Cryptocurrencies
Use a hardware wallet to store your cryptocurrencies, not a software wallet on your computer.
Alex kept his life savings in crypto on a software wallet on his computer. One day, he accidentally downloaded a malicious file, and a keylogger stole his password. His wallet was drained in minutes. His friend Maria, however, kept her crypto on a hardware wallet. Even if her computer was infected, a transaction couldn’t be signed without her physically pressing a button on the device. Alex learned a hard lesson: a software wallet is only as secure as the computer it’s on, while a hardware wallet keeps your keys offline and safe.
Stop doing emotional trading. Do have a clear investment strategy and stick to it instead.
During a market crash, Tom panicked. He saw the value of his crypto plummeting and sold everything at a massive loss. A month later, the market had fully recovered. His friend, Sarah, had a simple strategy: she invested a fixed amount every month, regardless of the price, a technique called dollar-cost averaging. During the crash, she just continued her regular purchase. She avoided the emotional stress and ended up with a much better return because she stuck to her plan instead of reacting to fear.
The #1 secret for identifying promising cryptocurrency projects.
The secret is to look beyond the hype and evaluate the team and the problem they are solving. A new investor threw money at a coin with a cool name and a dog mascot, which promptly went to zero. A wiser investor looked at a different project. She researched the development team, saw they had a strong track record, read the whitepaper to understand the real-world problem it solved, and checked that its community was active and engaged. She invested in the substance, not the hype, and her investment grew significantly.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about Bitcoin.
The biggest lie is that Bitcoin is only used for illicit activities. A person was hesitant to invest, believing it was just “magic internet money for criminals.” He then met a freelance developer from a country with high inflation. She explained that she gets paid in Bitcoin because it’s a stable store of value compared to her local currency, which loses its value every month. He realized that for millions of people, Bitcoin isn’t about speculation; it’s a crucial tool for preserving wealth and participating in the global economy.
I wish I knew this about the volatility of the crypto market when I first invested.
I got into crypto during a massive bull run. I invested a large sum, and every day I was seeing huge gains. I felt like a genius. Then, the market turned. In a matter of weeks, my portfolio was down by 70%. I was devastated. I wish I had known that the crypto market is incredibly volatile and that steep corrections are a normal part of its cycle. Understanding this volatility from the start would have prepared me mentally and encouraged me to invest more cautiously.
I’m just going to say it: Most cryptocurrencies are scams.
A new investor joined a Telegram group for a new “meme coin” that promised 1000x returns. The price was rocketing up. He invested a significant amount. A day later, the anonymous developers sold all of their tokens, the price crashed to zero, and the Telegram group was deleted. This “rug pull” is incredibly common. For every legitimate project like Bitcoin or Ethereum, there are thousands of worthless or outright fraudulent tokens created solely to take advantage of new investors’ greed and lack of knowledge.
99% of new crypto investors make this one mistake.
The most common mistake is driven by FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). A new investor sees a coin’s price skyrocketing on Twitter. He’s afraid of missing out on the gains, so he buys in at the peak without doing any research. Almost immediately, the price corrects, and he is left holding a significant loss. He bought high out of emotion. A smarter investor waits for the hype to die down and looks for solid entry points based on research, not on a green candle on a chart.
This one small habit of doing your own research (DYOR) will change your success in the crypto market forever.
A person used to get all his crypto tips from influencers on YouTube. He lost money on several projects they promoted. He decided to change his approach. Before investing in a new project, he adopted the habit of “doing his own research.” He would read the project’s whitepaper, check its GitHub for development activity, and analyze its tokenomics. This one small habit of critical thinking transformed him from a gambler following tips into an informed investor making his own decisions.
The reason you lost money in crypto is because you invested more than you could afford to lose.
A student, hoping to get rich quick, invested his entire student loan into a speculative altcoin. The coin’s value crashed by 90%, and he was left in a devastating financial situation. The golden rule of crypto investing is to only invest what you are fully prepared to lose. The market is highly speculative and risky. By only investing disposable income, you can weather the volatility without it affecting your financial well-being, treating any gains as a bonus, not a necessity.
If you’re still keeping your crypto on an exchange, you’re losing control of your assets.
A trader kept all his crypto on a popular exchange because it was convenient. One day, the exchange went bankrupt and froze all withdrawals. His funds were gone, locked up in legal proceedings for years. This is the meaning of the phrase “not your keys, not your coins.” By keeping your assets on an exchange, you are trusting a third party. By moving your crypto to a personal wallet where you control the private keys, you have true ownership and sovereignty over your funds.
NFTs
Use NFTs to represent ownership of digital assets, not just as a speculative investment.
A musician was frustrated that her music was being streamed for fractions of a penny. She decided to release her new album as an NFT. Her superfans could buy a limited edition of the album, giving them true, provable ownership of a unique digital version. This created a direct connection between her and her audience and allowed her to capture far more of the value from her work. For her, the NFT wasn’t a speculative picture; it was a revolutionary new way to distribute and monetize her art.
Stop doing “right-click and save”. Do understand the technology behind NFTs instead.
A skeptic scoffed at an expensive NFT of a digital artwork. “I can just right-click and save the image for free,” he said. He was missing the point. Anyone can have a print of the Mona Lisa, but only one person or institution can own the original. The NFT is a digitally signed, verifiable certificate of authenticity and ownership recorded on a public blockchain. The value is not in the image file itself, but in the provable ownership of the original token.
The #1 tip for finding NFT projects with real utility.
