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Throughout the web3 world, companies, protocols and projects alike are pushing to onboard a billion users — what they see as the tipping point for cryptocurrency use to grow exponentially. But that number is only possible — obviously — through increased adoption.
That means major players in the space must make improvements regarding ease and accessibility for the non-crypto natives who want to use crypto. Uniswap Labs, a company building upon the decentralized protocol Uniswap, aims to do just that.
Although it may seem like “web3” is little more than a buzzword, people in the space believe that there’s a deeper meaning to it.
“Web3 is revolutionizing financial technology and financial infrastructure in one,” Uniswap Labs COO Mary-Catherine Lader said to TechCrunch. “Web3 allows any app, any website, to invent value in a digital economy without having to ask for permission or paying for that service.”
Uniswap Labs COO Mary-Catherine Lader. Image Credits: Uniswap Labs
Today, crypto users don’t have to go to the bank or work with a payments company every time they want to make a transaction online because they’re able to link their crypto wallets and pay through a decentralized permissionless protocol like Uniswap. “This has never been possible before,” Lader said.
Uniswap is an open source permissionless protocol that developers can use and embed into their platforms so crypto users can swap tokens, while Uniswap Labs is a business that builds products on top of the protocol.
Earlier this week, Uniswap Labs launched Swap Widget, which allows users on NFT marketplace OpenSea and other web3-based applications to exchange or “swap” cryptocurrency on the platform without having to leave the site.
Widgets like this are already implemented into Web 2.0 sites like Amazon, where you can easily pay for items when you check out, but given web3’s nascent stage, a task as simple as making a payment is more complex and involves a number of steps to successfully utilize crypto products and services.
“There are too many steps today [to use crypto],” Lader said. “You should be able to join a DAO in one click. You should be able to support your favorite NFT artists in one click.”
There’s a sizable — and growing — market for one-click web3 use. In December 2021, there were 295 million crypto users globally, up 178% from 106 million at the beginning of the year, according to a January 2022 report by cryptocurrency exchange app Crypto.com. The firm reported that it expects the number of global crypto owners to reach 1 billion users by the end of this year.
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