Thread by @kelmoujahid

1/ I recently moved from leading @Google’s #TensorFlow, the World’s #1 AI platform, to #Chainlink. Just like AI, I believe Web3 is a deeply transformative technology.

I believe Developers will build a better world powered by cryptographic proof. Here’s why🧵

2/ Until recently, we could only build centralized applications: every service, website, app, had to be centralized.

In this model, a central entity could unilaterally change the rules at any time, shut down its service, or be forced to do so.

3/ As a consumer, you could be promised one thing, but have something totally different happen.

- Your trading app could stop working at the worst moment.
- Your funds that you thought were safe could suddenly disappear.
- Your data could be sold without your consent.

4/ Web3 changes all of that, by guaranteeing that services will function as described.

The guarantee comes from smart contracts running the code (the terms of service) and using open-source crypto math to provide proof that nobody is cheating.

5/ For the first time EVER, developers can build things that CAN’T be shut down, that CAN’T cheat (even if they wanted to), that are accessible globally, and that can move billions of $ of value securely.

6/ If you’re a dev, this is a new superpower. I remember when I deployed my first smart contract, code that would run indefinitely, nobody (even me) could change it or shut it down. This felt magical, like building my first mobile app in 2010, or generating my first AI painting.

7/ What can you build with this?

- Lending platforms that let EVERYONE on earth borrow at FAIR rates.
- Stablecoins that let you send money across borders to your family with virtually NO COMMISSION.
- Exchanges that are PROVEN to hold enough reserves.

8/ This revolution is unstoppable. Until now, you had to trust every institution, organization, and app you interact with.

These “Just trust me” promises are good enough… until they’re not. You don’t need proof… until you do.

9/ Once people can access services that are provably fair, they will not go back. Just like how people who stream music won’t go back to buying CDs, or people using Docusign won’t go back to paper contracts.

10/ If you could invest your money in an institution that gives you proof that they hold enough reserves, why would you use anything else?

If you can use a trading app that cannot stop you from trading at any time, why would you use anything else?

11/ If you could buy car insurance that has no choice but to pay you automatically, why would you buy one that will leave you in claim department limbo?

If you could play a lottery that can’t be rigged, why would you play one that asks you to “just trust them”?

12/ If you could use a social network that can’t sell your data?

If you could use a messaging app that can’t create a backdoor?

If you could read a blog that can’t be censored?

The list goes on and on. People will demand PROOF. They will say #ProofNotPromises!

13/ Developers will build this new world. As soon as technology makes it possible, consumers demand it, developers build it, and the world adopts it.

From the moment Napster showed that music could be streamed, it became unstoppable.

14/ But it didn’t kill the music industry. It transformed it.

Streaming just became an integral part of how we consume music. Services like Spotify created better experiences. And nobody can imagine a world without streaming.

15/ It will be the same thing with Web3. Consumers will demand proof that their services are provably fair, and the world will adapt.

Every company will have a Web3 strategy. Just like every company now has a mobile strategy, a cloud strategy, and an AI strategy…

16/ This revolution is already happening. Through all the turmoil, all the hard lessons, the future giants are being built right now.

Some of them are Web3 native, some are Web2 companies that understand the massive opportunity. How do you seize that opportunity?

17/ One of the biggest misconceptions on Web3 is that you have to put everything on-chain. A bit like in the early days of mobile, when the first apps would try to fit a whole website on a tiny screen.

18/ Web3 is not a binary thing. It’s a spectrum, with some parts on-chain, and the rest on your Web2 stack. This is how many popular Web3 apps are already built.

19/ So the question is, what core advantage does Web3 give you? What part of your service becomes 10x better when provably fair to your users?

Put this part on-chain, leave the rest on Web2.

20/ For financial institutions, it can be proving they hold enough reserves.

For social networks, it will be portable identities that prevent lock-in.

For an insurance product, it’s the payout mechanism that has to be automatic.

For games and lotteries, it will be randomness.

21/ And how do you connect it all? This is where #Chainlink comes in.

Chainlink is the piece that connects all Web3. Smart contracts need Web2 data, and need to be connected with each other across chains.

Chainlink is building the standard for this connection layer.

22/ This is the kind of shift that happens once in a lifetime. There will be winners and losers.

Those who figure out how to leverage these new superpowers will create the next empires and change society for the better.

Others will be left behind.

23/ And this is just the beginning, we’re barely scratching the surface. Developers have the power to build things that will massively shift the power dynamics.

If you see something around you that should be provably fair, you can now build it.

24/ This is why I moved to build Web3 at @ChainlinkLabs. I want to enable developers to bring this disruption to the world. Just like #TensorFlow massively democratized AI with now 3M developers.

25/ What I love about platforms is how they put the world’s most powerful tools in the hands of builders. Web3 will change the world.

It’s still early, it’s going to be huge, and it's the right time for builders to get in! 👷‍♂️❤️