introduce

The Web has been evolving since its inception in 1990. The first implementation was a “read-only” web where users could only consume content but not create it. Then the evolution of Web2 happened and the paradigm changed. With the rise of social networks, blogs, etc., users started creating content.

The evolution of Web3 is now underway. An article on Twitter describes it as follows: “Web 3: Read-Write-Own”. Interested parties can check it out.

Web3 Concepts

In Web2, the internet is monopolized by large global companies that profit from our user-generated content. While we enable platforms to succeed, we are ultimately at their mercy. They can ban us, sell our data, profit from our content, and there is nothing we can do about it.

This is where Web3 comes into play, giving the power back to the user. Now, not only do you generate content, you own it. Web3 enhances Web2 with a few additional features:

Distrust

autonomy

License-free

Decentralization

Native built-in payment

The core concept of Web3 is "decentralization", which is more of a slogan than a technical description. The degree of "decentralization" depends on the application itself. Its main goal is to avoid the situation, where a single entity can control the entire application. With this, we want to eliminate centralization, which gave Web2 companies unprecedented power.

In the gaming space, Web3 allows users to own the assets they earn in-game. When you loot a rare item, you are its owner and can do whatever you want with it. All without the permission of the game developer.

When we combine this with the ability to transfer value (money) without the need for a third party like a bank, we have the potential to give power back to the user. Because of this combination, centralized organizations (governments, companies) lose control over the user. They cannot censor, ban, or prevent you from transferring value.

All of these factors create good conditions for the Web3 space to flourish.

Web3 Games

One of the applications of Web3 is gaming, where the activities of the ecosystem, especially the ownership and decision-making of in-game assets, can be removed from a central entity.

Therefore, players can own their in-game assets on one platform and transfer them to another gaming platform. With a DAO community, we can also give players the power to decide the direction of the game.

Unresolved issues

Web3 is a great concept, but it comes with its own set of problems, some of which may never be solved, while for some, solutions may be found in the near future.

Are builders actually incentivized to build Web3 applications?

Web3 limits the possibilities for builders to profit from the work they do to build applications. There are certainly examples of large open source projects that share some characteristics with Web3.

Are decentralized applications worse than centralized applications?

When an application is governed in a decentralized manner (DAO), how will we ensure that the community has a shared vision?

Is decentralized governance even possible?

If voting rights depend on owning specific tokens and quantities (DAOs), then we will have the same problem as in the stock market. Wealthy entities will be able to easily buy into the application which will lead to its centralization.

Will regulators allow true Web3 to exist?

Web3 returns power to the people, so tensions between Web3 builders and regulators are inevitable.

Will Web3 be widely adopted?

Web3 solves a specific set of problems, censorship, privacy, ownership, etc., but do enough users care about them to achieve mass adoption?

Will Web3 be too expensive?

Web2 users are used to everything being free. In Web3, we have to pay for computing power, so who will pay for the cost to the end user if there is no centralized party profiting from it?

in conclusion

Blockchain enthusiasts are often rightly criticized for thinking that blockchain is the ultimate solution to all problems. That is why we should turn our thinking to the problems, and how we can solve them. We can identify two problems in Web2, it is too centralized and users have no power to control it. This is a perfect problem that can be solved with a decentralized solution.

Web3 is still a new concept and it is evolving before our eyes. There are still many problems that have not been solved and paradigms that have not been tested.

Web3 won’t be a utopia, but it is a valuable vision for the future.