(This article was first published in the "Liu Run" public account, subscribe to the "Liu Run" public account, and I have an insight into the essence of business)
Recently, a piece of news shook the blockchain industry: Tencent will turn off the magic core, which is one of the largest NFT platforms in China. Subsequently, the phantom core told the China Times reporter that it had not received the notice and did not deny whether the phantom core would be dismissed.
Some readers ask me what I think?
Because the message itself has not yet been confirmed, no comment will be made. However, for many readers, new concepts and new terms are not well understood by new technologies such as NFT, blockchain, Web 3.0, and metaversity.
Today, I will repost an article that we have sent, and share these concepts I understand with you at once, hoping to inspire you.
The following text.
Today's article, I suggest you read it carefully. Be sure to understand. Always keep paying attention and thinking.
Why?
In the real world, people are still concerned about the recurrence of the epidemic, the situation in Russia and Ukraine, and the challenges of the industry. This is important. But in another virtual world, there are a few things that are just as important.
These things can be described as "bursting fire".
Because some people say that this is a new future. Others say it more practically, this is the "wealth code".
These things are: web3.0, NFT, metaverse.
And one of the technologies behind them: blockchain.
You may have heard of these terms, but you don't really know them that well. What exactly are they? What's the use?
In fact, I still have some experience with these things. Since 2014, I have been reaching out to at least dozens of financial institutions, banks, insurance, securities, and funds every year to explain to them what the business opportunities brought by blockchain are.
Recently, I have also exchanged and discussed web3.0, NFT, and metaversities with many people.
In the past, I've always thought of this as a topic of discussion in a niche, a group of extremely professional people. Even when it comes to very professional people, many people may not be able to fully understand it.
However, today I try to share with you some of my thoughts. Hopefully, you'll also have some of the most basic understanding, and a clear understanding.
Therefore, it is recommended that you read it carefully. Perhaps, these things will really have a huge impact and change in your life in the future.
So, where do we start?
Let's start with this topic, blockchain.
— 1 —
What is centralized bookkeeping, and distributed bookkeeping?
Blockchain, you probably heard about it years ago.
But what exactly is blockchain? Do you really know?
In fact, blockchain has a universal basic definition.
Many people say that blockchain is a cryptographical distributed bookkeeping technology.
The reason it's so hard to understand is because the concept contains three different disciplines, and all three are complex disciplines.
Encryption is a cryptography and a mathematical concept. Distributed is a network concept. Bookkeeping is a financial concept.
So, in the end what is blockchain, what is encrypted distributed accounting technology, we have to talk about it a little bit.
Let me give you an example. After listening to it, you may have a feeling.
What if I had 5,000 yuan in the bank and now I want to transfer 100 yuan to you?
I might open the tool on my phone and transfer 100 yuan directly to you.
However, please note that this transfer, in fact, does not actually occur in fact cash transactions, in essence, just a data movement.
In the bank's central database, just on my account, a subtraction was done, minus 100. On your account, do an addition, add 100. End.
This is actually a data record, which we also call the bookkeeping method. Wrote down an account of the money I transferred to you.
And this way, also known as centralized bookkeeping.
Almost all banks maintain huge databases in the form of centralized bookkeeping. In this database, all our records are kept.
Centralized bookkeeping has many benefits:
1, the data is unique and not easy to make mistakes.
2, the efficiency is particularly high. I'm going to transfer money to you, and it's all over in the same database, and it's done in an instant.
However, you may not realize that centralized bookkeeping actually has two potential problems:
1, is this centralized institution really credible? Is this bank really trustworthy?
You say banks can't be trusted, who else is credible? But it is true that banks may have problems. For example, sometimes when you watch the news, you may see some bank presidents, through transaction loopholes, move money out, think that they can make money and then put it back, and the result is loss, all losses, he ran.
Some people say that if the bank commits evil and deliberately freezes your money and loses it, what should be done?
2, the records in the database have disappeared, what to do?
For example, the centralized database is at point A, and the result is that there is a big problem accidentally, the hard disk is broken, and the entire database is suddenly gone.
