From onchain to real world

Exploring the Real Value of Web3 from the Perspective of Memecoin and Entrepreneurs

Introduction

The Web3 ecosystem has evolved significantly, giving rise to numerous mature projects. However, their influence remains largely confined to the on-chain world. While practitioners tirelessly pursue the ultimate vision of Web3, few have deeply considered a critical question: What is the core value of Web3? And how many people truly understand and embrace this value?

Since the inception of cryptocurrencies, the Web3 space has been fraught with speculation and controversy. The total volume of on-chain assets has surged, yet their real value remains elusive. Outside the Web3 community, many still dismiss it as a scam, arguing it creates no real value. While I firmly reject this view, I must acknowledge that the value proposition of Web3 can indeed feel perplexing.

As Web3 development encounters bottlenecks, the need to expand its real-world impact has become evident. Since the value of on-chain assets struggles to gain broad recognition, introducing Real-World Assets (RWAs) onto the blockchain appears to be a viable strategy. RWAs, such as stocks, real estate, and bonds, are backed by tangible value, enabling Web3 to quickly gain new use cases and a broader user base.

However, can this strategy truly resolve Web3’s fundamental issues? When we place our hopes for Web3’s influence on real-world assets, does it mean that Web3’s future is inevitably bound to Web2’s rules? In a domain dominated by others, can Web3 still be considered the protagonist? In the Web2 world, such as e-commerce platforms, merchants are part of the ecosystem, but the platform is the real dominant force. Similarly, in the context of RWA, assets like U.S. Treasury bonds or Apple stocks form the core of the ecosystem, while Web3 is relegated to a mere distribution channel, positioned downstream and earning meager profits. Such a scenario clearly prevents Web3 from being the protagonist.

Thus, while introducing RWAs can serve as a critical transitional approach to expanding Web3’s influence, it is by no means the ultimate answer. The future of Web3 lies in discovering and realizing its native value and bringing that value into the real world. The core value of Web3 should not merely replicate real-world assets but create an entirely new value system. Only when Web3’s value is genuinely integrated into the real world’s economic system can it break free from reliance on Web2 and become the real protagonist. This is the ultimate vision of Web3 and the direction we collectively strive for.

“let Nasdaq trade tokens, not DEXs trade stocks.”

What is the Real Value of Web3?

After all this discussion, what exactly is the core value of Web3? On-chain assets like BTC and ETH may lack traditional real-world backing, but their value stems from the trust and consensus built through decentralization, transparency, and autonomy. This value does not arise out of thin air, it is realized by reestablishing trust and collaboration between individuals.

From the perspective of "first principles" thinking, the real value of Web3 lies in its provision of a new model of collaboration for human society: a decentralized, transparent, and programmable trust mechanism. This mechanism not only transforms how assets are circulated but also reestablishes human connections—shifting from reliance on centralized institutions to reliance on code and consensus.

How Does the Outrun Ecosystem Reestablish Connections Between People?

Let’s bring the discussion back to the Outrun ecosystem. How does Outrun reestablish connections between people? This inevitably points to the Memeverse module, which enhances interoperability among Memecoin, DeFi, and DAO, reconnecting entrepreneurs, users, and investors to form a new collaborative model. The core of this model lies in shifting from traditional “top-down” entrepreneurship to “bottom-up” user-driven entrepreneurship.

Limitations of the Traditional Entrepreneurship Model

From the entrepreneur's perspective, the traditional approach to entrepreneurship is top-down. Its process typically unfolds as follows:

1. Entrepreneurs analyze the market and user psychology, then design and develop an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).

2. The MVP is delivered to initial users for testing. Feedback is collected, generating new insights.

3. Based on these new insights, the product is continuously iterated to gradually clarify the real value and formulate a business model.

4. Seek investor support, leverage funding to scale the user base and product, and finally lead to success?

This might seem like a reasonable path, but in reality, the majority end in failure. This is because the perceived "real value" sometimes isn't real at all:

• User Need Uncertainty: Users often cannot clearly articulate their needs and may be influenced by short-term emotions or biases, rendering feedback potentially misleading.

• Entrepreneurial Misinterpretation of Feedback: Entrepreneurs might draw the wrong conclusions from user feedback, misjudge market trends, causing the product direction to stray from real value.

• Investor Experience Limitations: An investor's past successes might not apply to every entrepreneur, especially in fast-changing markets.

• The Uncontrollable Nature of Luck: Wasted resources and incorrect directions make success contingent on chance. Luck often remains a key factor in entrepreneurial success or failure.

Thus, much effort ends up being wasted. This is because it's a top-down entrepreneurial journey, while the fate of the enterprise rests with users who might not even know what they want.

