Which areas are strongest in 2023?

Vicktoria Klich is co-founder of w3.fund. The new venture capital fund invests in both equity and tokens and does not shy away from NFTs. As a crypto enthusiast, Vicktoria is always on the lookout for tomorrow’s trends. Even if the triumph of the Web3 economy is out of the question for Vicktoria, there are still a few hurdles to be overcome, as she herself admits. In the conversation we wanted to know if Vicktoria has doubts about Web3, which areas will be strongest in 2023 and whether the Metaverse has failed for the time being. You can find more exciting interviews in the BTC-ECHO Experts Podcast.

BTC-ECHO: Web3 has often been declared “dead” and labeled as a marketing gimmick. Have there been moments in the last few months when you had doubts about Web3?

Victoria Klich: No, actually not and I speak for my whole team. If you were there relatively early on, you noticed the potential that can be tapped. The development of the last 12 months has been extremely fast, regardless of a good or bad market phase. Once you understand how it all works and what it can eventually be, I don’t think anyone would go out of there again. Sure, you might change your business model or work on a different project because sentiment has changed. I can no longer imagine that Web3 will disappear.

NFTs are different. There are collectibles, gaming, brands, fashion and the metaverse. Which of these Web3 areas will be strongest in 2023?

I see the essence of NFTs as virtual goods that are much easier to reach for the mainstream. Starbucks is now launching the Virtual Stamps, which are also NFTs, Reddit is making digital collectibles, all of which are worth under $10, and Nike is making virtual fashion between $10 and $50. The crux of the matter is when a lot of people get access to something they’ve always been denied because they always thought they couldn’t afford it. That can get big in 2023. NFTs that everyone can afford, although most people don’t even know they are NFTs.

Has the Metaverse failed for now?

It went in the wrong direction. We don’t have a good reason to hang out in these browser-based virtual worlds right now. This is also partly due to the network effect. If you know there’s only five people, why would you go in there? It’s the same as with every social media platform: as long as you don’t have a use case, you’re not forced to go there. To be fair, there are many worlds that aren’t quite working right yet. With The Sandbox you still have this beta phase. Decentraland has kind of always been there and is easy to use. Every corporate positions itself there with headquarters, in my opinion without knowing what they are supposed to do there.

However, it must be ensured that the active users are always measured in transactions. So ultimately you have to differentiate between how many players go in there and how many just look at it. To me, that’s not the go-to metaverse argument either, as it’s being portrayed now.