The most important tip is to look for projects where the NFT is a key to something else. A collector bought a cool-looking picture of a monkey. Another collector bought an NFT that granted him access to an exclusive online community, early access to new products from a brand he loved, and a ticket to an annual real-world event. The second NFT had real, tangible utility beyond the art itself. The projects with the most long-term potential are those where the NFT serves a purpose.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about NFTs being “just JPEGs”.
The lie is that NFTs are only for digital art or profile pictures. An event organizer sold tickets to their music festival as NFTs. This prevented fraud and scalping, as the ownership of each ticket was publicly verifiable. A university issued diplomas as NFTs, making them impossible to forge and easy for employers to verify. NFTs are a flexible technology for representing unique ownership of any asset, digital or physical. Thinking they are “just JPEGs” is like thinking the internet is “just for email.”
I wish I knew this about the gas fees on the Ethereum network when I minted my first NFT.
I was so excited to buy my first NFT. The price of the NFT itself was about $50. I clicked “buy,” and my transaction failed. I tried again. Then I looked at the details and was shocked. The “gas fee”—the cost of processing the transaction on the Ethereum blockchain—was over $100, twice the price of the NFT itself. I wish I had known to check the current gas prices and to be aware that during times of high network congestion, the transaction fees can be incredibly expensive.
I’m just going to say it: The NFT market is in a bubble.
During the peak of the NFT hype, people were spending millions of dollars on simple cartoon pictures, convinced they were the next great investment. Celebrities were promoting projects that had no substance. This speculative frenzy, driven by hype and the fear of missing out, was a classic financial bubble. While the underlying technology of NFTs is revolutionary, the valuations of many of the early projects were unsustainable and disconnected from any real utility or value, and the market has since seen a massive correction.
99% of NFT collectors make this one mistake.
The most common mistake is buying into a project based on hype and a high “floor price” without understanding the community. A collector bought an NFT because he saw it being promoted by influencers. A week later, the hype died down, the community became a ghost town, and the price plummeted. A successful NFT project is a community. Before buying, a smart collector will spend time in the project’s Discord server, see if the community is active and positive, and assess if it’s a group of people they actually want to be a part of.
This one small action of checking the smart contract of an NFT project will change your investment decision forever.
A person was about to spend a lot of money on an NFT. Before he did, he took one small action: he looked up the project’s smart contract on a blockchain explorer. He saw that the creator still had the power to mint an infinite number of new NFTs, which would devalue the entire collection. He also saw that the metadata was not stored on a decentralized service like IPFS, meaning the creator could change the image associated with the NFT at any time. He did not buy the NFT.
The reason your NFT project failed is because it had no community.
A talented artist launched a beautiful collection of NFT art. He made a website, listed it for sale, and waited. Almost nobody bought it. He had made no effort to build a community around his work. A different artist spent the months before her launch building a following on social media, engaging with potential collectors in a Discord server, and telling the story behind her art. When she launched, her collection sold out in minutes because she wasn’t just selling art; she was selling membership into a community that people were excited to join.
If you’re still dismissing NFTs as a fad, you’re losing out on a major technological innovation.
A musician dismissed NFTs as a “scam for JPEGs.” A year later, he saw other artists using NFTs to sell albums directly to their fans, fund new projects without a record label, and give their followers true ownership in their creative work. He realized he had dismissed the technology without understanding its potential. NFTs are not just about speculative art; they represent a fundamental shift in how digital ownership and value can be managed, with profound implications for creators of all kinds.
DeFi
Use DeFi to earn yield on your crypto assets, not just to speculate on token prices.
A person held a significant amount of a stablecoin in their wallet. It was just sitting there, doing nothing. He discovered Decentralized Finance (DeFi). By depositing his stablecoins into a reputable lending protocol like Aave or Compound, he was able to start earning a steady interest rate on his holdings, paid out by borrowers. He was no longer just a passive holder; he was using DeFi to put his assets to work and generate a passive income, much like a traditional savings account, but with different risks and returns.
Stop doing “apeing” into unaudited DeFi protocols. Do understand the risks before you invest.
A DeFi user saw a new protocol on Twitter promising an absurd 1,000,000% APY. Without doing any research or checking if the smart contracts had been audited for security flaws, he “aped” in, investing a large sum. A week later, the protocol was hacked due to a vulnerability in its code, and all the funds were drained. A smart DeFi user will only interact with protocols that have undergone multiple, reputable security audits and have a long track record of reliability.
The #1 secret for finding safe and sustainable yield in DeFi.
The secret is to understand where the yield is coming from. If a protocol is offering a huge APY, you must ask why. Is it coming from real, sustainable revenue, like borrowing fees and trading fees? Or is it coming from inflationary token rewards that will eventually crash to zero? The safest and most sustainable yields in DeFi are those generated by protocols that have a real product-market fit and generate real fees from real users. If the source of the yield seems like magic, it’s probably a mirage.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about the “decentralization” of some DeFi projects.
The lie is that every project with “DeFi” in its name is truly decentralized. A user invested in a protocol that was governed by a DAO. He later discovered that the founding team held 70% of the governance tokens, meaning they had complete, centralized control over every decision. He also found that the front-end website was hosted on a centralized server that could be shut down at any time. Many DeFi projects are on a spectrum of decentralization, and some are much more centralized than they appear.
I wish I knew this about impermanent loss when I first provided liquidity to a DeFi protocol.
I was so excited to become a liquidity provider (LP) in a decentralized exchange. I deposited two different tokens into a liquidity pool to earn trading fees. I didn’t understand “impermanent loss.” As the price of one of the tokens I deposited went up significantly, the protocol automatically rebalanced my holdings. When I withdrew my funds, I found that I would have made more money by simply holding the original two tokens in my wallet. I wish I had known that being an LP carries this unique and counter-intuitive risk.
