Let's talk web3

Centralisation has helped onboard billions of people to the World Wide Web and created the stable, robust infrastructure on which it lives. At the same time, a handful of centralised entities (think Google, Facebook, Twitter), have a stronghold on large swathes of the World Wide Web, unilaterally deciding what should and should not be allowed. 

This became more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic during which, individual's freedom of speech, even freedom to access their bank accounts (Canadian Truckers Convoy), became compromised.

Web3 is the answer to this dilemma. Instead of a Web monopolised by large technology companies, our banks and the government,  Web3 embraces decentralisation and is being built, operated, and owned by its users.  Web3 puts power in the hands of individuals rather than corporations. 

Lets look at the history of the web...

Web 1.0: Read-Only (1990-2004)

In 1989, at CERN, Geneva, Tim Berners-Lee was busy developing the protocols that would become the World Wide Web. His idea? To create open, decentralised protocols that allowed information-sharing from anywhere on Earth.

The first inception of Berners-Lee's creation, now known as 'Web 1.0', occurred roughly between 1990 to 2004. Web 1.0 was mainly static websites owned by companies, and there was close to zero interaction between users - individuals seldom produced content - leading to it being known as the read-only web.

Web 2.0: Read-Write (2004-now)

The Web 2.0 period began in 2004 with the emergence of social media platforms. Instead of a read-only, the web evolved to be read-write.  Instead of companies providing content to users, they also began to provide platforms to share user-generated content and engage in user-to-user interactions. As more people came online, a handful of top companies began to control a disproportionate amount of the traffic and value generated on the web. Web 2.0 also birthed the advertising-driven revenue model. While users could create content, they didn't own it or benefit from its monetisation.

Web 3.0: Read-Write-Own

The premise of 'Web 3.0' was coined by Etherium co-founder Gavin Wood shortly after Ethereum launched in 2014.  Gavin put into words a solution for a problem that many early crypto adopters felt: the Web required too much trust as described above.

Core ideas of Web3

Although it's challenging to provide a rigid definition of what Web3 is, a few core principles guide its creation.

• Web3 is decentralised: instead of large swathes of the internet controlled and owned by centralised entities, ownership gets distributed amongst its builders and users.
• Web3 is permission-less: everyone has equal access to participate in Web3, and no one gets excluded.
• Web3 has native payments: it uses cryptocurrency for spending and sending money online instead of relying on the outdated infrastructure of banks and payment processors.
• Web3 is trust-less: it operates using incentives and economic mechanisms instead of relying on trusted third-parties.

Why is Web3 important?

Although Web3's killer features aren't isolated and don't fit into neat categories, for simplicity we've tried to separate them to make them easier to understand.

Ownership

Web3 gives you ownership of your digital assets in an unprecedented way. For example, say you're playing a web2 game. If you purchase an in-game item, it is tied directly to your account. If the game creators delete your account, you will lose these items. Or, if you stop playing the game, you lose the value you invested into your in-game items.  Web3 allows for direct  ownership through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). No one, not even the game's creators, has the power to take away your ownership. And, if you stop playing, you can sell or trade your in-game items on open markets and recoup their value.

Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs)

As well as owning your data in Web3, you can own the platform as a collective, using tokens that act like shares in a company. Additional features include:

• DAOs let you coordinate decentralised ownership of a platform and make decisions about its future. 
• DAOs are defined technically as agreed-upon smart contracts that automate decentralised decision-making over a pool of resources (tokens).
• Users with tokens vote on how resources get spent, and the code automatically performs the voting outcome.

However, people define many Web3 communities as DAOs. These communities all have different levels of decentralisation and automation by code.

Native payments

Web2's payment infrastructure relies on banks and payment processors, excluding people without bank accounts or those who happen to live within the borders of the wrong country. Web3 uses tokens like ETH to send money directly from the user's browser or digital wallet and requires no trusted third party. 

If a Government doesn't like the fact that you are exercising your social liberties to protest, they cannot just freeze yours and your family bank accounts to pressure you into compliance.

Conclusion

Web3 is an evolving, young and exciting ecosystem and although the  term was first used 8 years ago, many of these ideas have only recently become a reality.  In fact, in the last year there's been a huge surge in the interest in cryptocurrency, improvements to layer 2 scaling solutions, massive experiments with new forms of governance, and revolutions in digital identity.

We are clearly at the beginning of creating a better Web with Web3, and as we continue to improve the infrastructure that will support it, the future of the Web looks bright.

If you are interested in Crypto and digital assets, please get in touch. We're here to help you to get into this next generation internet, safely.



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