Ethnographers as Intermediaries: Plurality as a Double‐Edged Sword in Web3

Abstract

This paper addresses a misalignment between market motivations and community needs in Web3, arguing that comparative ethnographic work can identify strategic opportunities in the industry. Comparing findings across different design research projects, we show how Web3 builders and founders are driving a plurality of projects and products and enabling cross‐chain operability to build diverse blockchain‐based ecosystems. Although this plurality is generative for innovation in the industry, it de‐prioritizes fully fleshed out, end‐to‐end Web3 solutions to urgent social problems, and is increasingly displacing community‐centered perspectives. We found that users desire a different kind of plurality—interoperable financial instruments across traditional banking and blockchain ‐ based platforms.