Web3 (also known as Web 3.0[1][2][3]) is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web which incorporates concepts such as decentralization, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics.[4] Some technologists and journalists have contrasted it with Web 2.0, wherein they say data and content are centralized in a small group of companies sometimes referred to as "Big Tech".[5] The term "Web3" was coined in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and the idea gained interest in 2021 from cryptocurrency enthusiasts, large technology companies, and venture capital firms.[5][6] The concepts of Web3 were first represented in 2013.[7][8]

Critics have expressed concerns over the centralization of wealth to a small group of investors and individuals,[9] or a loss of privacy due to more expansive data collection.[10] Billionaires like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey have argued that Web3 only serves as a buzzword or marketing term.[11][12][13]

Background

Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 refer to eras in the history of the World Wide Web as it evolved through various technologies and formats. Web 1.0 refers roughly to the period from 1989 to 2004, where most sites consisted of static pages, and the vast majority of users were consumers, not producers of content.[14][15] Web 2.0 is based around the idea of "the web as platform"[16] and centers on user-created content uploaded to forums, social media and networking services, blogs, and wikis, among other services.[17] Web 2.0 is generally considered to have begun around 2004 and continues to the current day.[16][18][5]

Terminology

Web3 is distinct from Tim Berners-Lee's 1999 concept for a Semantic Web.[19] In 2006, Berners-Lee described the Semantic Web as a component of Web 3.0, which is different from the meaning of Web3 in blockchain contexts.[20]

The term "Web3" was coined by Polkadot founder and Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood in 2014, referring to a "decentralized online ecosystem based on blockchain."[1] In 2021, the idea of Web3 gained popularity.[21] Particular interest spiked toward the end of 2021, largely due to interest from cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investments from high-profile technologists and companies.[5][6] Executives from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz traveled to Washington, D.C., in October 2021 to lobby for the idea as a potential solution to questions about regulation of the web, with which policymakers have been grappling.[22]

Concept

Specific visions for Web3 differ, and the term has been described by Olga Kharif as "hazy", but they revolve around the idea of decentralization and often incorporate blockchain technologies, such as various cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).[5] Kharif has described Web3 as an idea that "would build financial assets, in the form of tokens, into the inner workings of almost anything you do online".[23] A policy brief published by the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge defined Web3 as "the putative next generation of the web's technical, legal, and payments infrastructure—including blockchain, smart contracts and cryptocurrencies."[24] According to Liu, Zhuotao, et al (2021), three fundamental architectural enablers of Web3 were identified as a combination of decentralized or federated platforms, secured interoperability, and verifiable computing through distributed ledger technologies.[25]

Some visions are based around the concept of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).[26] Decentralized finance (DeFi) is another key concept; in it, users exchange currency without bank or government involvement.[5] Self-sovereign identity allows users to identify themselves without relying on an authentication system such as OAuth, in which a trusted party has to be reached in order to assess identity.[27] Technology scholars have argued that Web3 would likely run in tandem with Web 2.0 sites, with Web 2.0 sites likely adopting Web3 technologies in order to keep their services relevant.[10]

Reception

Technologists, journalists, and academic researchers, such as Chaffer and Goldston (2022), have described Web3 as a possible solution to concerns about the over-centralization of the web in a few "Big Tech" companies.[28] [5][22] Some have expressed the notion that Web3 could improve data security, scalability, and privacy beyond what is currently possible with Web 2.0 platforms.[29] Bloomberg states that skeptics say the idea "is a long way from proving its use beyond niche applications, many of them tools aimed at crypto traders".[23] The New York Times reported that several investors are betting $27 billion that Web3 "is the future of the internet".[30][31]

Some Web 2.0 companies, including Reddit and Discord, have explored incorporating Web3 technologies into their platforms.[5][32] On November 8, 2021, CEO Jason Citron tweeted a screenshot suggesting Discord might be exploring integrating cryptocurrency wallets into their platform. Two days later, and after heavy user backlash,[32][33] Discord announced they had no plans to integrate such technologies and that it was an internal-only concept that had been developed in a company-wide hackathon.[33]

Some legal scholars quoted by The Conversation have expressed concerns over the difficulty of regulating a decentralized web, which they reported might make it more difficult to prevent cybercrime, online harassment, hate speech, and the dissemination of child abuse images.[34] But, the news website also states that, "[decentralized web] represents the cyber-libertarian views and hopes of the past that the internet can empower ordinary people by breaking down existing power structures". Some other critics of Web3 see the concept as a part of a cryptocurrency bubble, or as an extension of blockchain-based trends that they see as overhyped or harmful, particularly NFTs.[32] Some critics have raised concerns about the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies and NFTs.[6] Cryptocurrencies vary in efficiency, with proof of stake having been designed to be less energy intensive than the more widely used proof of work, although there is disagreement about how secure and decentralized this is in practice.[35][36][37][38] Others have expressed beliefs that Web3 and the associated technologies are a pyramid scheme.[6]

Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, dismissed Web3 as a "venture capitalists' plaything".[39] Dorsey opined that Web3 will not democratize the internet, but it will shift power from players like Facebook to venture capital funds like Andreessen Horowitz.[9]

Buzzword

Liam Proven, writing for The Register, concludes that Web3 is "a myth, a fairy story. It's what parents tell their kids about at night if they want them to grow up to become economists".[40]

In 2021, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed skepticism about Web3 in a tweet, saying that Web3 "seems more marketing buzzword than reality right now."[11]

In November 2021, James Grimmelmann of Cornell University referred to Web3 as vaporware, calling it "a promised future internet that fixes all the things people don't like about the current internet, even when it's contradictory." Grimmelmann also argued that moving the internet toward a blockchain-focused infrastructure would centralize and cause more data collection compared to the current internet.[10]