You might say, it's okay, I still have a backup database, at point B. So, what if point B also has a problem?
In theory, this probability is very small, but it is not completely impossible.
Therefore, centralized bookkeeping still has potential risks. So some people say, can we not record data in the same database, is it safer and more effective to spread the data to record?
This person is very smart, this person is also very mysterious, and when it comes to blockchain, it must be mentioned.
He is Satoshi Nakamoto, an expert in cryptography. In 2008, he invented something called the peer-to-peer electronic cash system.
What do you mean?
For example, I also want to transfer 100 yuan to you, can you not use the centralized bookkeeping method. Suppose, in the network, there are a million computers, I transfer money to you at the same time, shout to a million computers, I will transfer 100 yuan to you. As a result, each computer keeps the account in its own small ledger.
So, is that safe?
It's safe. Because every account is unified. 1 million ledgers, all record that I transferred 100 pieces to you. If you want to, you can't get rid of it.
However, you can change the data. I obviously turned, but you have to say that you did not turn, change your own computer data, no.
Useless. The minority obeys the majority. If you want to convince everyone, it means modifying more than 51% of the data in a million computers in the entire network, which is almost impossible. And in the actual online world, it could be hundreds of millions, billions, or even more computers. Almost impossible to change.
Therefore, when many people mention blockchain, they will say decentralized and immutable, which is how it comes.
At this point, let's summarize it first:
Centralized bookkeeping is the existence of all transactions in a unified database. Distributed bookkeeping, is to broadcast each of our transactions to the whole network, everyone records, everyone keeps an exact same ledger on the computer, anyone who wants to modify, you have to convince most of the computers, this is almost impossible to complete a thing, thus ensuring security.
This is distributed ledger, and two features and perspectives: decentralized, and immutable. (Remember these two points, use later)
So, what about encryption?
— 2 —
What is encrypted distributed accounting?
After understanding the logic just now, you may have another problem:
So why should this million computers help you keep your books? What is its motivation?
Because you can get incentives. Blockchain, invented a set of reward mechanisms, incentivize everyone to bookkeeping to contribute.
For example, if I transfer a sum of money to you and you transfer a sum of money to someone else, these are all to be recorded. This data is packaged into a box, and inside the box, in addition to these transfers to be recorded, there are also tokens (tokens) for rewards.
Whoever of you is willing to keep a bookkeeper, then the tokens in this will be rewarded to whom.
In Satoshi Nakamoto's invention, this token used for rewards is Bitcoin.
So, you may suddenly understand the relationship between blockchain and Bitcoin.
We move on.
Now, with this reward mechanism, everyone wants to keep accounts, I also want Bitcoin, he also wants Bitcoin, a million computers want to bookkeeping. So to whom?
Compete to see who can get bitcoins.
This way of competing is called proof-of-work.
Since you all want to keep this account, I'll come up with a math problem. Whoever solves it, give it to whom.
This math problem, which is difficult and difficult, is specifically "encrypted".
If you want to solve the code and figure out this math problem, there is almost only one way, which is to brute force. Try them one by one.
At this time, it depends on who has more computers and whose computers are faster.
So, there's one thing you've probably heard of, called computing power.
Those who have more computers, those who have more powerful computers, have stronger computing power. The probability of calculating this mathematical problem is greater. Whoever figures it out, who owns the bitcoins.
Then, everyone began to verify the answer to this mathematical problem, and sure enough, it was correct. Other computers, no matter how far they count, give up.
However, there is still an obligation. The obligation is that since you figured out the answer, you take the money, but because I am also involved in this game, the final accounting, every computer involved in the calculation, still has to be recorded in its own account.
In this way, it is guaranteed that each computer has a distributed unified ledger.
This is called encrypted distributed ledgering.
Then, we also got a third feature and perspective on blockchain, a unique set of reward mechanisms. (Remember this point of view, use it later)
— 3 —
What exactly is blockchain used for?
Now, you have a general understanding of what a blockchain is.
Blockchain is an encrypted distributed bookkeeping technology.
This technique has three characteristics and views:
Decentralized, immutable, reward mechanism.
