The World Wide Web's dependable, resilient infrastructure was made possible by centralisation, which also assisted in bringing billions of people online. At the same time, a small group of centralised organisations control a sizable portion of the World Wide Web and make unilateral decisions over what should and shouldn't be permitted.
The solution to this problem is Web3. The Web3, which supports decentralisation and is being produced, operated, and owned by its users, is not a Web that is monopolised by big tech companies. Web3 gives individuals the ability to make decisions rather than companies.
The phrase "Web3" has come to represent the idea of a new, improved internet. At its foundation, Web3 leverages cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and NFTs to return ownership and authority to consumers.
Why Are Web3 And Blockchain Important?
With Web3, ownership is divided among its creators and users rather than being controlled and owned by sizable portions of the internet. Everyone has equal access to engage in Web3 and nobody is excluded due to its flexibility with permission rights.
In a previously unheard-of method, Web3 offers you control of your digital assets. Direct ownership is possible with Web3 thanks to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Nobody, not even the designers of the game, has the authority to revoke your ownership. Additionally, you can sell or trade your in-game possessions on open markets to recuperate their worth if you decide to stop playing.
With native payments, Web3 does away with the antiquated infrastructure of banks and payment processors and uses bitcoin for online purchases and payments. Web3 runs without the use of reliable third parties; instead, it makes use of incentives and economic principles.
According to Bitcode Method Official, holding on to users and protecting their data is a crucial source of competitive advantage for businesses in the Web 2.0 paradigm. Ironically, users find it challenging to swiftly export their social data and other content because the present Internet portals do not exchange information, not even in aggregate. As a result, even if they are dissatisfied with a platform's offerings, they lack the will to leave.
It is interesting to note that with Web3, this situation is probably going to change as the modern Internet tries to profit off of users' data utilising a value-based system. In order to produce value for all parties involved, the technology supports the development of open portals that directly share value with customers.
What Transformations Were Initiated By Web3?
Major shifts in domains including storage, browsers, social networks, finance, and OS systems have been dominated by Web3 solutions. The Web3 principles are being adopted gradually on the internet in order to create an internet of assets.
These include:
• Storage systems are increasingly favoring IPFS over Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure.
• New browsers like Brave offer a decentralised substitute to Google Chrome — the most-commonly used Web2 browser.
• The Web3 future would also highlight profound financial changes, with people preferring cryptocurrency wallets like Metamask over traditional networks.
• Many features provided in Web3 operating systems like EOS and Ethereum are lacking in centralised operating systems like Windows, Android, and iOS on Web2.
• The transition to Web3 would also emphasise the emergence of new, decentralized social networks like Steemit rather than centralised alternatives like Facebook.
Why Are Web3 And Cryptocurrency The Future?
The Web3 infrastructure, a decentralised internet constructed with cryptography and redundancy, uses cryptocurrency as its liquidity mechanism. This makes it possible to build an internet infrastructure based on a new kind of trust, allowing for the "double-checking" of data and/or identity on a distributed blockchain. Publicly available information can be preserved indefinitely with a record of all edits and changes made in the past. Cryptocurrency is frequently used as payment for those that run "nodes" on a blockchain, which are responsible for processing transactions, storing data, and taking part in the decentralised network.
With cryptocurrency, anyone or any business has the chance to develop their own economy. Today, tokens may be produced on already-existing platforms like Ethereum and Solana and promoted to customers. Currently, Bitcoins are mostly used as incentives for Web3 infrastructure development, maintenance, and security. However, it is possible to produce cryptocurrency tokens without using any Web3 infrastructure. They can only be used to encourage any desired behavior in both new and/or existing audiences.
These tokens give an economic system that is distinct from pure fiat financial transactions, equity ownership, and bonds a liquidity mechanism. The experimenting in the Web3 arena with these qualities is frequently referred to widely as DeFi. It is in fact a hybrid of all three and can share traits of all three (known as decentralised finance). Current cryptocurrency market capitalisation is the net present value of the anticipated cash flows and value produced by the economy.
Web 3.0 lays the groundwork for a free and open internet that benefits from transparency and security. You can fully control your personal data without having to sign up for any services. On the other hand, Web3 mandates that you, as custodians, must protect your own data and assets. It is interesting to note that some well-known Web2 players have already begun integrating Web3 components.
Vitalik Butherin, author of the academic paper titled “Decentralized Society: Finding Web3’s Soul” says: “with such augmented sociality, Web3 can eschew today’s hyper-financialisation in favor of a more transformative, pluralist future of increasing returns across social distance.”
Web3's environment is still developing. Although Gavin Wood first used the word in 2014, several of these concepts have only lately come to pass. The interest in cryptocurrencies, advancements in layer 2 scaling solutions, extensive trials of novel forms of governance, and revolutions in digital identification have all seen significant increases in the past year alone.
Web 3.0 is simply the beginning of our efforts to build a better Web, but as long as we keep enhancing the foundation that will sustain it, the Web's future is promising in 2023 and 2024.