I’m just going to say it: DeFi is the wild west of finance.
DeFi is an incredible sandbox of financial innovation, with new and exciting protocols launching every day. But it is also an unregulated, high-risk environment. There are no safety nets. There is no FDIC insurance. Smart contract bugs, hacks, and scams are rampant. A person can lose their life savings in an instant due to a single mistake or a malicious actor. While the potential rewards are high, anyone participating in DeFi must do so with extreme caution and a deep understanding of the immense risks involved.
99% of DeFi users make this one mistake.
The most common and dangerous mistake is approving an unlimited spend allowance for a smart contract. When you interact with a DeFi protocol, your wallet will ask you to approve a “spend limit.” For convenience, many users just click “max.” This means that if that protocol’s smart contract is ever compromised, the hacker could have the permission to drain that entire token balance from your wallet. A safer practice is to approve only the specific amount needed for your transaction.
This one small action of revoking smart contract approvals will change the security of your DeFi assets forever.
A user had interacted with dozens of different DeFi protocols over the years, granting each of them permission to spend tokens from his wallet. He learned about the security risk of these lingering approvals. He used a tool to review all the smart contracts he had approved and revoked the access for every protocol he was no longer actively using. This one small housekeeping action dramatically reduced his wallet’s attack surface, protecting him from potential future exploits in old, forgotten protocols.
The reason you got rugged in DeFi is because you didn’t do your research.
A user was lured into a new “yield farm” that had anonymous developers and no security audit. The promised returns were astronomical. He invested his money, and a day later, the developers drained all the funds from the protocol and disappeared. He got “rugged.” The reason this happened was a complete failure to do basic due diligence. A project with anonymous founders, no audit, and unrealistic returns is a massive red flag. In the unregulated world of DeFi, the responsibility to vet projects falls entirely on the user.
If you’re still keeping all your savings in a traditional bank account, you’re losing purchasing power to inflation.
A person kept all of her savings in a bank account that earned 0.1% interest per year. With inflation running at several percent, the real value of her savings was decreasing every single day. She decided to learn about the risks and rewards of DeFi. By converting a small portion of her savings into a stablecoin and depositing it into a reputable, audited lending protocol, she was able to earn a much higher yield that helped to offset the effects of inflation.
DAOs
Use DAOs to collectively govern and manage projects, not just as a way to raise money.
A group of developers had an idea for a new open-source project. Instead of forming a traditional company, they formed a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The DAO issued governance tokens that allowed the community of users and contributors to vote on the project’s roadmap and how its treasury should be spent. This wasn’t just a fundraising mechanism; it was a new, transparent way to build and manage a project with its community as the collective owners.
Stop doing centralized decision-making. Do embrace the principles of decentralized governance instead.
In a traditional company, a CEO and a small group of executives make all the important decisions. In a DAO, the goal is to distribute that decision-making power. A DAO for a DeFi protocol wanted to change its fee structure. Instead of a single person deciding, a formal proposal was created. Every holder of the DAO’s governance token was able to vote on the proposal. This bottom-up, decentralized approach, while slower, leads to decisions that better reflect the will of the entire community.
The #1 tip for launching a successful DAO.
The most important tip is to build a strong, engaged community before you launch the DAO. A group tried to launch a DAO with a cool idea but no community. The launch failed because nobody was there to participate. A different group spent months building a community on Discord and Twitter around a shared passion. They had lively discussions and built relationships. When they finally launched the DAO, they already had a built-in group of hundreds of passionate people ready to contribute and govern.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about DAOs being a perfect form of governance.
The lie is that DAOs are a magical solution that eliminates all human politics and creates a perfectly fair and efficient system. The reality is that DAOs are still made up of humans. They can suffer from low voter turnout, fights between different factions, and the influence of “whales” (large token holders) who can dominate the vote. While DAOs offer a new and powerful model for governance, they are not a utopia and face many of the same social challenges as any other human organization.
I wish I knew this about the challenges of voter apathy in DAOs when I joined my first one.
I was so excited to join my first DAO and have a say in its governance. I soon discovered that only a tiny fraction of the members actually voted on the proposals. This “voter apathy” was a huge problem. Important decisions were being made by a small, active minority. I wish I had known that motivating a large, distributed group of people to consistently participate in governance is one of the biggest challenges that DAOs face. It requires constant effort to keep the community engaged.
I’m just going to say it: Most DAOs are not truly decentralized.
Many organizations that call themselves a “DAO” are still highly centralized in practice. A DAO might have a public governance forum, but the core development team still holds a majority of the tokens, giving them a permanent veto power. Or, the multi-signature wallet that controls the treasury is controlled by a small, unelected group of founders. True decentralization is a gradual process, and many DAOs are still on the very early part of that journey, with power concentrated in the hands of a few.
99% of DAO members make this one mistake.
The most common mistake is being a passive member. A person will join a DAO’s Discord, buy the token, and then never participate. They don’t read the proposals, they don’t vote, and they don’t join the community calls. A DAO is not a stock you buy; it’s a community you join. Its success is directly dependent on the active participation of its members. A passive member is just a spectator.
This one small action of actively participating in governance proposals will change the future of your DAO forever.
A member of a DAO was frustrated with its direction. Instead of just complaining, she took one small action: she started reading every single governance proposal in the forum and leaving thoughtful comments. She would then vote on every proposal. Her well-reasoned arguments started to influence other members. She went from being a passive critic to an active and respected participant who was helping to shape the future of the organization. The health of a DAO is the sum of these small, individual actions.