So what is the use of this technology?
Great usefulness. I'll give you an example, for example, that can solve a third-party trust problem.
You're going to buy a house, give the money to the seller, and the seller will transfer the title deed to you.
When trading, in general, you may have to pay a deposit first. For example, 500,000.
At this time, you may think, what if I give 500,000 first, and finally he eats it, saying that he did not give it?
So, you will ask the seller to take the property deed to the agent, or go to the notary office. Wait until the transfer of the house before the balance of the down payment is sent.
Did you find it? In order to gain trust, in fact, both parties pay higher transaction costs and give a service fee to the third party.
In real transactions, not only intermediaries, notaries, but also many other third-party trust institutions. These are all costs.
So, what if blockchain is used?
It can use a set of algorithms to record and ensure that you and the seller have actually made a transaction. Real, immutable, so there is no need for a third party to appear.
Therefore, a lot of manpower and material resources will be saved in the middle. Through blockchain, the transaction costs and trust costs of the whole society may be greatly reduced.
The trust mechanism to go to a third party is one of the applications.
Then, there will be a lot of other possibilities and applications.
Such as?
For example, at the beginning we mentioned, the recent explosion of web3.0, NFT, metaverse.
Let's look at them one by one.
— 4 —
What is web 3.0? What's the use?
Let's start with web 3.0.
Since there is 3.0, there must be web 1.0, and web 2.0.
What is web 1.0?
In fact, it is the first generation of the Internet.
For example, the earliest Internet may be a portal. For example, Sina, Sohu, NetEase, Yahoo.
The characteristic of these websites is that the content is mainly organized by the editors of these websites, and as users, we can only browse, read only (Read-Only).
So, the feature of web1.0 is: Read.
So, what is web 2.0?
Web2.0 is the Internet we are experiencing. For example, Weibo, WeChat, Facebook.
The development of the Internet has gone a step further, content, not only produced by the platform, as users, we can also contribute content.
You can write posts, you can post articles, you can shoot videos.
Not only readable, but also written.
So, the feature of web2.0 is: Read+Write.
But, however, this is not enough.
Because some people have found a problem, that is, although I create and contribute content, in essence, this content does not belong to me, but to the platform.
What do you mean?
I wrote an article on the site that attracted a lot of users. However, the website may take my stuff to advertise, to monetize and make money, but it will not share with me at all.
Platforms, leveraging your content, take your data, rob you of your time, and as users, compared to the platform, we are almost insignificant, with only weak influence and meager gains.
And, because the platform has ownership, it may even remove you as long as it doesn't look good to you.
Delete your speech, delete your traces, or even delete your entire being. Make you disappear forever.
So some people say, this doesn't work. We need web 3.0.
What is web 3.0?
It is not only readable, writable, but also possessable. I want to have my own data and content, my own power and revenue. I have the final say, not the platform.
So, web3.0 is characterized by: Read+Write+Own.
How does this work?
Need we mentioned earlier, blockchain technology.
All my contributions, because blockchain (decentralized, immutable, reward mechanisms), can be recorded and incentivized.
For example, if I write an article, I will be rewarded with 10 tokens. I wrote 100 articles and rewarded me with 1,000 tokens. These records and incentives have always been there.
If one day the project continues to evolve and the tokens become more and more valuable, then I will share the dividends of development and take away the part that belongs to me.
That is to say, in the eyes of many people, web 3.0 is the next generation of the Internet.
We can create content more freely, and that content will be recorded and rewarded.
This is web 3.0.
(The picture I drew, not very good,) but tried my best...) ）
So, NFT, what is it?
— 5 —
What is an NFT? What's the use?
NFT, called Non-Fungible Token in English, Chinese called "non-homogeneous token".
In simple terms, every token is different and unique.
So, what is the use of this "unique" token?
First of all, it is the confirmation of rights. One thing that can be identified is yours.
Let me give you an example.
For example, if you want to buy a painting, this painting is very expensive, it is the heirloom of a French aristocrat. But then, without knowing why, it was stolen by an Italian, and now it is in the hands of a Dutchman.
