Smart Token Labs CTO's Full Speech at EDCON: The Unique Value of Tokens Stems from an Integrated Internet
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Smart Token Labs CTO's Full Speech at EDCON: The Unique Value of Tokens Stems from an Integrated Internet
It provides the tools and means to create a tokenized internet, which is key to achieving infinite integration.
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Hello everyone, my name is Wei-Wu Zhang, and I am the co-founder and CTO of Smart Token Labs. Today, I want to discuss the unprecedented potential of smart tokens when integrated into the internet. The next-generation internet will be primarily driven by these smart tokens.
The Internet Relies on Integrations
In our current digital landscape, integration is the foundation of the internet. Most websites today rely on multiple types of integrations. There are three primary forms: authentication via platforms like Google ID or Facebook, payment processing through services such as Google Pay and PayPal, and social media integration via platforms like Twitter. These integrations are largely controlled by tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and Apple. This dominance stems from the original design of the internet, which lacked built-in mechanisms for critical functions like identity verification, payments, and peer-to-peer data sharing.
The Internet's Potential Remains Largely Untapped
However, the current state of integration faces significant challenges that limit what the internet can offer. A clear example is reputation—currently not universally recognized across different websites. Consider a user who has earned positive reviews on one platform but creates a new account on an e-commerce site. They must rebuild their reputation from scratch, even if they could export their past data. Unfortunately, importing this data isn't possible due to lack of integration—a glaring flaw in today’s internet model.
We encounter similar issues in various scenarios. For instance, music fans struggle to prove their loyalty when buying concert tickets because proof of fandom isn’t recognized across platforms. In the IoT era, owners of smart cars cannot easily lend their vehicles through a website lacking system integration. Essentially, the absence of integration severely restricts the scope of the internet.
Take airline tickets as another example. If treated as a token, a ticket currently holds value only within its issuing platform—such as an airline or online travel agency—but offers no utility elsewhere. This isn’t just inconvenient; it represents a complete failure to realize integration potential.
Imagine if your flight ticket were integrated with various systems. When linked with social media, friends and family receive real-time updates about your travel status. Integrated with Google Maps, you’d be guided directly to your gate, including estimated walking time. If connected to hotel or car booking systems, flight delays or changes would automatically trigger rebooking notifications, saving you last-minute calls.
The possibilities go even further. With banking apps, your bank could adjust security settings based on your travel status or offer local currency exchange. Connected to streaming services, YouTube could preload destination-related videos for offline viewing during the flight, while Spotify curates a calming playlist for your lounge wait.
These examples barely scratch the surface of what’s possible. Yet, disappointingly, progress has been minimal since login, checkout, and social integrations first emerged nearly two decades ago.
Tokenization Enables Infinite Integration
These limitations highlight the urgent need for deeper integration, achievable through tokenizing website functionalities and users’ digital rights. When I refer to tokens, I don’t mean typical ERC-20 tokens bought and sold on exchanges. Instead, I’m talking about smart tokens that act as integration points.
Smart tokens serve as integration hubs, simplifying and enabling seamless interactions between systems.
Consider the implications: email accounts could be tokens; social media posts—or even a simple “like”—could become tokens representing popularity or reputation. Academic degrees and certifications could be tokenized, enabling instant cross-platform verification. Credit scores could exist as tokens, streamlining access to financial services anywhere. Your smart car key could be a token, allowing effortless vehicle rentals via websites. Carbon offsets could be tokenized, letting users earn credits from solar panels and apply them toward flight bookings. Hotel reservations could be tokens, enabling easy trading and integration with flight tickets. Gym memberships could also be tokenized, enabling seamless transfer and validation across fitness platforms.
When everything is tokenized, infinite integration becomes possible, paving the way for a future internet powered by smart tokens—unlocking interoperability and efficiency previously thought impossible.
We Need a Smart Layer to Make This Happen
Indeed, such a smart token system requires an integration layer—we call it the “Smart Layer.” While blockchain technology provides a crucial foundation, it alone is insufficient to build a tokenized internet with limitless integration potential. This is where the Smart Layer comes in.
This is necessary because while blockchains provide the essential infrastructure for trustless token logic via smart contracts, they cannot by themselves enable a tokenized internet with infinite integration possibilities. Fundamentally, blockchains are not service layers. They are designed to ensure transaction correctness and security through consensus, but lack the capability to serve thousands of websites simultaneously in a decentralized manner.
