Web 3

Web3 is on everyone’s lips.

Partly because of the usual cocktail of hype, marketing, and fear of missing out on the next big milestone.

But partly also because each day that passes is one day closer to the end of establishing itself as such.

Something that stands out is that venture capital firms have invested over $27 billion in crypto-related projects in 2021 alone, which is more than the previous 10 years combined. Much of that capital has gone to web3 projects.

Web 3 represents the next generation of the Internet, which is focused on transferring power from big tech companies to individual users.

My intention is to be able to clarify the terminology and the new paradigm, so that, whatever level you have, you will be able to better understand what all this Web 3 is all about.

If you have read me, you will already know (and if I haven’t told you now), I fervently believe that there is no better way to learn than doing.

So I will be creating content as I read, learn and experiment and I will leave it below for you to take a look if you consider it interesting.

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If you want to get into the ground a bit, but without going into too much detail, read on.

Benefits of Web3

• Anyone who is on the network is allowed to use the service.

• More reliable and flexible web.

• Better search results, and more targeted online advertising.

• Integrated payments through its native token, ether (ETH).

• The great giants of today’s Internet (Google, Amazon, Microsoft…) will no longer be the dictators of the network.

Limitations of Web3

• Latency

  • Transactions are slower in web3 because they are decentralized. The main reason for this is that state changes, such as a payment, must be processed by a miner (i.e. the computer running the software) and propagated through the network.

• Regulation

  • Some experts say decentralization could make this point more complicated, and to a certain extent increase online crimes and abuses.

• Learning curve

  • Like any new disruptive paradigm, Web3 is no exception and it needs specific knowledge that is not widely spread today.

• Accessibility

  • The lack of integration in modern web browsers makes web3 less accessible.

• Cost

  • The most successful dApps put very small portions of their code on the blockchain, as it is expensive.

What does this decentralization of the Internet mean?

Web 3 enables the proliferation of cooperative governance structures for previously centralized products.

• When you use a service like Google Docs today, you are using a centralized service. Google is the owner of all your data, and in exchange for allowing you to store your documents in the cloud (Internet).

• Any movement of money to date is in one way or another controlled by governments or central entities such as banks.

• Today, a car or house purchase contracts require endless paperwork where the rights and obligations of each of the parties are established.

• A private company or charity has a centralized structure.

All these cases represent cases of centralization present in the current day to day. The web3 comes to break with all that.

• Thanks to dApps (decentralized applications), it allows you to use the cloud to store your documents in the same way you do with Google Docs.

• It allows money movements that are not controlled by governments or banks.

• Thanks to smart contracts, bureaucracy and unnecessary paperwork involved in today’s sales contracts are avoided.

• The DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) flatten the structure of current organizations. There is no CEO, no CFO… and each member of the organization has a vote and decides when, how much and in what the money is invested.