So the question is, is this painting belonging to this Frenchman, or italian, or dutch?
It's not clear at all.
But with NFTs, this problem may be solved.
This painting, which can be transformed into an NFT work using blockchain technology.
Remember, blockchain has some characteristics, every record, is traceable, and can not be tampered with.
Well, even if the painting is stolen and robbed, on the blockchain, no transaction takes place. In other words, the property rights have not changed, and the ownership of this painting is still the Frenchman.
NFT, in this way, gives a lot of things to confirm the right. I own this "unique" token and I have ownership.
So, what is the use besides confirming rights?
Then, it can be traced back.
On the blockchain, every transaction is public, so you can know how ownership flows.
This painting turned out to be in A's hand. Then B bought it for 500 yuan. B then sold the painting to C for 10,000 pieces. From A→ B→C, clear.
And, because it can be traced back, NFTs have a lot of new "ways to play".
Or take selling paintings as an example.
You're an artist who's always painted for a living. Suddenly, one day, your friend came to congratulate you and said do you know that one of your paintings can sell for 100,000 pieces.
You are happy, but also helpless. This painting, you sold it for 10 yuan, you only earned 10 yuan. Now it's sold for 100,000, and it has nothing to do with you.
But because with NFT technology, you can trace the source, you can turn the painting into a digital work, and at the beginning, set a rule. Every transaction, to the person at the source, 10%.
So, if the painting sells for 100,000 this time, you can get 10,000. If you sell for 500,000 next time, you can get 50,000.
In this way, every transaction is related to you. Because you are the source, the creator of this painting, you should get a share of the proceeds.
Therefore, the first place where NFTs started to be hot, and indeed the art circle, greatly encouraged the art market.
There are a lot of artists who are starting to do digital assets.
Even, a digital avatar can sell for tens of millions of dollars.
(Image from a screenshot of the OpenSea website)
I know, seeing this, you might ask, isn't this a digital avatar? If I copy and paste it for myself, can I?
OK.
Therefore, this is also the problem of NFT now, it can confirm the right and trace the source, but there is no way to prevent counterfeiting.
Can confirm the right, can trace the source, know that this thing is yours. But others pirate to use, you can't help it. These are two different things.
That is, you know that he is fake, and he knows that his is fake, but you have no way to punish him at the moment.
Therefore, NFTs can now confirm their rights, but it is difficult to enforce the law.
Perhaps, you have another question in mind right now, about the "wealth code." Why are these avatars so expensive to sell for tens of millions of dollars? Is it really worth that much money?
My personal opinion, expensive reasons, because it was the first batch, are scarce.
Just like philately, you go buy stamps, and for 1 dollar in denomination, you spend 1 dollar.
However, if this stamp is the first stamp in human history, then even if the denomination is 1, you may spend hundreds of thousands or even millions to buy it.
This is also true of these digital avatars.
They may be the first digital works to use NFT technology, and the number is extremely limited, so many people are scrambling and hyping.
But I think not all NFTs are worth that much money.
Now that we've talked about web 3.0 and NFT, what about the metaverse?
— 6 —
When did you enter the metaverse?
What is the metacosm?
You may have heard a lot of explanations and read a lot of articles, but no one can know exactly what the metaverse looks like.
Some people say it's like the world in the movie Ready Player One. But in fact, we can only vaguely know that it is a virtual world.
As for what's in that virtual world, what it's like, frankly, I don't think anyone knows. If anyone can know, then I must think this person is too confident.
Like people in the 20th century, when they predict what will happen in the 21st century, it's just naïve to look back.
For example, at that time, some people predicted that in the year 2000, there would be oversized fruits and vegetables. Beans will grow as big as beets, and each person only needs one fruit.
For example, at that time, some people predicted that video calls would happen, but through a similar way of screen projection.
(Image from the Internet)
Our current predictions and imaginations of the metaverse are also based on existing experience.
So, asking what the metaverse looks like may be unanswered.
Maybe it would be more meaningful to ask when we're going to enter the metaverse and see what the real metaverse looks like.
So, when? I felt that I had to cross three doors.
The first door: the time gate.
