FWB. Friends With Benefits. For a time, it seemed like the poster child for everything that could go wrong with Web3. The community is a welcoming, friendly, fun, diverse, exciting mix. Yet, it struggles under echoes of transitory doomed and a mind-boggling desire to pursue the next best NFT, powered by parachute pockets.
Things change. FWB's recent pivot towards practical product building, specifically through its "Friends With Builders" initiative, isn't just interesting – it's a potential bellwether for the entire Web3 space.
Utility is The New Black
I mean, let’s not kid ourselves – that first Web3 wave was pure hype. The decentralization of, well, everything, usually with the solutions coming before the problems. FWB, if they realized it or not, became an emblem of this.
Now, they are desperately working to rewrite that history. But Friends With Builders, along with collaboration with tech partners such as AWS and Alchemy, indicates a turning point toward practical, real-world utility. Think of it like this: remember the early days of the internet? Geocities, flashing banner ads and a whole lot of… those awful under construction signs. Then came Google, Amazon, and the rest. Because it wasn’t about the technology at that point, it was all about what the technology allowed to happen.
FWB seems to understand this. Ensuring that the spotlight is on projects like Blackbird is tremendously important. Speaker Series This restaurant loyalty app uses crypto, but keeps most of the complexity away from the end-user. As we’ve said, it’s not about impressing you all with blockchain magic—it’s about building tools that help. This is more than a name change, it’s an acknowledgment that Web3 must start providing real-world value in order to be accepted by the mainstream. This is anxiety of not being useful, not being relevant.
Beyond the Echo Chamber, Finally?
Web3 has been somewhat insulated, almost like a confirmation bias echo chamber, a self-congratulatory place where everyone was already bought in. This is all part of the anxiety of failing to bring in those new users. Good luck trying to explain DeFi to the average Jane or Joe at a dinner party. Watch their eyes glaze over.
FWB’s adoption by the mainstream cultural narratives in America is absolutely key to shattering these barriers. By collaborating with experienced tech companies and prioritizing products that are easy to use, they’re widening the gates to the “real world” in a big way. This is not only aimed at people who know Web3 inside and out. We’re looking to pull in brand new users who don’t even realize they’re using this tech!
The pilot program with World (formerly Worldcoin) that’s led to development of 40 new mini-apps is a great case in point. Forty new approaches for people to discover how they might want to interact with Web3, not having to know everything that’s happening behind the scenes. That’s how you nurture a sustainable ecosystem of adopters, one impactful application at a time.
Humility and the Long Game
Topping all of those philosophically, I think the most exciting part of FWB’s evolution is the humility I sense in their approach. Greg Bresnitz, FWB’s CEO, agrees that Web3 has a lot to prove. The original Web3 conversation was often brimming with hype, suggesting that “the future has arrived!” Looking back now, three decades later, that hype seems a little premature and overwrought.
This humility is both refreshing and necessary, as it demonstrates a commitment to ongoing learning and adaptation. Infrastructure funding too often, rejecting the hackathon model means committing to longer-term product development. This mindset moves from building sustainable solutions rather than chasing short-term trends.
Look, building anything worthwhile takes time. FWB’s strategic shift indicates they’re serious about playing the long game. They're not just trying to cash in on the latest trend. They're trying to build something meaningful. That, in an arena all too often plagued by short-lived trends, is something to be hopeful about. That’s what’s given me hope to think that Web3, perhaps, possibly, just possibly, is finally maturing. This is not wonder of a new age, the wonder of the present.
