I believe we are going to see the opposite of the context collapse of the internet today. I call it identity dispersion, where individuals control the creation, separation and unification of their multiple online selves.

In a presentation first given in 2019, Balaji described the potential for a pseudonymous economy – populated by persistent, non-real names that can accrue reputation, or as he terms it, “social wealth.”

if people are protected from these attacks, we would move closer to an idea meritocracy, where people can speak their minds and the best ideas win.

Individuals will be able to perform valuable knowledge work, even collaborative knowledge work, without exposing our physical appearances, as we increasingly work through multiplayer, web-based productivity and creative tools.

We will not choose single pseudonyms, but experiment with them and with many communities. Importantly, those marginalized in real life can find communities like themselves.

Multiple pseudonyms will allow us to be part of different communities that don’t seem consistent. They could let us be our full, multifaceted selves, exposing more ties that bridge seemingly siloed communities today.

As pseudonyms become more verifiable, they become more valuable. Increasingly, pseudonyms in web3 can verify inventory (money, digital goods) and history (proof of attendance, transactions, content creation). As we do work for organizations and communities under our pseudonyms, they become more valuable.

pseudonymity somewhat enables the trolls, and this is one of the more important criticisms of a pseudonymous future.