What is Web3? | How will it CHANGE the FUTURE of Digital Economy FOREVER?

INTRODUCTION

Before we get into Web3, let us understand how we got here, all the way from Web1 and Web2. At the very onset of the concept of internet – it was solely used for the purpose of information gathering. It was simply a location where you could get answers to your questions. This was mainly due to the fact that the ability to create new web pages on the internet was restricted to a handful of people. That was Web1.

Then came Web2. This phase of the internet brought about democratisation of content creation. Now, anybody could record a video or create a blog post and publish it for the world to see. Everything from Facebook posts, to Instagram stories, LinkedIn updates fall in this category. This is known as User Generated Content (UGC) and many of the biggest social media and e-commerce platforms of today are all built on the back of UGC.

WHAT IS WEB3? WHAT IS ITS IMPORTANCE?

Web3 is about ownership.

Web3 is essentially challenging the way we think about ownership. Let’s imagine for a second, you upload a video on YouTube. And for some reason it is flagged by some user halfway across the world and YouTube decides to take it off. So does that content remain yours anymore? You might be the one uploading the video, it could be your face saying something on the video but the control button is practically in YouTube’s hands.

Thus Web3 is going to revolutionise the way we think about ownership in the Web2 world. The space is still in its nascent stages so only time can say what new kinds of business will emerge to take advantage of this new ownership of digital content and create a new digital economy.

HOW DOES WEB3 WORK?

At the very simplistic fundamental level, Web3 works with the principle of giving the creator the ownership of their content. When you use a Web2 platform like Facebook or YouTube, your data is collected, owned and even monetised by these companies. Whereas in Web3, your data is stored in your crypto wallet, with which you can engage with apps and communities and can even monetise it to suit your needs. You don’t depend on someone else to give handouts of revenue generated from your content.

Thus, NFT’s or non-fungible tokens will be the backbone supporting the Web3 space.

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This will be a 3-day event, starting from August 26, 2022 to August 28, 2022. This one-of-a-kind event shall witness some of the most remarkable brains across the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. From keynotes, panel discussions, quizzes, masterclasses, and workshops to hackathons, and project demonstrations, it shall have everything to fuel the Web3 rush inside you!

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WHAT DEFINES WEB3? WHAT ARE ITS KEY FEATURES?

1. DECENTRALISATION

This is the biggest and the most defining feature of Web3. Instead of data being centralised and held by a few institutions, in Web3, data is rather held in a decentralised manner across computers connected through to what is known as the blockchain network. Data is stored in multiple locations simultaneously instead of on a localised server thus bringing a higher level of security and decentralisation.

2. TRUSTLESS & PERMISSIONLESS

A Web3 environment, which naturally runs on a decentralised blockchain network is thus rendered trustless due to the lack to a centralised entity that one must trust in Web2. This means network participants will be able to directly interact with each other without the need for a ‘trusted intermediary’ to facilitate the transactions. Hence it will also be permissionless, letting anyone participate without a ‘governing body’.

3. CONNECTIVITY & UBIQUITY

In a Web3 world, information and content will be more connected than ever before in the history of the internet. It can be accessed by various applications, bringing with it an ever-increasing number of devices (IoT) connected to the web.

4. Autonomous and backed by intelligent solutions:

Web3.0 applications are majorly decentralized which means they are run autonomously without authority of any third parties. Thanks to blockchain technology and solutions like Oracles that help in creating robust internet solutions that are not isolated from the real world and at the same time are censorship resistance.

5.Web 3.0, Crypto and Blockchain 

Crypto and Blockchain are driving the Web3 revolution. To build decentralized applications or dApps, blockchain’s open source architecture fits well with Web3.0’s fundamentals. The core tenets of web3 are decentralization, censorship resistance and permissionless. With tokenization using crypto, new business models are being designed that can deliver a new economy for internet users. 

Read more: Top Web3 Tokens

WHAT ARE THE APPLICATIONS OF WEB3

Web3, when fully executed, will have a wide variety of use-cases. With its basis in decentralisation and a permissionless system – it opens up a whole new world of technology to emerge. However, let us take a look at a few of the most important and understood use-cases of Web3 so far:

1. Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs)

Decentralised Autonomous Organisations are one of the most popular among blockchain Web3 use-cases. DAOs are essentially online communities under the ownership of members of the community. The most important factor of DAOs is that it enables taking ‘consensus’ of all the members in the community.

