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How to Navigate the Emergence of Web3
Beginner
2023-11-07 | 5m
TL;DR
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Web3 is the next generation of the internet, aiming to achieve serverless and decentralized infrastructure and providing users with control over their own identity and data.
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Web3 leverages blockchain as its core technology and relies on a decentralized network to establish a more open, transparent, decentralized, and secure Internet.
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Web3, with its unique advantages, will accelerate the widespread adoption of blockchain technology.
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Web3 is still in its early stages and it holds great potential and opportunities. The rapid development in fields such as decentralized finance, metaverse, GameFi, and AI will drive the acceleration of the Web3 era.
The internet has been in existence for just over 40 years, yet it has had a profound impact on the progress of human society and transformed various aspects of our lives. Now, we can enjoy the convenience and comfort brought by the internet without leaving our homes. With the emergence of blockchain technology, the internet is entering a new phase known as Web3. So, what is Web3? And what changes and opportunities will it bring for us?
What is Web3?
Web3 is considered the next generation of the internet, built on decentralized networks and blockchain technology. It enables users to have greater autonomy over their data and digital identity, as well as conduct transactions and interactions with enhanced security.
The concept of Web3 was first introduced by Dr. Gavin Wood, one of the co-founders of
Ethereum and Polkadot, in 2014. He stated that Web3 is a set of broad movements and protocols initiated to make the internet more decentralized, verifiable, and secure. The vision of Web3 is to achieve a serverless, decentralized internet where users have control over their own identity, data, and destiny. Web3 will usher in a new global digital economic system, create new business models and m arkets, disrupt platform monopolies, and drive widespread, bottom-up innovation.
As a result, Web3 is often referred to as a decentralized internet running on blockchain technology.
How does Web3 work?
Web3 operates in a significantly different manner compared to the traditional internet. It will use blockchain technology as its core, relying on decentralized networks to create a more open, transparent, decentralized, and secure internet.
In the Web3 world, data and applications are no longer stored on centralized servers, but distributed for storage and processing through decentralized networks. This means that user data is no longer owned by a single company or institution but is entirely under the user's autonomous control. Users have greater control over their data and digital identities, as well as more secure transactions and interactions.
As Gavin Wood stated, "Web3 transcends many things. It provides you with a platform composed of multiple protocols, formats, and technologies from which you can choose to create the decentralized services or applications you want, without being limited to any single platform. "
The Potential and Advantages of Web3
Technically speaking, Web3 has a number of core advantages. It not only addresses the existing issues of the internet but also accelerates the implementation of blockchain technology.
1. Trustlessness: Trustlessness is a key feature of Web3. Web3 can achieve trustless transactions and interactions, meaning users don't have to rely on intermediaries or third-party institutions. All data and identity information is under the users' control, fostering a more equitable and liberated online environment.
2. No single point of failure: In traditional internet architectures, because data and applications are stored centrally on centralized servers, any failure of these servers can lead to system crashes, resulting in unforeseeable losses. In contrast, Web3 eliminates reliance on intermediaries, and data and applications are no longer stored centrally on centralized servers. Instead, they are distributed and processed through decentralized networks. This distributed storage and processing approach can prevent single point of failure issues, ensuring that even if a node experiences a failure, the entire system can continue to operate smoothly.
3. Interoperability: The "walled garden problem" has hindered the rapid development of blockchain technology. Web3 can achieve interoperability between different
blockchains, allowing users to use different blockchain applications and services more flexibly. This will significantly accelerate the widespread adoption of blockchain technology.
Emerging Web3 Opportunities
Currently, Web3 is in its early stages, with many foundational infrastructure elements under construction. We still have a long journey ahead of us to reach the Web3 world we envision. However, in certain fields, numerous promising projects have already emerged, such as decentralized finance, the metaverse, GameFi, and more. They are accelerating the arrival of the Web3 era.
DeFi is one of the most important infrastructures for Web3. It is an innovative financial system based on blockchain technology, designed to eliminate centralized institutions and intermediaries in traditional financial systems, thereby achieving more fairness, transparency, and open financial services. There are many successful examples, including
Uniswap
,
Curve
,
1inch, and others.
The metaverse is an important application scenario for Web3. The metaverse is a virtual world governed by smart contracts, enabling interactions with the real world and facilitating the trading and management of digital assets. Metaverse will bring new virtual experiences to users, such as virtual reality games, virtual art exhibitions, and virtual stores. Some of the popular metaverse projects at the moment include
The Sandbox
,
Decentraland, and more.
GameFi is an emerging application direction for Web3. Blockchain technology has enabled true ownership, trading, and management of in-game assets, allowing players to earn as they play. This has brought about entirely new business models and development opportunities for the traditional gaming industry. Representative projects include
Axie Infinity
,
Enjin Coin, and more.
SocialFi is a potential application direction for Web3. By utilizing blockchain technology to achieve decentralization, security, and privacy protection of social network data, it has brought users a more autonomous, secure, and transparent social experience. Additionally, SocialFi can bring fairer and more transparent business models to social networking platforms, creating a healthier social network ecosystem.
AI is also being applied to Web3, for example, through machine learning and data mining to achieve more accurate user persona and recommendation services. At the same time, the decentralized nature of Web3 can provide a more secure and reliable data source for AI technologies. Thus, AI and Web3 can reinforce and enhance each other.
Closing Thoughts
The development and evolution of the internet are closely intertwined with our lives, introducing changes and challenges along with opportunities. As the next generation of the internet, even though the future of Web3 is not entirely clear, its unique advantages lead us to believe that it will become a pivotal component in bringing blockchain technology to the masses. It will also help construct a more intelligent, free, open, and equitable internet world for all of us.
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