Web3: The Gentrified Carnival?

Abstract

Abstract Web3 reflects and instantiates the “ludic turn” of the last few decades, where identity is increasingly forged through play and games rather than through work. The ludic is especially evident in the Bitcoin ecosystem, where the elements of the carnivalesque – play, anarchy, dissimulation, vulgar language, and excessive consumption – are pervasive. These elements may also be divined in Web3, though they are less ubiquitous, which suggests that Web3 is perhaps best seen as a gentrified carnival.