The reason your DAO is failing is because of a lack of a clear mission and vision.
A DAO was formed with a vague goal of “investing in cool stuff.” The members were constantly arguing because they had no shared understanding of what they were trying to achieve. The DAO was adrift. A successful DAO has a crystal clear mission statement and a shared vision for the future. This alignment ensures that when it comes time to vote on a proposal, everyone is working from the same set of core principles and towards the same ultimate goal.
If you’re still not exploring the potential of DAOs, you’re losing out on the future of work and collaboration.
A group of freelance artists from around the world wanted to collaborate on a large-scale project. Forming a traditional international company would have been a legal and financial nightmare. Instead, they formed a DAO. The DAO allowed them to pool their funds, collectively own the intellectual property they created, and transparently vote on how to share the profits. This flexible, internet-native organizational structure is creating new possibilities for global collaboration that were never before possible.
The Metaverse
Use the metaverse to create and experience immersive virtual worlds, not just as a marketing buzzword.
A company spent a fortune on a “metaverse” project that was just a 3D model of their product that you could view on a website. It was a boring marketing gimmick. A different group of creators used a metaverse platform to build an interactive, social world—a virtual art gallery where people could meet up, talk to the artists, and experience the art together. They were using the metaverse for its true purpose: creating a shared, immersive, social experience, not just a flashy advertisement.
Stop doing centralized, walled-garden metaverses. Do support open and interoperable metaverses instead.
A large tech company is trying to build a “walled-garden” metaverse, where your avatar, your digital items, and your identity are all locked into their single platform. A more hopeful vision for the metaverse is an open and interoperable one, built on open standards. In this version, you could own your digital identity and your assets, and freely move them between different virtual worlds created by different companies, just like you can navigate between different websites on the open web.
The #1 secret for building a successful metaverse experience.
The secret is that the “metaverse” is not about technology; it’s about community. A company built a technically brilliant, photorealistic virtual world. It was empty. Nobody used it because there was nothing to do and no one to interact with. A different platform, with much simpler graphics, was a huge success because it provided tools for users to create their own games and experiences, and it fostered a vibrant, active community. People don’t come for the graphics; they come for the other people.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about the metaverse being just around the corner.
The lie, heavily promoted by a few large tech companies, is that a fully-realized, photorealistic metaverse like you see in the movies is just a few years away. The reality is that the hardware and software challenges are immense. We are still decades away from having comfortable, all-day AR/VR glasses and the network infrastructure needed to support a persistent, massive-scale virtual world. The current “metaverse” platforms are interesting experiments, but they are a very long way from the grand vision being sold.
I wish I knew this about the importance of digital identity and avatars in the metaverse.
When I first entered a metaverse platform, I just used a generic, default avatar. I felt disconnected and anonymous. I then spent some time customizing my avatar to reflect my personality. It completely changed my experience. My avatar became my digital identity, the way I presented myself to others in this new social context. I wish I had known that your avatar is not just a game character; it’s your body, your identity, and your primary means of self-expression in the virtual world.
I’m just going to say it: The current version of the metaverse is a disappointment.
After years of hype and billions of dollars of investment, the most popular “metaverse” platforms today often look like a video game from a decade ago, with clunky controls, low-fidelity graphics, and very little to actually do. They are more like a collection of disconnected 3D chat rooms than a revolutionary new version of the internet. The vision is compelling, but the current reality for most users is a deeply underwhelming experience that has failed to live up to its own hype.
99% of brands make this one mistake when entering the metaverse.
The most common mistake is treating the metaverse like a new place to put advertisements. A brand will create a “virtual billboard” or a “virtual store” that is just a static, boring advertisement. This fails to understand the medium. A successful brand in the metaverse creates an engaging, interactive experience. They might create a fun mini-game, host a virtual concert, or offer exclusive digital merchandise for avatars. They provide value and entertainment to the community, rather than just trying to sell them something.
This one small action of creating your own virtual space will change your understanding of the metaverse forever.
A person was skeptical about the metaverse, having only read about it. She decided to try a user-friendly metaverse platform that allowed her to easily build and customize her own small, virtual “home” space. The act of creating something in 3D, decorating it, and then inviting a friend to come and hang out in the space she had built gave her a “lightbulb” moment. It helped her understand the creative and social potential of the medium in a way that no article ever could.
The reason you’re not excited about the metaverse is because you haven’t tried a compelling experience yet.
A person’s only experience with the metaverse was a clunky, corporate virtual meeting that was worse than a video call. She concluded that the whole thing was useless. Her friend then showed her a highly creative and social VR game where she and a group of friends had to work together to solve a complex escape room. The experience was incredibly fun and immersive. She realized that, like any new medium, the metaverse is full of both boring and brilliant content. You have to find the right experience.
If you’re still thinking that the metaverse is just a video game, you’re losing sight of the next evolution of the internet.
While games are currently the most popular application of metaverse technologies, the long-term vision is much broader. Imagine attending a university lecture with students from around the world in a virtual classroom, or an architect walking through a full-scale virtual model of a building with a client. The metaverse is not just about entertainment; it’s about creating a more immersive and interactive internet for collaboration, education, and commerce. It’s the evolution from a 2D web of pages to a 3D web of spaces.
Web3 Development
Use a smart contract development framework like Hardhat or Truffle, not just writing raw Solidity code.
A new Web3 developer was trying to write and test his smart contracts using just a text editor and the raw compiler. The process was slow and painful. He had to manually manage his dependencies, compile his code, and write complex scripts to test it. He then discovered Hardhat. The framework provided a complete local development environment that allowed him to easily compile his code, run it on a local test network, and write simple, automated tests. It turned a frustrating process into a streamlined, professional workflow.
