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Stop Calling it a Wallet — Gaby Goldberg

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Summary

The article discusses the concept of linguistic relativity and how language shapes the way we think. It uses the example of the movie Arrival to show how perceiving the world in a different language can change our views. The article then moves on to discuss the use of the word “wallet” in the web3 space, and how it falls short in many different ways. It argues that the purpose of a wallet has changed over the years and that existing wallets cannot adapt to the new preferences in behavior. Finally, the article suggests that the emergence of embedded wallets for different verticals will be necessary to improve the user experience.

Q&As

What is the linguistic relativity hypothesis?
The linguistic relativity hypothesis is the idea that the way people think of the world is influenced directly by the language people use to talk about it.

How did the word "wallet" come to be used in web3 technology?
The word "wallet" came to be used in web3 technology to refer to a place to store digital assets, such as tokens and NFTs.

How has the purpose of wallets evolved over the past few years?
The purpose of wallets has evolved from being solely for the purpose of buying, trading, and holding tokens to being a place to hold NFTs and multimedia experiences.

What factors drove user adoption for wallets that reached mass scale?
The factors that drove user adoption for wallets that reached mass scale include supply of NFT projects, new yield farming opportunities, and social web3 platforms.

How might wallets continue to evolve in the future?
Wallets might continue to evolve in the future by becoming embedded wallets for different verticals or themes, each with their own terminology to onboard new users, and by becoming more dynamic and supportive of leveraging on-chain provenance and transporting digital identities across apps and chains.

AI Comments

👍 This article is incredibly insightful and provides a great perspective on the evolution of wallets.

👎 The article is too long and fails to make its point in a concise way.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about how the word "wallet" falls short when describing a user's experience with their digital identity, and how we should think of wallets as the web3 equivalent of an email inbox. It talks about how the purpose of wallets has changed over the last few years, from being just a way to store funds to being a space to hold NFTs, multimedia experiences, and other digital items.

Friend: That's really interesting. What implications do you think this has?

Me: I think this is a reminder that language matters when talking about technology and digital experiences. It's important to choose words that accurately reflect the new reality of web3, and that we use language to help people understand the new tools and behaviors they need to engage in. We should also be mindful of how language shapes our thoughts and how it can change the way we think about the world. Additionally, it's important to note that wallets are evolving to become more dynamic and supportive of leveraging on-chain provenance, and that we need to create verticalized wallets for different consumer behaviors.

Action items

Research the linguistic relativity hypothesis and its implications for how language shapes our thoughts.
Explore existing wallets and their capabilities to understand how the purpose of a wallet has changed over the years.
Consider how wallets might evolve in the future and the potential for verticalized wallets for different consumer behaviors.

Technical terms

Wallet: A digital storage facility for cryptocurrency, tokens, and other digital assets.
Linguistic Relativity: The hypothesis that the language people use to talk about the world influences the way they think of it.
NFTs: Non-fungible tokens, which are digital assets that are unique and not interchangeable.
DeFi: Decentralized finance, which is a form of financial technology that is built on top of blockchain networks.
MAUs: Monthly active users, which is a metric used to measure the number of people who use a product or service in a given month.
Yield Farming: A form of cryptocurrency investment that involves staking digital assets to earn rewards.
Web3: A term used to describe the decentralized web, which is a new version of the internet that is powered by blockchain technology.