Stocks to buy

Web3 Winners: 3 Stocks to Invest in the Decentralized Web

Web3 stocks tumbled over the past two years as speculative investment enthusiasm turned sour. Still, the initial Web3 trend wasn’t misguided – it was just a bit early. The decentralized web is a fact of the future, not fiction or wishful thinking.

Like other blockchain (and blockchain-adjacent) tech, real use cases and practical applications await investors willing to do due diligence to pin down the best-in-class Web3 stocks. One report called for the sector to be worth as much as $13 trillion by 2030. That forecast proves good things come to those willing to wait. Though you may have to wait a while for your investment to bear fruit fully, the fact that these three decentralized web stocks have 10X potential is undeniable.

Grayscale Decentraland Trust (MANA)

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Grayscale Decentraland Trust (OTCMKTS:MANA) is a unique Web3 stock. It doesn’t represent a stake in a company like standard stocks. Instead, MANA is a trust that exclusively holds the digital asset token MANA (CCC:MANA-USD). MANA is an in-game token for metaverse company Decentraland. If that’s confusing, imagine that buying MANA (the stock) is a roundabout way of buying MANA (the crypto). Unlike a direct investment, you don’t have to manage digital wallets and other hassles associated with buying and selling crypto.

Decentraland was one of the earliest hot Web3 companies. Its “real estate” sold for tens of thousands of dollars worth of MANA (the crypto) in its heyday. While the market has cooled substantially since then, MANA stands as one of the top Web3 investments for the long run. MANA (the stock) is a way of getting a piece of that action within your regular investment portfolio.

Investing in MANA (the stock) has some downside, as the stock’s price doesn’t perfectly track the coin’s asset value and adds an extra speculative layer on top of a speculative asset. Still, shares are up more than 800% this year, so if you’re bullish on Web3 stocks, it stands as one of the easiest ways to capture multiple emergent tech opportunities.

Veritone (VERI)

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Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI) is a recent inductee into Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) “Generative AI Center of Excellence.” But while its AI potentiality is undeniable, its true hidden opportunity lies in its status as a Web3 stock.

Verutitone manages Veriverse. The platform serves as a single-source B2B solution for content creators to manage and monetize their intellectual property across digital communities. As AI and similar tech drive increased litigation and regulatory concerns surrounding IP rights, solutions like Veritone’s will become a staple in a decentralized web economy.

Veritone’s financials are a bit on the slippery slide. The company posted a $20 million quarterly loss in its recent filing. Still, rate cuts combined with Amazon’s endorsement offer a silver lining to its rough financial standing, and the company’s value proposition within Web3 stocks is unmatched.

Unity Software (U)

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Unity Software (NYSE:U) is one of Cathie Wood’s favorite Web3 stocks, and the reasons are clear. She invested $6.2 million into the metaverse, gaming, and Web3-centric company earlier this year despite shares dipping 2% over the past six months. But Unity’s long-term potential at the nexus of those three key sectors is unmatched and makes it a top Web3 play if you’re rounding out a digital tech portfolio.

Unity’s unique value propositions are varied and summed up well in a report by hedge fund White Brook Capital. In the report, analysts assess Unity’s “digital twin platform” as a unique advantage to replicating real-world objects, materials, and people in a Web3/metaverse-styled space. At the same time, unlike many Web3 stocks, Unity offers positive cash flow potential via a robust ad network. That profit potential increases Unity’s resilience amid wider market concerns and helps keep it afloat until the day Web3 stocks become a more viable investment option for wider institutional interest.

On the date of publication, Jeremy Flint held no positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.