Stop doing centralized backends for your dApps. Do use decentralized storage and identity solutions instead.
A developer built a “decentralized application” (dApp), but the front-end website was hosted on a centralized server, and all the user data was stored in a traditional, centralized database. The only decentralized part was the smart contract. This is not a true dApp. A true Web3 developer embraces the full decentralized stack. They would host the front-end on a decentralized storage service like IPFS and manage user data and identity using decentralized protocols, creating an application that is genuinely censorship-resistant and user-owned.
The #1 secret for writing secure smart contracts.
The secret is to keep your code as simple as possible. A developer tried to write a highly complex smart contract with intricate logic and multiple external calls. This complexity created a large “attack surface,” and a hacker found a subtle flaw and drained the contract’s funds. The most secure smart contracts are often the shortest and simplest ones. They do one thing, they do it well, and they have minimal external dependencies. Complexity is the enemy of security in the world of smart contracts.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about the ease of Web3 development.
The lie is that if you know how to code, you can easily become a Web3 developer. A skilled web developer thought he could just pick up Solidity in a weekend. He was quickly overwhelmed. He had to learn about a completely new paradigm of immutable code, the economics of gas fees, the intricacies of the Ethereum Virtual Machine, and a whole new class of security vulnerabilities. Web3 development requires a fundamental mental shift and a deep understanding of concepts that have no parallel in traditional software development.
I wish I knew this about the importance of testing on a testnet before deploying to mainnet.
I finished my first dApp and was so excited to launch it. I deployed my smart contracts directly to the Ethereum mainnet. I immediately discovered a critical bug. But because smart contracts on the blockchain are immutable, I couldn’t fix it. The flawed contract was there forever, and the gas fees I spent to deploy it were wasted. I wish I had first deployed and thoroughly tested my application on a public testnet. This final dress rehearsal in a realistic environment is a crucial step to catch bugs before they become permanent and expensive mistakes.
I’m just going to say it: Web3 development is still in its early days and has a steep learning curve.
The tools for Web3 development are still immature, the documentation can be sparse, and the best practices are still being established. A developer starting in Web3 will find that they have to deal with challenges—like managing private keys, understanding complex protocols, and a lack of simple debugging tools—that have long been solved in the traditional web development world. It’s an exciting frontier, but developers need to be prepared for a challenging and often frustrating learning experience.
99% of new Web3 developers make this one mistake.
The most common and dangerous mistake is making assumptions about the security of external contracts they interact with. A developer wrote a smart contract that called a function on another, third-party contract to get a price. He assumed that the external contract was safe. The external contract was later exploited, and the vulnerability cascaded to his contract, resulting in a loss of funds. In Web3, you must adopt a “zero trust” mindset and treat any external contract as potentially malicious.
This one small action of learning about the common smart contract vulnerabilities will change the security of your dApps forever.
A developer was about to deploy a smart contract. Before he did, he took one small action: he spent an afternoon reading about the most common types of smart contract attacks, like reentrancy, integer overflows, and front-running. He reviewed his own code and was horrified to find that he had made a classic reentrancy vulnerability. This one small action of educating himself on the common pitfalls allowed him to fix a critical security flaw before it was exploited, saving his project from a potential disaster.
The reason your dApp is not getting any users is because of a poor user experience.
A Web3 developer built a technically brilliant dApp. But to use it, a person had to install a special browser extension, buy cryptocurrency from an exchange, figure out how to transfer it to their new wallet, and pay a confusing gas fee for every single action. The user experience was so terrible that nobody, except for other crypto-natives, used it. The biggest challenge for Web3 adoption is not the technology, but creating a user experience that is as simple and intuitive as the web applications people use every day.
If you’re still a web developer and not learning about Web3, you’re losing out on the future of the web.
A web developer was comfortable building applications with traditional, centralized databases and authentication systems. She saw Web3 as a niche distraction. She then started to see a shift. Users were demanding more control over their own data, creators were looking for new monetization models, and new, decentralized applications were starting to gain traction. She realized that Web3 wasn’t just about crypto; it was about building a fundamentally different, more user-centric version of the internet. Learning these new skills was essential for staying relevant in her career.
Crypto Security
Use a hardware wallet and a strong password manager to secure your crypto, not just a simple password.
A crypto investor kept his exchange password stored in a simple text file on his desktop. His computer was compromised, and his exchange account was drained. His friend, on the other hand, used a unique, randomly generated password from a password manager for every exchange and secured her main holdings on a hardware wallet. Even if one of her accounts was compromised, the damage would be limited. She had a multi-layered security approach, not a single point of failure.
Stop doing clicking on suspicious links in your email or social media. Do be vigilant against phishing attacks.
A user received an email that looked like it was from his crypto wallet provider, warning him of a “security issue.” The email urged him to click a link and enter his 12-word seed phrase to “re-verify” his wallet. He clicked the link, entered his phrase on a fake website, and the scammers immediately drained his entire wallet. A legitimate crypto service will never ask you for your seed phrase. Being vigilant and treating every unsolicited link with extreme suspicion is the most important defense against phishing.
The #1 secret for keeping your crypto safe from hackers.
The secret is to never, ever, under any circumstances, share your seed phrase (also known as a recovery phrase or private key) with anyone or type it into any website. A person was having trouble with their crypto wallet and asked for help in a public Discord server. A “support agent” sent him a private message with a link to a “support tool” that asked for his seed phrase. The moment he entered it, his funds were stolen. Your seed phrase is the master key to your crypto. It should be kept offline and never shared.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about the security of exchanges.