On Weibo, Luo Yonghao transferred a foreigner named Shaan Puri's meta-cosmology.
The metacosm may not be a concept of space, but a concept of time.
I agree.
My understanding is that as we spend more and more time in the virtual world, until we exceed the real world, it can be said that we may have entered the metaverse.
Now, the amount of time we spend in the virtual world, maybe 3 hours, 5 hours, 8 hours, or even 12 hours.
The first door, we were almost about to cross.
But not yet. Because there is a second door.
The second door: the door of the senses.
This door, to cross, is still a little difficult.
The essence of the current Internet is still an audiovisual experience.
Look at the text, look at the pictures, watch the video, watch the live stream. No matter how it evolves, it is approaching the limits of vision and hearing.
However, to truly want to live in the virtual world, you need other senses. Touch, smell, taste.
Only in this way can the experience of the virtual world be indistinguishable from the real world.
Touch, relatively simple. There are a lot of companies that are developing their own sensory devices. For example, tactile gloves, which have a large number of sensors on them. When you're in the virtual world, touching a suit, the sensors really send you some pressure and give you a tactile feeling.
So, what about smell and taste?
I don't know. But I believe there are a large number of companies out there right now that are working on it.
And only by breaking through the senses can we truly enter the world of the metaverse.
Then, there is the third door.
Third door: Select the door.
Choose the door, that's when we have to make a choice:
Would you rather live in the real world or in the virtual world?
Just like many people are opening their brains, perhaps in the future, the real world will no longer need the physical body, and all our thoughts, memories, and feelings can be placed in the virtual world by technical means.
At this time, how do you choose?
When many people actually choose to migrate to the virtual world, we can say that it is a metaverse era.
Today, we are still wandering in front of the first door, imagining.
But I believe that the further we go, the closer we are to the metacosm, the more we know what the metacosm is.
— 7 —
web3.0,NFT,ex-universe
How far has it been?
Now, we're done with web 3.0, NFT, metaversms, and then there's a question:
How far have they evolved? How far are we from the future?
I drew a picture, and the name of this picture was called, The Gettler Curve. The 5 numbers I'm labeling refer to the 5 stages that a technology goes through.
1, the embryonic stage of technology.
When a new technology appears, it is very innovative, very eye-catching, and causes everyone to discuss.
Some people feel that this technology could change the world.
Then, keep pushing.
2, the expected expansion period.
This kind of boost will be reflected in the rendering of the media, the speculation of public opinion, and even the rise and fall of prices.
Everyone will keep pushing and pushing to the top.
Some also call this period, bubbles.
3, bubble bursting valley bottom period.
Push it all the way up, after all, someone can't catch it. When people find that the value of the hype is greater than the actual value, it may suddenly collapse.
Then, desperately fall down. Fall to the bottom.
4, steady climbing recovery period.
At the bottom, it does not mean that this technology is really worthless.
There will still be people who really study technology and overcome difficult problems. At this time, it is a recovery period.
Steady climb.
5, production maturity period.
When is the climb? Until you get out of the bottom. Back to the public's vision again.
But this time, it may not be just hype. It's a truly mature technology.
At this time, it can be put into production and affect the business world on a larger scale.
So, the Gettler curve describes these 5 stages.
When a new technology is born, it will climb to the top at the craziest speed, then quickly slide down to the bottom, and then rise slowly and smoothly. To use eight words to describe it is: big ups and downs, stable development.
Using this curve, we can understand the development cycle and process of many new technologies.
Well, you can also clearly see on the graph that my feeling is that web3.0, NFT, metaverse, are all in the 1st-2 stages and are climbing to the top. It's just that some are faster, some are slower.
Now, you also know the stages of development of these technologies. Next, we need to discuss an important question:
Who are they now, participating in the world?
— 8 —
5 kinds of people in this world
I would like to sum it up in one sentence:
In this world, the earliest is the idealist, the fastest is the liar, the boldest is the adventurer, the most afraid of missing out on the leek drilling in, and the person who can finally succeed may not have entered.
The first to appear must be the idealist.
They want to change the world, passionately.
