A new buzzword has recently grown popular among tech, crypto, and venture capitalists. If you’re into cryptocurrencies, NFTs, or even just keeping up with the newest tech headlines, you’ve probably heard about Web3. It’s a popular topic in today’s tech industry, and debates about it are becoming common. It is even said that web3 is the future of decentralized internet.
Now, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about and why this topic is so popular. This article will provide you with all of the information you need on web3.
Web3 is a proposed new version of the internet that is designed from decentralized blockchain systems, which are the shared ledger systems that use tokens, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs for more control and ownership of the users.
Web3 has now become an overall word for everything related to the future generation of the internet becoming a decentralized digital infrastructure that allows anybody to join and participate without having their personal data monetized.
Today, the framework that many of the websites we mostly visit online is mainly owned by companies and governed by government rules. It is mostly a network infrastructure that has paid workers and professionals that are working to install, develop, monitor, maintain, and manage servers, websites, and software that we want to access through the internet. If you notice, these websites or platforms that we frequently visit online will either charge us a fee or need us to follow specific rules for us to use and enjoy their platform. For example, in order for you to use and enjoy Facebook, you must first follow their rule of signing up with them and providing personal information. If you also want to avail their services such as promoting ads, you must pay a certain fee. In other words, you have to follow their rules or pay them for you to take advantage of their framework. As a result, the current web is suffering from less privacy, freedom, limited user experience, surveillance from the authorities, and centralized control monopolies.
The goal of the Decentralized Web is to eliminate restrictions and promote independence and greater freedom in the use of any platform or website that is not governed by corporations or the government. The term “Decentralized Web” refers to a set of technologies that replace or enhance existing communication protocols, networks, and services, and redistribute them in a form that is resistant to control or censorship.
With that being said, Web3 aspires to be the decentralized Web.
Many people view the internet we have today as a constant cornerstone of modern civilization that was created and has remained to be the same from the time it was created. Nevertheless, the current internet that we know is not what was originally envisioned. The Internet was created in the 1960s as a means for government researchers to communicate information. In the 1960s, computers were enormous and stationary, and accessing information stored on them required either traveling to the machine’s location or having magnetized computer tapes, similar to cassettes, transported through the mail system.
After several years of research, development, and updates, the internet was formally launched for public use on January 1, 1983.
The brief history of the internet we know today has been divided into two distinct periods: web 1.0 and web 2.0.
Ever since the launching of the internet in 1983, the first-ever version of the internet was launched between 1990 and 2004. The first version was known as ‘Web 1.0’.
Web 1.0 mostly consisted of static websites controlled by companies and businesses, with little to no interaction between users. There are rarely producing engagement content and materials, earning it the version of “read-only web.” You can view and read content on the website, but there is no way for you to change it, engage with other users, or interact with them.
The applications in Web 1.0 only include:
- First web browsers
- Search engines
With the introduction of social media platforms in 2004, the Web 2.0 era began. It’s a version of the internet that most of us are familiar with today. Similar to Web 1.0, Web 2.0 is a version of the internet that is still controlled and dominated by companies. However, Web 2.0 companies offer their services in exchange for your personal information or even charge you a fee. That’s why with every website you visit, you have to share your personal information and data for you to register and have an account with them or even pay a certain amount.
The internet progressed from being read-only in Web 1.0 to being read-write in Web 2.0. Companies began to provide platforms for users to contribute user-generated content and engage in user-to-user interactions, rather than supplying read-only content to users.
Web 2.0 was also where the advertising-driven business model was born. As more and more individuals went online, several top corporations started to control a substantial portion of the internet’s traffic and value. They were able to own it and profit from it. Examples of these are Facebook, Google, Amazon, and more.
Most applications in Web 2.0 revolved around these apps:
- Social Media
- E-Commerce
- Search engines
Web 3.0 is a term coined by New York Times reporter John Markoff in 2006 to describe a new version of the Web that should incorporate specific breakthroughs and activities on the internet. However, Berners-Lee had openly discussed several of these essential notions in the 1990s.
Web 3.0 is supposed to be the next version or era in the evolution of the internet. It has the potential to be as revolutionary and paradigm-shifting as Web 2.0 with the main concepts of decentralization, more transparency, and improved user utility. Although Web 3.0 is not yet an official version of the internet, it is gaining popularity due to its primary goal of decentralization, openness, and greater user utility, as well as the loss of personal data monetization.
In 2014, Gavin Wood, a co-founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, designed and coined the term Web3. It refers to blockchain-based decentralized applications without your personal information being shared and monetized. Today, Web3 is seen by many as the ultimate step in the evolution of the internet and, possibly, the organization of modern society. Web 1.0 was the period of decentralized, open protocols when the majority of internet activity consisted of visiting individual static, read-only webpages.