The lie is that because a major cryptocurrency exchange is a large, well-funded company, your funds are completely safe there. The history of crypto is littered with examples of major exchanges being hacked or going bankrupt (like Mt. Gox or FTX), resulting in the catastrophic loss of customer funds. While exchanges have their place for trading, they are not a safe place for long-term storage. If you don’t control the private keys, you don’t truly own your crypto.
I wish I knew this about the importance of backing up my seed phrase when I first got into crypto.
When I set up my first crypto wallet, it gave me a 12-word seed phrase. I thought, “I’ll remember this,” and I didn’t write it down. A few months later, my phone broke. I got a new phone and tried to restore my wallet, but I couldn’t. Without the seed phrase, my crypto was gone forever. I wish I had known that the seed phrase is everything. I should have written it down on a piece of paper (or stamped it in metal) and stored it in a secure, physical location, like a safe.
I’m just going to say it: You are your own bank in crypto, and you are responsible for your own security.
In the traditional banking world, if your credit card is stolen, the bank will often refund the fraudulent charges. There are safety nets. In the world of self-custody crypto, there are no safety nets. If you lose your seed phrase or send your crypto to a scammer’s address, there is no one to call. There is no customer support. The transaction is irreversible. The freedom and sovereignty of being your own bank come with the immense personal responsibility of being your own security expert.
99% of crypto users make this one mistake with their security.
The most common mistake is reusing passwords. A user will use the same email and password combination for their email account, their social media, and their cryptocurrency exchange account. A data breach at a completely unrelated website exposes that password. A hacker then takes that list of leaked passwords and tries them on major crypto exchanges. Because the user reused their password, the hacker is able to get right into their account. Every single financial account needs a unique, strong password.
This one small habit of double-checking the wallet address before you send any crypto will save you from a lot of heartache.
A person was sending a large amount of crypto to a friend. He copied the friend’s wallet address, but a sophisticated piece of malware on his computer automatically replaced the address in his clipboard with the hacker’s address. He pasted the address and hit “send” without double-checking it. The crypto was sent to the hacker and was gone forever. Before you ever confirm a transaction, take the extra five seconds to visually verify that the first few and last few characters of the pasted address match the intended one.
The reason you got hacked is because you were not careful enough.
While sophisticated hacks do exist, the vast majority of crypto losses are not due to a flaw in the blockchain’s cryptography, but due to simple human error and a lack of caution. A person will approve a malicious smart contract, fall for an obvious phishing scam, or store their seed phrase in a Google Doc. They then blame the technology. In almost every case, the user was the weakest link in the security chain. In crypto, a healthy dose of paranoia is a survival trait.
If you’re still not taking your crypto security seriously, you’re losing your hard-earned money.
Two people invested the same amount in crypto. The first person took her security seriously. She used a hardware wallet, unique passwords, and was vigilant about scams. Her investment grew over time. The second person was careless. He kept his crypto on a shady exchange and used a weak, reused password. His account was eventually hacked, and he lost everything. The difference between a successful crypto journey and a disastrous one often has nothing to do with investment choices and everything to do with basic security hygiene.
The Creator Economy
Use Web3 to build a direct relationship with your audience, not just relying on centralized platforms.
A YouTuber had built a massive audience over many years. One day, the platform changed its algorithm, and her views plummeted. She had built her business on rented land. A Web3 creator, in contrast, used NFTs to build a direct, portable relationship with her fans. Her followers owned tokens that gave them access to her content and community, regardless of which platform she used. If a platform banned her or changed its rules, she could take her community with her because she had a direct, verifiable connection to them on the blockchain.
Stop doing platform-dependent monetization. Do explore new ways to monetize your content with NFTs and social tokens instead.
A musician relied on the tiny royalties from streaming platforms to make a living. It was unsustainable. She discovered Web3. She released a limited edition of her new single as an NFT, allowing her true fans to invest directly in her work. She also launched a “social token,” a cryptocurrency unique to her community. Fans could use the token to get access to exclusive content and feel like a part of her journey. These new tools allowed her to escape the low-margin world of centralized platforms and capture more of the value she created.
The #1 secret for a successful creator in the Web3 era.
The secret is to shift your mindset from having an “audience” to building a “community.” An old-school creator would broadcast their content to a passive audience. A Web3-native creator co-creates with their community. They might use a DAO to let their token-holders vote on the next video idea, or they might give NFT holders special roles in their Discord server. They are not just creating content; they are building a micro-economy and a shared culture around their work, turning passive fans into active participants and owners.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about the creator economy.
The lie is that the “creator economy” is just about a few top influencers getting rich. The reality is that the long tail of creators—the artists, writers, and musicians with a small but dedicated following—have historically struggled to make a living. The promise of the Web3 creator economy is not to make the rich richer, but to provide new tools that allow this “middle class” of creators to monetize their work directly from their “1,000 true fans,” creating a more sustainable and equitable model for creative work.
I wish I knew this about the power of community in the creator economy when I started.
When I started as a writer, I just put my work out there and hoped people would find it. I was a lone wolf. I wish I had known that the most successful creators are the ones who actively build and participate in a community. I started a newsletter and a small online forum for people interested in my niche. The community not only provided me with invaluable feedback but also became my biggest advocates, sharing my work and helping me grow in a way I never could have on my own.
I’m just going to say it: The creator economy is the future of work.