2. Decentralised Finance (DeFi)

This is another major use-case  for Web3 would definitely be decentralised finance, also referred to as DeFi. It is a brand new concept in the world of finance, which is based on the use of decentralised applications for basic financial services, for example lending & borrowing in DeFi, running an exchange, and the likes. Decentralised applications or dApps, are software applications that run on the principles of decentralisation on the blockchain network via the use of smart contracts.

3. Privacy & digital infrastructure

Privacy has become one of the most prominent issues in existing blockchain networks since every transaction is recorded on a public ledger. But now new techniques are being innovated and developed via cryptography and zero-knowledge proofs for improving privacy and digital infrastructure, that enables mathematical proofs of validity without disclosing information.

4. NFTs: 

NFTs are non- fungible tokens (NFTs) are stored on the blockchain network and have a cryptographic hash that makes the token unique.

WILL USERS WELCOME WEB3?

Well, that is a question that only time can tell. But there are a few things that need to happen for Web3 to flourish and gain more adoption amongst the masses and businesses.

1. Users need to think in terms of a ‘user-owned’ model

The current Web2 is more of a ‘service’ based iteration of the internet, and users generally don’t have too much say in the future direction of products and services they utilise. In the case of Web3, products and services will be created, updated or disbanded based on the user’s needs, and will be governed by the users.

2. Investors need to shift to ‘community-driven & participatory’ mentality

Investors and owners of businesses in the Web3 world will have to change their Web2 paradigm. Instead of board room meetings and governance by a select few, the approach to take up in Web3 is essentially a decentralised one where ownership is distributed amongst the community members that have multiple roles within the ecosystem.

3. There needs to be a more sustainable way to attract users

There’s usually the token ICO or something that hypes up a particular community and drives engagement, however it generally doesn’t retain that initial momentum. Those artificially pumped key metrics obscure long-term prospects by jacking up those metrics, making it hard to find true value of the product.

HOW WILL WEB3 CHANGE YOUR ONLINE EXPERIENCE?

In one of the biggest benefits, Web3 promises a more dynamic experience by leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and the blockchain technology. It will introduce major structural changes that will help bring about major democratisation on the platform. Also, since data exists in a distributed ledger, the security and robustness Web3 provides will be unparalleled to anything in history.

Additional Read: How Web3 is Powering the Gaming Industry

HOW WILL WEB3 CHANGE OUR LIVES?

1. Web3 will bring about a personalised browsing experience

While personalised adverts based on your search history may feel invasive, there is no doubt that those provide a convenience beyond comparison when it is something that you are really looking for and need. It could have been something that you could have missed in your organic search for the item but the search helped you get that item at a steal price.

2. Better search

Web3, thanks to higher quality of AI and machine learning, will be better equipped to understand our searches through a spoken natural language. That is incredibly powerful, not just for consumers because it immediately cuts down on the learning curve for the user but also businesses will have better tools to cater to the needs of the consumers through optimisation of their sites.

WILL METAVERSE BE THE FUTURE OF WEB3?

Metaverse would definitely be a major part of the future of Web3. The immersive nature of the metaverse, combined with the decentralised factor of the blockchain environment will provide for the perfect nesting ground for the vision of Web3. The world will be incentivised to become more and more digital oriented, maybe even have a digital life which could be as valuable as the real life the user has. That’s where the value comes in.

Metaverse would also open up a whole new world of opportunities for businesses to take advantage of. From a new mode of advertising to virtual real estate, all of these would suddenly become more possible in the metaverse. It would thus become a gateway to an even more global economy than we have today.

CONCLUSION

The promise of Web3 is truly ambitious as it aspires to fundamentally redefine the internet based on the principles of decentralisation. In fact, it resembles the original vision for the internet more than ever before, with the only difference being in the fact that it will take advantage of a new kind of technology and innovation to bring this vision to life.

The idea of the entire internet being reinvented could seem a but far-fetched but it is undeniable that the technology and innovation is driving important new conversations on the global scale on how the internet could and should be like. It still remains to be seen how this would turn in reality, and what the future looks like for us.

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