This is precisely the role of the Smart Layer—it bridges blockchain technology with the integration points needed for a tokenized internet. It enables token code execution across both Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 environments and oversees token accounting, issuance, revocation, or expiration.
However, the Smart Layer must provide guarantees that traditional blockchains like Ethereum typically cannot meet. It must handle massive traffic—since every user post might generate a traceable token—while ensuring most data isn’t recorded on-chain. It must prioritize user privacy by storing only proofs of these tokens on the blockchain.
Moreover, the Smart Layer must respond quickly to API calls from internet services relying on it, behaving like a trusted entity. This means a website connected to a Smart Layer node should expect a timely, correct response that can be verified on-chain. Additionally, whenever a token is defined, created, or updated, it must dynamically expose new APIs to internet services.
One might compare the Smart Layer to Google’s API services. But there’s a key difference: the volume and diversity of API calls to the Smart Layer are expected to grow explosively as more people define new tokens and discover novel use cases. For example, if Google decided to support smart car keys, they might integrate this feature into Google Wallet and release an update. If a new concept like smart refrigerators emerged, Google would need another update to support this new token type.
Such iterative upgrades are impractical for the Smart Layer. Given its nature, anyone should be able to define new tokens with new API endpoints, and the Smart Layer must handle these without requiring global internet upgrades. Tokens should be freely added or removed dynamically within the system. Any Smart Layer upgrade should focus on scalability or security improvements—not adding specific token types. In this internet, tokens and their APIs are first-class citizens. But that’s not the end of the story.
AI Needs Smart Tokens
The Smart Layer does more than enable an integrated internet and solve today’s complex challenges—it also serves as the critical link between AI and the internet. AI is poised to fundamentally transform how the internet operates, potentially becoming a user agent that accesses websites on behalf of users or even dynamically generates websites and mobile apps tailored to individual needs.
Take the role of a travel agent. Suppose you decide mid-trip to change destinations. An AI agent would need to find new hotels, routes, and attractions. But currently, it can’t do so—it can’t log in to Booking.com, buy train tickets, or share your itinerary on social media.
If we used traditional backend API integration, each external site would need to provide an API key, which you’d manually paste into the AI’s configuration to authorize access. But this approach has drawbacks. It lacks flexibility—you’d have to reconnect your AI every time you visit a new site. These connections are often permanent, risking unwanted bookings or purchases if the AI malfunctions. And if the AI runs on a server backend, control effectively shifts to big tech companies like Google, Facebook, or Apple, who manage user API keys and access to internet services.
Contrast this with a tokenized internet. Here, the AI could prepare a plan outlining intended actions—like making reservations using your private key, purchasing tickets, selling some, buying others, or drafting a social media post. You could review the plan, assess costs and actions, then approve it—authorizing specific transactions using your private key.
At that point, you’d sign all required transactions, and the AI would obtain tokens and permissions for each action. Since you’re not granting the AI broad access privileges but only authorizing specific transactions, there’s no risk of misuse. The AI doesn’t control your access keys, nor do you need to trust it completely—because all purchased tokens and executed actions remain within your control and smart contract wallet. This offers a more dynamic, secure, and decentralized way for AI to interact with the future internet.
Conclusion
In summary, the Smart Layer emerges as a pivotal solution in our pursuit of unlocking the internet’s true potential. Today, we face multifaceted challenges: integrations are permissioned and costly, privacy is at risk, and maintaining trust feels like walking a tightrope. While blockchain technology provides a foundational layer of trust and security, it lacks the service layer required for large-scale internet integration. That’s where the Smart Layer steps in—providing the tools and infrastructure to build a tokenized internet, which is key to achieving infinite integration.
The Smart Layer acts as a bridge between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 environments, executing token code and managing tokens in an agile and efficient manner. It handles high-traffic loads, ensures privacy, and delivers real-time APIs adaptable to the evolving ecosystem of tokens and applications.
Most importantly, the Smart Layer becomes the connective tissue between AI and the internet, enabling a more dynamic, secure, and decentralized way for AI to access and interact with online services. In a future where everything is tokenized, the Smart Layer empowers a fully integrated, user-centric internet—where individuals control their data and AI acts as an efficient, trustworthy assistant.
By establishing a framework that enables seamless integration, protects privacy, and empowers users, the Smart Layer paves the way for a future where the internet reaches its full potential—ushering in a transformative leap in how we interact with the digital world.
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