Whether it will work or not, I don't know. But we must admit that whatever the final outcome, it was they who drove the world forward in the first place.
However, there are also scammers.
For scammers, it doesn't matter if the ideal can be realized, but it is true that you can make money.
For example, scammers also do projects and issue tokens. This token, a total of 100 million coins, of which 80%, will be distributed to contributing users. The remaining 20% is left to our team as money for development and operations.
Then, the crooks will desperately market, create momentum, and speculate on the price of the token. It may be from 1 dollar, quickly to 10 yuan, 100 yuan.
Scammers will sell all the tokens in their hands in the market, make 100 times, and then take the money and run away.
At this time, the adventurers will also enter. They know that idealists and cheaters exist at the same time, and they know that the stakes are extremely high, but they are bold.
I bet myself that I could run faster than a liar. If 100 blocks are going to collapse, then I will leave the market with 80 blocks. I also bet myself that if I can guess that there may be only 0.1% of the idealists, and they succeed, then I am 1000 times, 10000 times, or even higher earnings.
Then, seeing that the adventurers were really making money, afraid of missing the leeks, I couldn't help it.
The day before yesterday, it was 1 yuan, and I didn't buy it. Yesterday looked at 1.5 pieces, I haven't bought it yet. Today, it has suddenly risen to 10 pieces! So what about tomorrow, will it rise to 50?
After rushing in, you may become the person who takes over the plate.
What about the last person to succeed? You may not have entered the market yet.
A lot of people say that these technologies are now very much like the early Internet. But who were the early days of the internet, do you remember? For example, Yinghaiwei. But the name of this site, I think a lot of people have never heard of it.
I've used an analogy, this thing, like a series, a total of 30 episodes.
In episode 1, the idealists appear.
In episode 2, the crook can't wait and appears.
In episode 3, the adventurers rush in and participate in it as well.
In episode 4, the leeks watched for a long time, and finally couldn't stand it.
But the one who ends up will probably not appear until episode 15.
Now this drama may have been filmed for less than 5 episodes.
So, don't worry.
— 9 —
brief summary
This article is almost here. The article is relatively long, and there are more things to talk about, so let's make a brief summary.
1, blockchain, is an encrypted distributed bookkeeping technology.
2, blockchain, has several basic features, decentralized, immutable, unique reward mechanism.
3, web3.0, is Read+Write+Own. Not only readable, but also writable, but also possessable.
4, NFT, is a non-homogeneous token. It can be used to confirm rights and trace the source, but it is not yet possible to prevent counterfeiting.
5, the metaverse, we do not know exactly what it looks like, but to enter the world of the metacosm, we have to cross three doors: the time gate, the sensory door, and the choice door.
6, to judge the stage of development of these technologies, we can refer to the Gettler curve. A technology generally has 5 stages of development: the embryonic period of technology, the period of expected expansion, the period of bubble bursting and the bottom period, the period of steady climbing recovery, and the period of production maturity.
7, in this new world, there are currently 5 kinds of people. To sum it up in one sentence: the first to rise is the idealist, the fastest is the liar, the boldest is the adventurer, the most afraid of missing out on the leek drilling in, and the person who can finally succeed may not have entered.
— 10 —
What attitudes should we treat and participate in?
This last question is also one of the most important.
We have a general understanding of blockchain, web3.0, NFT, metaverse, so what kind of attitude should be treated and participated?
Always pay attention and think.
Because these new technologies, new things, are evolving and changing too fast. This requires us to constantly observe and learn.
If possible, participate appropriately while ensuring safety. I think it will give you a more real sense of the world.
Finally, I would like to say that many of these things I have shared are only my personal views, not necessarily right, and it is inevitable that there will be a leak.
If you want, you can also share your observations, views, in the message area, or share the article to the circle of friends, let's discuss together.
These discussions, I think, will be very meaningful for everyone to understand this new world better.
Because no matter what, this future will come sooner or later. And this future may really change our lives dramatically.
Maybe everyone's sharing and discussion will allow us to meet earlier in the future.
I am filled with blessings. And I'm looking forward to it.