As many people believed that Web 2.0 is the period of centralization, in which a large portion of communication and commerce takes place on closed platforms controlled by a small number of mega businesses such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon and subjected to the notional supervision of centralized government authorities, Web3 is meant to liberate the world from monopolistic domination.
The main application featured on Web3 currently are:
- Tokens
- Blockchains
While defining Web3 is still difficult because of its current development process, there are a few guiding concepts that govern its development.
- Instead of significant portions of the internet being managed and owned by centralized companies, Web3 distributes ownership among its creators and users.
- Web3 promotes less permission in every activity, which means that anybody can participate and no one is excluded.
- Web3 offers native payments: instead of paying through an infrastructure of banks and payment processors, it spends and sends money online using cryptocurrencies.
- Instead of relying on trusted third parties, Web3 functions utilizing incentives and its economic systems.
People in today’s fast-paced modern society are afraid of missing out on the next big thing. There is no doubt that cryptocurrency is one of the biggest things in today’s modern society. Over the last several years, thousands of virtual currencies have appeared and many are regulated. Many people, young and old, are already involved in crypto. According to Insider Intelligence, there are 34 million people in the United States who own cryptocurrency. Can you imagine how many individuals throughout the world hold cryptocurrency?
The hype about Web3 is becoming more widespread and many big tech businesses are taking notice. Another factor for the growth of the Web3 movement was the introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or digital collectibles and other online items and files that may be purchased and traded using crypto tokens. With Web3, user experience in trading and buying these tokens will be easier, safer, and even more fun.
With how big cryptocurrencies are, they will play a critical role in the internet’s future. A Web3 application that runs on a specific blockchain and uses specific crypto could be a great example of why many people are now talking about Web3. It is the hype of crypto and how Web3 is marketed. Even with the hype, Web3’s potential is undoubtedly tremendous.
Web3 is a new and quickly growing innovation that has the potential to revolutionize the way we use the Internet. Although its maximum capabilities will take some time to materialize, here are some observed about Web3’s distinctive advantages:
- Ownership & Control: Web3 uses decentralization and blockchain technologies to democratize content creation and cut out the middlemen. It allows people to immediately gain tokens, coins, or crypto for their involvement and activities in the community. These tokens have monetary worth and provide consumers with a sense of ownership over their initiatives.
- More opportunities: Web3 programs are free software and open-source, which means that anyone has the opportunity to develop projects on top of them. You can participate in the company’s value and influence. It’s similar to Lego blocks in that each component can be attached and reused. This paves the path for existing initiatives to be used to build something new, making it simple to generate valuable development ventures.
- Security & Stability: In comparison to today’s internet, web3 is driven by blockchain technology, which is very secure and tamperproof; any data cannot be modified or accessed by others without being noticed. The native token, Ethereum, is used to make payments in the safest process. Crypto blockchains are well recognized around the world because of their safety, stability, and security of encryption.
- Privacy: You have all the control over your online identity, personal data, and information with a decentralized identity system. Web3 gives you more power and control over what data and information are available online and chooses who can have access to it. You also have a cryptographically secure solution to verify the accuracy of the information. Lastly, no one can prevent you from using the service or deny your access.
- Community: The Web3 component Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) has a huge amount of potential in assisting you in organizing and forming organizations by automated ownership and decision-making rights among members. DAOs are a terrific method to let groups of individuals collaborate rapidly and fairly, whether within an organization or just a one-time deal.
- User experience improvements: Web3 can strengthen and improve user experiences by making them more enjoyable, engaging, community-driven, and comprehensive. In Web3, metaverse platforms can sell non-fungible ones (NFTs) as tokens. Users who choose which companies access their data and for what purposes would, for example, benefit from more personalized and customized services, altering their relationship with companies and other people.
With how crypto is thriving and its success in this modern world, blockchain-based social networks, online transactions, and online businesses have a better chance to expand and prosper in the coming years. Large corporations, like Facebook, Twitter, or Google, can nevertheless provide significant value as a social network despite not being blockchain due to their large user bases and their influence. As a result, predicting that Web3 will become the norm and the internet’s future can be a challenge. However, many individuals are aware that a decentralized Internet provides more benefits in today’s society. That’s why Web3’s mission is to be the internet of the future, giving users more freedom and privacy while online.
Web3 was born out of the Ethereum blockchain and refers to decentralized apps that run on the blockchain. It is now continuing its incredible growth.
Web3 has a lot of promise in the decentralized Internet because of its key values. Even average people will embrace Web3 and its mission as more and more people discover the benefits and advantages of a decentralized web. For the time being, it is difficult to say that Web3 will take over the internet; we must wait and see what happens. However, given the success and rise of crypto, blockchain, and leveling up of the advocacy of many people towards decentralized internet, we cannot deny that Web3 has the potential to be the internet’s future.
