From Onchain to Mainstream

This is an opinion piece from the pen of Sophon’s marketing lead, @oskaritem

User experience drives adoption. It really is that simple: users adopt products and services that enhance their lives – whether through convenience, entertainment, value, or other benefits.

When it comes to 'Web3', the conversation often focuses on the technology’s revolutionary potential. We say, "Everyone should use crypto." But adoption doesn’t happen because of bold claims. It always begins with perceived benefits. And once early users are able to showcase the real advantages in practice, others naturally join in, creating a snowball effect of adoption.

Entertainment platforms thrive on this. A social media app is only valuable if your friends are also using it, and a game often becomes more enjoyable with a bigger player base. But while many platforms excel at building networks, they lack a way for users to own their contributions and share in the value created.

This is the significant gap in users' digital experiences – a missing 'value layer' that enables direct economic participation and ownership. By seamlessly introducing this layer into consumer applications, we can provide the very benefits that spark widespread adoption. Creators who understand this are poised to make a substantial impact. By providing the tools and support needed, Sophon is enabling a new era of consumer applications where shared economies, collective ownership, and direct incentives for participation improve the user experience for everyone.

From the Social Layer to the Value Layer of the Internet

When we talk about the value layer of the internet, we're referring to the tech that enables value transfer, true ownership, and seamless interoperability online (i.e. crypto). It's the next logical step after the social layer – a layer where value is as native to the internet as content is today.

When interactive content first hit the internet, users didn’t care about the underlying technology– they cared about what it enabled. They could create, interact, and share more freely. People didn’t excitedly tell their friends about “Java”, they told their friends about the cool new things they could do online. The technology served the user experience, not the other way around. Similarly, the value layer unlocks a new era of interaction: true ownership, interoperability, security without intermediaries, and a global, transparent experience from day one – where users are directly rewarded for their participation. Which is all of course jargon until an end-user can feel how it improves their life.

For consumers, the internet has always been just 'the internet,' free from the complexity of hardware and software layers. People interact with it through whichever device offers the best experience at the time. Apps that gain adoption are chosen for being useful, necessary, or fun.

Hot(ish) take: The term Web3 won’t exist in 5 years, but its benefits will power everything you use.

When online banking first launched, users didn’t care about the backend tech – they cared that they could manage their finances without stepping foot in a bank. No user cares about the codecs Spotify uses – they care about instant access to their music. And everyone knows that streaming didn’t win because of the tech, it won because of convenience. The value layer can enable similar 10x UX improvements for how we manage our digital lives across the entire economy.

We're seeing this play out with stablecoins in emerging markets. The end-user experience is 10x better than legacy solutions. Why? Because a person in Argentina can actually keep, control, and send the value they earn. Even though there might be significant friction in exchanging a hyperinflationary fiat currency for an onchain one, the benefits outweigh the struggle. The UX is so much better that people are willing to overcome obstacles to adopt it. Technology will follow, and the friction will be resolved.

Often, people can’t articulate what they need. It’s visionaries who see how the internet economy should evolve, and platforms like Sophon need to empower this next generation of visionaries to bring those visions to life.

Putting Consumer Experience First

Where do people spend most of their time online? Entertainment. Whether they’re gaming, streaming, or sharing content, entertainment has always been where user experience matters most. As it’s not a necessity like finances, consumers aren’t willing to jump through hoops for a 10% improvement. The opportunity is massive, but capturing it requires full attention and a dedicated focus on the unique needs of this vertical. That’s why Sophon is focused on this space first – making ownership and value creation as easy and intuitive as clicking 'play,' building experiences where users feel the difference immediately. Online entertainment is ripe for evolution.

It's not about building the best 'Web3’ or ‘crypto app’; it's about creating experiences that deliver real, added value. People adopt technologies that offer tangible benefits. We’re challenging legacy systems like traditional media platforms and centralized marketplaces, that weren’t built with the 'value layer' in mind, making seamless integration difficult.

Consumer crypto is about leveraging this new value layer to build better experiences on the internet.

The question is: Can startups distribute faster than incumbents can adapt? (h/t Alex Rampell) We believe they can. We just need to move beyond our fixation on industry-specific terminology and focus on delivering value to users.

While writing this, I came across a tweet from Jacquelyn Melinek that made me laugh. We really don’t need new words, let’s just fix the backend to enable a better UX.

Sophon’s Approach

At Sophon, we've laid the groundwork to make it incredibly easy for all builders (i.e. Creators) to build from the ground up – adopting the best parts of both online and onchain infrastructure. We're talking about empowering existing creators who see the tenfold user benefit achievable by tapping into the internet's value layer.

We're actively building the tools to make it easier than ever for all creators to harness the power of the value layer. We handpick our partners carefully to ensure we share the same vision. We're building for the long term – for a better, fairer internet. This approach allows us to give our partners the support they truly need. It's about curation, not collection. (More on this in a future article.)

By focusing on entertainment and experiences that resonate with everyday users, we are leading the shift to a more consumer-centric internet.

Breaking Free

The future isn't about ‘Web3’ conquering ‘Web2’ It's about leveraging the value layer to build better experiences for consumers on the internet. Let's shift the narrative from technology for technology's sake to technology serving the user.

At Sophon, we're committed to this vision. We’re not just building for the sake of it – we’re building because we believe the internet can be better, fairer, and more fun for everyone.

Sophon becomes what you create.

Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, financial or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any digital assets and the use of finance-related terminology are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute any recommendation for any action or an offer to provide investment, financial or other advisory services. This content may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to purchase any digital asset referenced herein. The content speaks only as of the date indicated.