Is web3 a scam? | Jan Liphardt | TEDxBostonStudio

Let's have a look to different situations where Trustlessness and transparency really matter:

• International borders
• Powerful monopolies
• War, disagreement, instability, mistrust
• Employees and customers scattered around the world
• Absence of courts and police
• Corruptions, theft

Let's say you spot a project which offers a 18% guaranteed returns using web3.

Now you should ask yourself:

• What do high guaranteed returns have to do with trustlesness, immutability, and transparency?

Nothing... In this case we see a lack of basic connection.

In this case we have a Unicef project which aims to support internet access accross South America and Africa. And it operates as follows:

• Smart contract disperses funds only to schools with a working internet connection.
• Donors watch funds flow in real time to connected schools.
• Blokchain allows having a transparent record system.

In this last examples let's imagine this scenario: Artist/Programmer/Refugees living in 18 countries want to start a company/collective/organization. The following doubts arise:

• Which currency is the special one?
• Which country is the special one?
• Open bank accounts is 18 countries?
• How to govern company?
• Audit the books - employees, local tax authorities...
• Blockchain makes all of these transparent.

Even with overwhelming rationale for blockchain, still need to deal with:

• Scaling
• Compute
• Storage
• Transaction/s
• Congestion
• Cost (inverse unit economics)
• Carbon Footprint

Web3 isn't inherently a scam, it all depends on the purpose, community and goal of the project.

In this TED Talks he gives us guidelines on how to make good project judgements without falling for scams.