The traditional model of a 9-to-5 job for a single company is becoming less relevant for a new generation. A skilled graphic designer quit her boring corporate job. She now earns a living by working on various projects she is passionate about, selling her art as NFTs, and teaching her skills through an online course. She has built her own personal brand and a direct relationship with her clients and fans. This shift towards individual empowerment and building a personal, portable reputation is the core of the creator economy.
99% of creators make this one mistake in the Web3 space.
The most common mistake is launching an NFT project without providing any ongoing value. A creator will sell a collection of images and then disappear, abandoning the community that just supported them. A successful Web3 creator understands that the NFT sale is not the end; it’s the beginning. They are constantly providing value to their holders through exclusive content, community events, and by continuing to build the world around their project. The NFT is a key to a club, and the creator’s job is to make it a club worth being in.
This one small action of launching your own social token will change your relationship with your fans forever.
A blogger had a dedicated following. She decided to launch a “social token” on a Web3 platform. She would reward her most engaged readers with her tokens. Fans could then use these tokens to vote on future blog post topics or get access to exclusive Q&A sessions. This one small action transformed her passive readers into active stakeholders. They felt a sense of ownership and were incentivized to contribute to the success of her community.
The reason you’re not succeeding as a creator in Web3 is because you’re not providing enough value to your community.
A creator launched an NFT project that was just a picture. It didn’t sell well. He was frustrated. The reason for the failure was that he was asking for value from the community without providing any in return. A successful project provides tangible benefits to its holders. It might be access to a valuable network, educational content, real-world events, or just a fun and engaging community experience. You have to give before you can ask.
If you’re still a creator and not exploring the possibilities of Web3, you’re losing out on a huge opportunity.
A writer was making a modest income from ad revenue on her blog. She was completely dependent on the whims of the ad platforms and search engine algorithms. Another writer in her niche started exploring Web3. She began selling articles as NFTs and created a token-gated community for her most loyal readers. She was able to build a much more resilient and profitable career because she owned the direct relationship with her audience. The tools of Web3 are offering creators new ways to build a sustainable living outside the confines of centralized platforms.
Decentralized Science (DeSci)
Use DeSci to make scientific research more open, transparent, and collaborative, not just a niche interest.
A scientist’s groundbreaking research was locked behind the paywall of an expensive academic journal, inaccessible to most of the world. A different group of scientists embraced Decentralized Science (DeSci). They published their research on a decentralized platform, making it free for anyone to read. They also used a DAO to raise funding for their research directly from a global community, making the entire process more open and transparent. They were using DeSci to break down the walls of traditional science.
Stop doing traditional, closed-access scientific publishing. Do explore new models of open science instead.
A researcher had to pay a journal thousands of dollars to publish her publicly-funded research, which was then hidden behind a paywall. This system benefits large publishers, not science. DeSci offers an alternative. By publishing her paper on a decentralized network, she could create a permanent, publicly verifiable record of her work that is free for all to access. This move towards open access accelerates scientific progress by allowing researchers everywhere to build upon each other’s work without barriers.
The #1 secret for launching a successful DeSci project.
The secret is to focus on a clear, real-world problem that the traditional scientific system is failing to solve. A group of DeSci pioneers didn’t try to boil the ocean. They focused on one specific problem: funding for rare disease research, which is often overlooked by traditional funding bodies. They created a DAO that allowed patients and researchers to collectively fund and govern research in this area. By targeting a specific, unmet need, they were able to build a passionate community and have a real impact.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about the current scientific publishing system.
The lie is that the peer review process at prestigious journals is a perfect and objective measure of a study’s quality. The reality is that the process can be slow, biased, and often fails to catch errors. A researcher’s innovative paper was rejected by a top journal for being “too unconventional.” He published it on a pre-print server instead. The DeSci movement is exploring new models of post-publication peer review, where the entire scientific community can openly review and comment on a study, creating a more transparent and continuous process of validation.
I wish I knew this about the potential of Web3 to revolutionize science when I was a researcher.
As a researcher, I struggled to get funding for my unconventional ideas and to get access to important datasets. I wish I had known about the emerging potential of Web3. I could have proposed my research to a science-focused DAO to get funding. I could have participated in a “data commons” where researchers could securely share and get access to valuable datasets. The tools of Web3—DAOs, NFTs for intellectual property, and decentralized storage—have the potential to fix many of the deep-seated problems I faced in academia.
I’m just going to say it: DeSci has the potential to solve some of the biggest problems in science.
The traditional scientific system is plagued by problems: funding is controlled by a few centralized bodies, valuable data is locked away in silos, and there is a “reproducibility crisis” where many published results cannot be replicated. DeSci offers potential solutions. Decentralized funding can democratize what gets studied. Data DAOs can incentivize data sharing. And the blockchain can create an immutable, transparent record of research data and methodologies, which can help to address the reproducibility crisis.
99% of scientists make this one mistake when it comes to open science.
The most common mistake is thinking that “open science” just means publishing their final paper in an open-access journal. True open science is about making the entire research lifecycle open. This includes sharing your raw data, your analysis code, and your detailed methodologies. A scientist who only shares the final paper is still keeping most of their work in a black box. By sharing all the components of their research, they allow others to truly verify, reproduce, and build upon their work.
This one small action of publishing your research on a decentralized platform will change the accessibility of science forever.
A researcher in a developing country wanted to read a critical paper for her work, but her university couldn’t afford the expensive journal subscription. The knowledge was locked away from her. A different researcher, after publishing in a traditional journal, also uploaded a copy of his paper to a decentralized permanent storage network like IPFS. This one small action ensured that his research was preserved forever and was freely accessible to any person in the world with an internet connection, regardless of their financial status.
