Web3 present and future – interview with Dave Lockie

Join the conversation between Maciej and Dave Lockie, expert in WordPress and crypto, as they delve into the origins and evolution of Web3, crypto and NFTs. Whether you’re new to the subject of Web3 and crypto or a seasoned speculator, this discussion has something for everyone.

Dave Lockie is a British entrepreneur, writer, and technologist known for bridging the worlds of open source and blockchain. Before joining Automattic as its Web3 Lead, he founded the award‑winning agency Pragmatic, one of the UK’s leading WordPress specialists. Over the years, he has become a recognized voice in the global WordPress community and an advocate for sustainable, ethical innovation in crypto.

If you’re curious about how one of WordPress’s leading thinkers connects open-source values with the decentralized future, this is where to start. Dave Lockie brings not only deep technical insight but a clear sense of purpose – making emerging tech accessible, ethical, and useful for real businesses.

From WordPress to Web3

Dave Lockie never planned to end up in crypto. As a long-time WordPress entrepreneur, his entry point was pure curiosity – a developer in his agency mining Ethereum before most people could pronounce it. That moment changed everything. That early encounter led to an 18-month deep dive into blockchain fundamentals, followed by years of watching the ecosystem evolve from fringe innovation to mainstream speculation. By late 2020 his interest reignited with full force, culminating in his role as Web3 Lead at Automattic.

His lens is practical. Having spent 15+ years helping businesses grow through open-source software, he sees Web3 as a continuation of that ethos – a way to extend openness and ownership deeper into the fabric of the internet.

 

Web3 in Simple Terms

Dave often references Chris Dixon’s shorthand (read, write, own) as a helpful frame, but his emphasis is on participation and permissionless access. It’s about being able to contribute and participate from a user and ownership perspective without permission. In other words, Web3 gives individuals a way to engage directly in networks and projects without relying on intermediaries or centralized gatekeepers.

So it’s breaking down the silos of tech giants… to collaborate, to coordinate, and to build value together where that is done very much along the principles of open source.

He argues that blockchain isn’t the buzzword – it’s the backbone. Web3 is what’s built on top: decentralized applications, identity, programmable money, and composable data.

 

Open Source and Open State

Web3 expands on the principles of open source by adding what Dave calls open state – a living, public record of every on-chain change.

So it’s like if open source is the recipe for cake… open state is watching the cake being built… we end up with one cake and it’s the same cake at the end of the day.

Every participant in a blockchain network can see and verify the same version of reality. That transparency turns code into a shared runtime, not just a tool to be downloaded and modified, but a constantly running system that everyone interacts with together.

So it’s like a shared run time for the for the web, which is obviously not useful for all applications, but definitely seems interesting for quite few.

At Osom Studio, we see this thinking resonating with how brands use open web technologies. Just as WordPress democratized publishing, Web3 has the potential to democratize digital ownership.

 

Web3 Building Blocks

So what exactly makes up Web3? Lockie breaks it down into building blocks rather than buzzwords:

1. Identity — Every participant is represented by an address on chain. That address can be controlled by a person or by software, and is subject to the rules of the network.
2. Transactions — Interactions that change the shared ledger (balances, states) between addresses.
3. Smart Contracts — Shared programs that run in a public runtime with immutable, verifiable characteristics.
4. Tokens — Fungible or non‑fungible representations of value or uniqueness, issued via smart contracts.
5. DeFi — Ways to exchange, borrow, or lend without market makers in the middle.

 

Web3 architecture builds on simple yet powerful principles. Each layer creates a foundation for users to interact directly with the network. It’s a system designed to make participation intuitive and control transparent.

The idea that you can get onto a network in a commissioner way, and you can then use that… address… that identity to interact with different programs… That’s all within your direct control.

For Dave, this architecture doesn’t just recreate existing systems – it questions them. Why should payments, identity, or digital goods require a central gatekeeper? Why shouldn’t users own the accounts, data, and assets they generate?

 

Web3 Beyond the Hype

Lockie is candid about volatility and overpromising. He points to the real work happening in identity, infrastructure, and interoperability, often overshadowed by price speculation. He also separates crypto’s protocol layer from high-profile corporate failures.

FTX… was a centralized corporation… it was the misuse of that by people in a corporation subject to regulations. That was the problem. It was not the underlying crypto protocols… at fault.

For agencies, developers, and content creators in the WordPress space, the opportunity is to build experiences where ownership, licensing, and monetization are native, without relying on layers of middlemen.

 

Web3 and WordPress

As Automattic’s Web3 Lead, Lockie focuses on where Web3 can remove real friction for WooCommerce merchants and WordPress publishers. That starts with better payments and settlement, portable identity for sign‑in, provable access to content or communities, and on‑chain attribution for creators. The mandate, in his view, is to test where decentralization removes middlemen or unlocks new revenue, not to bolt a wallet onto every site.

There’s… a watch and a weight and a learn and a participation angle to this… we always need to balance innovation with… responsibility.

Translated into near‑term roadmap items: partner‑led crypto payments for stores that want them, education for merchants and builders, and careful experiments with wallet‑based authentication or token‑gated content where there’s clear demand. The bar is utility – features that feel native to WordPress and safer than DIY crypto plugins.

 

Future of Web3

Dave’s long view is practical, not utopian. He sees the space maturing as usability improves and complexity fades into the background. Most people, he believes, will experience Web3 without realizing it’s Web3 at all.

Web3 can be a rabbit hole… you can go extremely deep if you want to… Most people… will just interact with the projects or the experiences which offer them features and benefits.

That simplicity, according to Dave, is what will make decentralized tools mainstream. Once Web3 is integrated invisibly into existing workflows, users will care about what it enables ownership, trust, and autonom, rather than how it works.

There’s gonna be a swing back… where people want to… regain sovereignty at some degree for their online presence and identity.

In other words, Web3’s future isn’t about endless innovation for its own sake. It’s about rebalancing power online, creating systems where creators, companies, and communities have genuine control over the assets and identities they build. When that balance arrives, it will feel less like a disruption, and more like the web fulfilling its original promise.

Whether you see crypto as a speculative bubble or the foundation of a new economy, the underlying direction is clear: more transparent, programmable ownership, and more choice for users and builders.

Full conversation with Dave Lockie

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At Osom Studio, we help ambitious brands and creators navigate the open web – from WordPress strategy and development to content performance and UX optimization. If you’re exploring how to make your digital presence more future‑ready, we’d love to chat.