The way Web3 and WordPress will grow together is, in a way, how the whole ecosystem will grow together.
Erik Posthuma is Chief Growth Officer at Aleph-Labs, a creative engineering company producing financial solutions with a focus on the user experience, financial markets, Web3 and DeFi. Posthuma, who founded the Singapore office, is responsible for leading growth at Aleph and opening new markets.
In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Erik Posthuma, who gathers inspiration from connecting with his employees on a human level, shares his thoughts on the future of finance, cryptocurrency and the growth of Web3.
Banking on It: Web Design & the User Experience
One major focus for Aleph is developing solutions for a broad range of financial services. But first, according to Posthuma, brands need to recognize the three key components that make up the total experience—the product experience, the customer experience and the employee experience. In other words, it’s almost impossible to create an ideal user experience without a comprehensive understanding of how the three work together. Web design is a critical part of that.
What we’ve seen in the last couple years is a shift from the normalization of design into a much more non-cognitive and emotional layer on top of design.
One recent project for Aleph was Bank Islam Malaysia, a bank which had a reputation of being older and a little stodgy, Posthuma said. In order to counter that impression, they developed an innovative and engaging app solution called “Be U” to connect with millennials and younger audiences, making day-to-day financial management easier.
Payments Processed: Crypto & E-Commerce
According to Posthuma, there will be more big brands leveraging blockchain technology and using cryptocurrency in their purchase flow in the very near future. In general, there are two angles impacting the use of cryptocurrency—as an asset class and as an infrastructure. Fortunately, accepting cryptocurrency payments doesn’t require a great deal of technical innovation since the infrastructure is already there.
That said, using digital currency as a payment gateway on your e-commerce site is becoming increasingly common. One benefit of cryptocurrency is that it can be more profitable than traditional payments due to the lack of transaction fees. Also, since there’s no third-party intermediary, the process becomes progressively streamlined.
Web3 is known as the ‘decentralized web,’ which provides users with more freedom in choosing their platforms. For e-commerce specifically, Web3 purchasing processes are already in place within WordPress, such as digital wallets and payment gateways. “The culture of Web3 and WordPress is very much aligned,” says Posthuma, who calls the relationship between WordPress and Web3 “a beautiful collaboration.”
If someone’s creating something on WordPress, they can now start thinking about Web3 holistically as part of their business model.
Posthuma predicts that within five to 10 years, more than one million people could be using blockchain. Once that number grows to one billion, cryptocurrency will no doubt be a permanent part of their payment flow.
To learn more about Aleph-Labs, visit their website and follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @aleph_labs. To keep up with Erik Posthuma, follow him on LinkedIn.