The global crypto adoption rate remains unsatisfactory and efforts are on to bring more people into web3. In this session, we’re interviewing Herbert Sim, COO of the digital asset trading platform, Websea, where he shares his insights about web3 adoption.
Q. Hello. Would you please introduce yourself and share your professional journey with our readers?
Hi, I’m Herbert and it’s wonderful to be here. I’m currently the COO of Websea, a youth-focused web3 digital asset trading platform.
Before Websea, I worked as the Global Operations Director at Huobi Global and Chief Marketing Officer at Cryptology Exchange. So I’ve been in operational management in the FinTech sector for a fairly long time.
Most people know me as ‘The Bitcoin Man’ for my work as an angel investor and advisor for crypto projects. The Bitcoin Man is now a venture capital fund where I continue to invest and incubate promising startups.
I’m also the founder of Crypto Chain University (CCU), a non-profit institute and digital repository for blockchain research and policy-oriented work. CCU is a passion project and comes from my desire to make web3 accessible to people.
I believe the web3 sector has much to do to bring decentralized protocols to the masses. So I continue to work hard to realize the vision of ‘onboarding the next billion’ to crypto.
Q. Why do you think the web3 industry hasn’t yet reached mass crypto adoption? What does the industry need to do to bring more people into web3?
In my opinion, the biggest problem is the lack of easy-to-use, smooth, and efficient web3 protocols with an engaging user interface. We can’t expect newcomers to navigate complicated apps to store or use digital assets daily.
So web2 users need a seamless transition to web3 protocols where they don’t require any technical knowledge to operate the apps. Moreover, web3 apps must integrate attractive features and financial incentives to appeal to first-time users.
For instance, crypto exchanges function as the main gateway to enter web3 for investing and trading in crypto and NFTs. These exchanges serve as the primary circulation hubs for the digital asset economy to transact globally without any restrictions.
However, most crypto exchanges have a difficult user interface that doesn’t appeal to new users. Thus we need more exchanges that can conveniently provide digital asset services and remain integrated with the wider web3 economy.
Once we have engaging web3 protocols, people from diverse demographics will start joining the crypto world.
Q. Who do you think will be the primary driver of crypto adoption in the next decade? Can you elaborate on the reasons?
I think the digital asset economy is conducive for people of all age groups and across geographical borders.
If you look at statistical reports, there has been an almost 200% growth in global crypto users with Asian and African countries dominating the Crypto Adoption Index.
But once you probe further, you’ll see that young people are the main drivers in the crypto space and will continue to do so.
A Coinbase report states that 31% of young people own crypto compared to just 12% of older people. Further, 38% of youth believe that crypto is the future of finance compared to 28% of the older generation.
There are multiple reasons why Millennials and Gen Z prefer crypto assets. To begin with, they’re digital natives who organically grew up with the Internet. But other socio-economic factors are working as well.
Millennials have faced student debts, rising housing costs, inflation, and the 2008 financial crisis. Thus, rather than trusting centralized banks or government-backed national currencies, they’re more open to alternative finance like crypto.
The Great Wealth Transfer will happen over the next few decades where Millennials and Gen Z will inherit around $84 trillion. A Galaxy Research report states that $160-$225 billion would come into crypto markets from younger generations if the Wealth Transfer happened today.
When the Transfer is complete by 2045, crypto can record a daily incremental buying pressure of around $20-$28 million.
That is why I’m building Websea, a digital asset ecosystem that specifically focuses on young investors.
Q. Tell us more about Websea. How do you intend to cater to a young audience with your platform?
Websea is a digital asset trading platform exclusively customized for the global youth.
Our platform offers a dual account system with centralized and decentralized asset custody models. We have an integrated AI system for risk mitigation, fraud prevention, predictive trading analytics, and strategy recommendations.
The WBS token powers our Websea platform. WBS has a total supply of 300 million tokens with 60% allocated for community incentives. The rest is for long-term platform development with a multi-year lock-up period.
We follow an X-To-Earn tokenomics model where users can play, trade, browse, stake, contribute, and create to earn tokens.
To answer your second question, Websea offers gamified features for an engaging and entertaining trading experience for our young audience.
We also have options like Boost to Bargain, Invitation Red Packet rewards, Lucky Box awards, and Group Boosts. These financial incentives help us consolidate our platform and organically expand our user base.
Websea is also focussing on building a gaming ecosystem to cater to the youth and will incubate GameFi projects.
Q. We’re currently going through a bull market where hype and speculation dominate crypto trading. However, the bear market brings a huge slump. So what do you think about this cycle and its impact on the crypto trading industry? How do you think the youth will shape this space in the coming years?
I consider that the bull market hype brings new investors to the crypto industry. So there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with speculative trading during a bull run. Plus, the stock market also goes through cycles so it’s only natural for the crypto market to go through the same.
Let me explain this with an example. The Runes hype has brought huge attention to Bitcoin and will provide an impetus to Bitcoin DeFi in the long run. However, as of April, two-thirds of the top 50 Runes are in the red, which means investors are not seeing any immediate profits.
People usually blame young investors for having fun with memecoins and making the crypto space akin to gambling. But even Vitalik Buterin thinks such practices are not entirely bad.
He recently said, “If people value having fun, and financialized games seem to at least sometimes provide that, then could there be a more positive-sum version…?”
I’ll echo Buterin’s statement and say that young investors know what they’re doing and how they want to manage their finances. So even if they’re having fun with meme coins or investing seriously in BTC or ETH, they know the game.
That is why I think the youth will drive global crypto adoption and make the web3 space more valuable and utility-driven in the future.
Image: Websea Medium Blog