offering an alternative to the rigid, complex externally-owned accounts (EOAs) and introducing innovative features like wallet recovery, batch transactions, shared accounts, and sponsored transactions. This new layer unlocks the ability to abstract gas prices and enables web2-like experiences on web3 platforms. While adoption rates have been sluggish so far, notable developments are gaining traction, such as the RIP-7560 proposal. This sets a path forward to “native” smart accounts, eliminating the need for private keys entirely.

Keep an eye out for smart account developments in 2024 – with so much advancing on the infrastructure front, we could very well see a swell in consumer-facing applications that simplify the web3 wallet experience considerably next year.

Prediction #2: Three Cs to drive web3 adoption

Despite the challenges posed by the bear market, web3 builders have persisted and their resilience is set to pay off in 2024.

Key events and momentums like the Bitcoin halving and continued upgrades to the Ethereum network with the Dencun and other upgrades will draw mainstream attention, creating a conducive environment for the industry's growth.

This influx of users will stem from, what I call, the “3 Cs” of web3 adoption:

• Cutting-edge: Innovations such as SocialFi will likely push our industry forward as projects experiment with models and revolutionize use cases with features rooted in DeFi. Take Friend.tech as an example, which has garnered significant attention since its August launch and has led to a surge in similar apps inspired by its model. Developers are sure to continue innovating consumer experiences and, in particular, the monetization possibilities offered by decentralized systems to unlock growth.

• Convenience: With seed phrase-free wallets and familiar onboarding methods from web2 – such as email, social, and SMS logins in the form of “embedded wallets” — on the rise, web3 onboarding today is significantly more intuitive than ever before. As cutting-edge cases sprout, more mainstream users will find it easy to get started with exploring web3.

• Cross-app: For the above innovations in convenience to truly kickstart growth, they must also be cross-app. In other words, consumers must be able to seamlessly “carry” their wallets around as they explore. Embedded wallets are a great first step, but the new year will see the same emphasis on user-friendly onboarding boosted by an important addition — portability.

Combined, these three Cs will serve as the catalyst for growth that many of us have been waiting for. Expect the next year to be filled with stories of fresh experimentation.

Prediction #3: Web3 gaming gears up for a breakthrough

Web3 gaming's rise began with in-game asset tokenization and the introduction of NFTs, enabling players to truly own and trade in-game items across various platforms. The fusion of DeFi and gaming led to GameFi, which unlocked play-to-earn models, yield farming within games, and the tokenization of gaming assets. This has created a new paradigm where players actively participate in decentralized, blockchain-based gaming ecosystems while earning real-world value.

It’s an evolution that represents a significant shift towards player empowerment, ownership, and novel economic models within gaming — a trend I don’t expect to slow down in the coming year.

Recent spikes, exemplified by games like Pixels and Immutable's partnership with Polygon Labs indicate a profound shift in the industry, emphasizing decentralization, digital ownership, and a new era of gaming experiences. The blockchain gaming sector even hit a milestone this year, reaching one million daily unique active wallets, piquing investor interest and making web3 gaming a compelling narrative for portfolio diversification and growth.

In the new year, expect developments in play-to-earn models with enhanced incentives, increased interoperability and NFT integration, and overall improvements in UX to give web3 gaming the fuel it needs to take off. These elements, coupled with strategic collaborations and growing interest, position web3 gaming for substantial growth in the coming year.

Embracing the future of web3, together

As the year concludes, optimism hints that 2024 may be the turning point for mainstream recognition of collective community endeavors. From the real-world implications of smart accounts to the focus on “consumer crypto” and the surge in web3 gaming, each prediction marks a transformative journey.

These predictions encapsulate a future where innovation, convenience, interoperability, and user experiences coalesce, shaping a promising narrative for web3's evolution in the coming year. The groundwork has been laid, and now, the world is on the cusp of recognizing the groundbreaking strides made by our web3 community.

Embrace the optimism, stay informed, and be prepared to witness the unfolding of a new era in web3.