Bottom-Up, User-Driven Entrepreneurship

What about a bottom-up approach to entrepreneurship? The Outrun ecosystem, via its Memeverse module, introduces a bottom-up entrepreneurship model, making user consensus and demand the core driving force for ventures. This model is no longer led by entrepreneurs and investors but is instead user-led, driving the formation of products and business models through community consensus.

1. Using Memecoin as a Starting Point: Memecoin is a highly community-driven asset. It leverages emotional value and consensus to build communities and achieve viral user growth. Memecoin's unique characteristic is that it doesn't need clearly defined real value from the outset; instead, value is progressively discovered through community engagement and consensus.

2. Transitioning from Emotional to Real Value: Although the emotional value of Memecoin can drive short-term explosive growth, the community will ultimately lose faith if real value cannot be established over the long term. Memeverse facilitates this transition by offering Staking and DAO governance mechanisms, helping the community convert emotional value into tangible real value.

Specific Implementation of Memeverse

1. Community-Driven: The Emotional Value Consensus of Memecoin

• Community Building: Communities are established by issuing Memecoin, using emotional value as the unifying bond to rapidly gather users and establish consensus. The initiator's identity is unimportant, as the DAO forms the core of community cohesion, endowing it with an economic foundation and influence.

• Emotion-Driven Early Growth: In the early stages of community building, driven by emotional value, users trade Memecoin, accumulating income for both the Yield Vault and the DAO Treasury. Users can stake their Memecoin in the Yield Vault to earn yield.

2. DAO Governance: User-Led Resources and Decision-Making

• Proposals and Voting: Aligned with community consensus, community members directly propose needs, ideas, or solutions. Decisions regarding execution, treasury fund allocation, and implementation responsibility are determined via DAO governance proposal voting, eliminating the need for external entrepreneurs or investors.

• Economic Autonomy and Transparency: The DAO grants the community economic autonomy, ensuring its independence from external control. Its decentralized mechanisms guarantee transparency and fairness, re-establishing trust among participants.

3. Role Integration: A Trinity of User, Entrepreneur, and Investor

• Multiple Identities: Users simultaneously fulfill multiple roles: they are the proposers of needs and ideas, the executors of solutions (acting as entrepreneurs), and participants in investment decisions via staking (acting as investors). Decision-making authority is delegated to the users, reducing cognitive biases and resource wastage, thus boosting entrepreneurial efficiency.

• Consensus Iteration: Within the "Develop-Measure-Learn" cycle, users lead throughout the entire process. They continuously refine the community's self-awareness and consensus, progressively converting short-term emotional value into sustainable, long-term real value.

The core value of Web3 lies in re-establishing direct connections between people through decentralized, transparent, and programmable trust mechanisms. Outrun's Memeverse module, by leveraging a bottom-up entrepreneurial model, brings the core values of Web3 into the real world. It not only addresses the limitations of traditional entrepreneurial models but also provides a sustainable path for realizing the native values of Web3. Users are no longer passive recipients but become creators and leaders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, thereby achieving true value co-creation. By making users the core driving force of entrepreneurship, Outrun is exploring a brand new future driven by community consensus.

Real-World Adoption Examples

1. Charity Donation DAO: In response to a natural disaster, a Grant DAO can be initiated with the consensus of “post-disaster reconstruction.” Supporters join the DAO’s creation and trade Memecoins to build a strong community. Without requiring donations, trading activities generate substantial funds for the DAO treasury. Community members can propose specific aid initiatives, transparently authorized and executed by the DAO, with funds free from individual control. In the future, the community can pivot to other charitable DAOs or pursue new consensuses.

2. Build DAO: To support real-world entrepreneurs, a Build DAO can be established. Community members propose using treasury funds to host hackathons, fostering innovation, or to invest in promising projects or winning teams, ensuring sustainable growth of DAO funds and boosting the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

3. Product DAO: Grassroots teams lacking VC support can launch a Product DAO based on their product. Even without a polished product, they can first build a community via Memecoins. The team cannot control the treasury but can persuade the community to allocate phased funding for development. Once mature, the product can empower the community’s Memecoin or distribute project tokens. The DAO’s governance protects members from fraud by the project team.

Additionally, there are numerous other examples, too many to list individually. Even communities established without any specific theme—solely based on a celebrity’s casual remark or a cat/dog meme—can, as long as their community consensus is sufficiently strong, leverage DAO treasury funds to undertake all sorts of interesting initiatives. Even projects that appear meaningless or difficult to comprehend can be realized, provided they pass the community’s vote. Memeverse seamlessly integrates Web3’s unique value with real-world demands, unleashing infinite possibilities.

This is the unique romance of Web3. Outrun’s alternative interpretation of RWA is Real-World Adoption — From on-chain to the real world.