The reason DeSci is not yet mainstream is because of a lack of awareness and adoption.
Most scientists are still working within the traditional, established system of grants and publications. They are either unaware of the DeSci movement or see it as too complex or risky. The user experience of many DeSci platforms is still clunky and not designed for a non-technical user. For DeSci to become mainstream, it needs to build more user-friendly tools and do a better job of educating the broader scientific community about the real-world benefits it can offer.
If you’re still a scientist and not exploring the possibilities of DeSci, you’re losing out on the future of research.
A young, ambitious scientist was frustrated by the slow, bureaucratic, and closed nature of traditional academia. She started exploring the DeSci space. She found a vibrant community of innovators who were building new tools for funding, collaboration, and publishing. She realized that this was where the most exciting and disruptive changes in science were happening. By engaging with DeSci, she was not just learning about a new technology; she was getting a glimpse into the future of her own profession.
The Future of Web3
Use a critical and informed perspective to evaluate the future of Web3, not just hype and speculation.
During a bull market, a person was caught up in the hype and believed every grandiose promise about how Web3 would change the world overnight. He invested in projects based on buzzwords. When the hype died down, he was left with nothing. A wiser individual approaches Web3 with a critical eye. She acknowledges the immense potential of the technology but also understands its current limitations, challenges, and the speculative nature of the market. Her informed perspective allows her to navigate the space with caution and realism.
Stop doing maximalism. Do be open to the possibility of a multi-chain, multi-paradigm future.
A “Bitcoin maximalist” believed that Bitcoin was the only cryptocurrency that mattered and that all others were useless. An “Ethereum maximalist” believed the same about Ethereum. This “maximalism” blinded them to the innovation happening on other platforms. The future of Web3 is unlikely to be a “winner-take-all” scenario. It will more likely be a multi-chain world where different blockchains are optimized for different use cases, and they all interoperate in a complex and layered ecosystem.
The #1 tip for staying ahead of the curve in the fast-paced world of Web3.
The best tip is to not just read about it, but to actively use it. A person could read a dozen articles about a new DeFi protocol and still not fully understand it. Another person took $10, connected her wallet, and actually tried using the protocol. This hands-on experience of making a transaction, seeing how the interface works, and joining the community Discord gave her a much deeper and more intuitive understanding of the technology than any amount of passive reading ever could. You learn Web3 by doing.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about Web3 being the solution to all of our problems.
The lie, often pushed by evangelists, is that Web3 is a utopian technology that will solve everything from income inequality to misinformation. The reality is that Web3 is a powerful new set of tools, but it is not a panacea. It introduces its own new and complex set of challenges, such as scalability, user experience, and governance. A blockchain cannot solve a fundamentally human social problem. Web3 is a fascinating new chapter for the internet, not a magic wand.
I wish I knew this about the scalability challenges of blockchain technology when I first got into Web3.
When I first got into Web3, I thought it would be as fast and cheap as the normal internet. Then I tried to use Ethereum during a period of high congestion. My transaction took forever and cost a fortune in gas fees. I wish I had understood the “blockchain trilemma” from the start—the idea that it’s incredibly difficult for a blockchain to be decentralized, secure, and highly scalable all at the same time. This fundamental technical challenge is the driving force behind the development of “Layer 2” scaling solutions.
I’m just going to say it: The user experience of most Web3 applications is still terrible.
To use a typical dApp today, you need to navigate a maze of wallet installations, seed phrases, gas fees, and transaction confirmations. It’s a confusing and intimidating experience for anyone who is not already a crypto-native. For Web3 to achieve mass adoption, it must solve its user experience problem. The underlying decentralized technology needs to become largely invisible to the end-user, providing an experience that is as seamless and intuitive as the best Web2 applications.
99% of people make this one mistake when thinking about the future of Web3.
The most common mistake is judging the ultimate potential of Web3 by the quality of the applications that exist today. A skeptic will point to a clunky dApp and say, “See, this will never work.” This is like looking at a dial-up modem and a simple text-based website in 1995 and concluding that the internet has no future. The current state of Web3 is like the very early days of the web. The applications are still primitive, but the foundational technology holds the potential for a completely new generation of applications we can’t even imagine yet.
This one small action of trying out different dApps and protocols will change your understanding of the future of the internet forever.
A person’s understanding of Web3 was limited to buying a cryptocurrency on an exchange. She decided to take one small action: she set up a real Web3 wallet and started to explore. She tried out a decentralized social media platform, she voted in a DAO, and she bought an NFT. This hands-on exploration of the “weird internet” gave her a tangible feel for the new possibilities being built—user ownership, decentralized governance, and digital property rights—and changed her entire perspective on where the internet is heading.
The reason you’re skeptical about Web3 is because you haven’t seen a compelling use case yet.
For many, Web3 seems like a solution in search of a problem. They see it as being dominated by speculation and scams. This is often because they haven’t yet encountered a “killer app” that solves a real problem for them in a way that wasn’t possible before. For a creator, this might be a new monetization tool. For someone living under an authoritarian regime, it might be a censorship-resistant communication platform. As more of these compelling use cases emerge, the skepticism will begin to fade.
If you’re still ignoring Web3, you’re losing out on the next major technological shift.
In the late 1990s, many large companies ignored the rise of the commercial internet, thinking it was just a fad for academics. They were eventually disrupted by a new generation of internet-native companies. Today, many are making the same mistake with Web3. They are dismissing it as just “crypto nonsense.” They are failing to see the fundamental shift towards a more decentralized, user-owned internet. The organizations and individuals who take the time to understand and experiment with this shift today will be the ones who build and lead the next generation of the web.