Drishti (name changed) first interfaced with a web browser around 2005, at age 15, when she used it extensively for accessing a world of information on the Internet. In the next decade, she became a livewire on social media, transitioning from Orkut to Facebook. Today, as a digital artist, she is dabbling into crypto and transforming her artwork into digital assets on the Internet. Her 7-year-old son is engaged in a Web 3.0-backed virtual learning application where he is able to learn, play and interact with virtual objects.

The evolution of the Internet has involved several exciting phases over the past decades. From a ‘Read Only’ era of Web 1.0 where developers created websites that enabled users to just read and gain information, to the ‘Read and Write’ era of Web 2.0 which marked the onset of social media platforms, the Internet has developed manifolds.

Now, imagine a more exciting era where you can easily own assets online and earn from them. Well, that is Web 3.0! As the world transcends from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, where open-source software is improving the way the Internet works, it has opened up various untapped opportunities for India’s digital asset economy.

According to experts, in the coming decade, blockchain-enabled digital asset technologies will provide India with glorious opportunities to participate in the constantly evolving Web 3.0 space. With a growing talent pool within a young population and a large developer base, India is inclined to benefit from this emerging technology in terms of employment, revenue generation and more.

Web 3.0: An era of digital assets

The developed generation of the Web is more open-source and decentralized, and aims to execute digital transformation in our everyday lives. This revolution has allowed digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum to grow manifolds, leading to growing interest among individuals in how decentralized technology can impact the economy and digital assets at large. NFTs have given an unforeseen boost to the Creator Economy by enabling the creation, transaction and monetization of unique digital assets.

In India, there are many business models that can be built around Web 3.0. And, when it comes to cryptocurrency & blockchain, the opportunities are limitless. As of now, if an individual needs a loan from a bank, they must go through a tedious process of fulfilling all the formalities with no surety whether the bank will avail that loan for them or not. Now, imagine if you have a million-dollars’ worth of Bitcoin and want to avail a loan on the same; it takes just 10 minutes to get 65-70% worth of value in crypto, and all without selling your assets. Web 3.0 has streamlined the process and allows people to earn with just the click of a button.

Another concept – ‘Play To Earn’ – is gaining momentum among individuals with Web 3.0 and it is expected to revolutionize the gaming experience in the coming decade. Gamers can own game assets and generate a value that might go beyond the game itself. By leveraging cryptocurrencies and NFTs, ‘Play To Earn’ games enhance the player’s experience as it gives them digital ownership, and even rewards them for their interactions. Players will also have the option to convert these digital cards into physical trading cards.

Several studies reveal that in India, scenarios like ‘Play To Earn’ and ‘Decentralized Finance’ can be pushed to the next level to provide an impetus to the country’s digital asset economy.

A glorious future for crypto in India: The way forward

There is no denying the fact that we are still at a nascent stage in adopting Web 3.0 in India. If we invest our energies in Web 3.0, the adoption rate for crypto is expected to grow by at least 15% by 2030. At present, the global crypto market is worth USD 1.5 trillion and is expected to grow, with a USD 6-8 trillion market cap in the next few years. Investors should realize the potential of this market and invest on a long-term basis to reap the benefits.

While there are several aspects of crypto that still need to be touched globally, India in specific should streamline its policies on Web 3.0 to become a key player in the Web 3.0 economy. In India, there is still a growing debate over crypto policy which doesn’t look like it will die down anytime soon and it may take a long time until we see a potent outcome. Indian Web 3.0 entrepreneurs are already looking forward to countries like Dubai and Singapore that offer better regulatory space to scale up such online ventures. With no clarity in regularity and the absence of a proactive policy framework, India may lag behind the world in joining the Web 3.0 revolution.

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Views expressed above are the author's own.

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