Software engineer Stephen Diehl described Web3 in a blog post as a "vapid marketing campaign that attempts to reframe the public's negative associations of crypto assets into a false narrative about disruption of legacy tech company hegemony."[41]

Decentralisation concerns

Kevin Werbach, author of The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust,[42] has said that "many so-called 'Web 3.0' solutions are not as decentralized as they seem, while others have yet to show they are scalable, secure and accessible enough for the mass market", adding that this "may change, but it's not a given that all these limitations will be overcome."[43]

In early 2022, Moxie Marlinspike, creator of Signal, articulated how Web3 is not as decentralized as it appears to be, mainly due to consolidation in the cryptocurrency field, including in blockchain application programming interfaces which is currently mainly controlled by the companies Alchemy and Infura, cryptocurrency exchanges which is mainly dominated by Binance, Coinbase, MetaMask, and OpenSea, and the stablecoin market which is currently dominated by Tether. Marlinspike also remarked that the new web resembles the old web.[44][45][46]

An Ad Age article from 2022 stated "early adopters want to make a new internet that alleviates the problems of the old one" but said if companies put the same type of people in charge as on the earlier version, and those people had similar attitudes, the same problems would happen.[47] Another article in the same issue of the magazine quoted Alex Smeele, co-founder of Non-Fungible Labs, who said companies that wanted to participate in Web3 were "actually going to have to rethink their entire business model."[48]

Ana Constantino, founder of meetup platform Nowhere, said the metaverse did not really welcome everyone, because owners of NFT real estate on sites such as Decentraland could keep people out who did not have the assets.[47]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Edelman, Gilad. "What Is Web3, Anyway?". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on February 10, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  2. ↑ Alford, Harry (September 16, 2021). "Crypto's networked collaboration will drive Web 3.0". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  3. ↑ Khoshafian, Setrag (March 12, 2021). "Can the Real Web 3.0 Please Stand Up?". RTInsights. Archived from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  4. ↑ Fenwick, Mark and Jurcys, Paulius, The Contested Meaning of Web3 and Why it Matters for (IP) Lawyers (January 27, 2022). Available at SSRN: SSRN 4017790 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4017790
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mak, Aaron (November 9, 2021). "What Is Web3 and Why Are All the Crypto People Suddenly Talking About It?". Slate. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Read, Max (October 24, 2021). "Why Your Group Chat Could Be Worth Millions". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  7. ↑ Bodrenko, Andrei I. (December 6, 2013). "METHOD OF ORGANIZING E-MAIL". Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  8. ↑ Bodrenko, Andrei I. (October 24, 2013). "Video Calling System and Browser for I2P network". Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Kastrenakes, Jacob (December 21, 2021). "Jack Dorsey says VCs really own Web3 (and Web3 boosters are pretty mad about it)". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 Allyn, Bobby (November 21, 2021). "People are talking about Web3. Is it the Internet of the future or just a buzzword?". All Things Considered. NPR. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Locke, Taylor (December 20, 2021). "To Elon Musk, Web3 seems more like a 'marketing buzzword' than a reality". CNBC. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Jack Dorsey Stirs Uproar by Dismissing Web3 as a Venture Capitalists' Plaything". Bloomberg.com. December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  13. ↑ Macaulay, Thomas (December 21, 2021). "Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey are right to raise concerns about Web3". TNW | Hardfork. Archived from the original on April 18, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  14. ↑ Cormode, Graham; Krishnamurthy, Balachander (June 2, 2008). "Key differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0". First Monday. 13 (6). Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  15. ↑ Carter, Jamie (April 18, 2015). "Back to basics: is Web 1.0 making a comeback?". TechRadar. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  16. 1 2 Hosch, William L. (September 7, 2017). "Web 2.0". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
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  18. ↑ O'Reilly, Tim (November 30, 2005). "What Is Web 2.0". O'Reilly. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  19. ↑ Shannon, Victoria (May 23, 2006). "A 'more revolutionary' Web". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  20. ↑ Shannon, Victoria (May 23, 2006). "A 'more revolutionary' Web". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2006.
  21. ↑ Nield, David (December 14, 2021). "What Is Web3 and Why Should You Care?". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  22. 1 2 Feiner, Lauren (October 13, 2021). "Prominent Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz embarks on major crypto policy push in Washington". CNBC. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  23. 1 2 Kharif, Olga (December 10, 2021). "What You Need to Know About Web3, Crypto's Attempt to Reinvent the Internet". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on February 8, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Crypto, Web3 and the Metaverse" (PDF). Bennett Institute for Public Policy. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  25. ↑ Liu, Zhuotao; Xiang, Yangxi; Shi, Jian; Gao, Peng; Wang, Haoyu; Xiao, Xusheng; Wen, Bihan; Li, Qi; Hu, Yih-Chun (2021). "Make Web3.0 Connected". IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing. 19 (5): 2965–2981. doi:10.1109/TDSC.2021.3079315. ISSN 1941-0018. S2CID 236732697. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  26. ↑ Roose, Kevin (November 5, 2021). "Crypto Is Cool. Now Get on the Yacht". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  27. ↑ Meunier, Thibault; Jo, In-Young (October 1, 2021). "Web3 — A vision for a decentralized web". The Cloudflare Blog. Cloudflare. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  28. ↑ Chaffer, Tomer Jordi; Goldston, Justin (November 2022). "On the Existential Basis of Self-Sovereign Identity and Soulbound Tokens: An Examination of the "Self" in the Age of Web3". Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
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  30. ↑ "Welcome to 'Web3.' What's That?". The New York Times. December 5, 2021. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  31. ↑ Goodkind, Nicole (December 6, 2021). "What is Web3?". Fortune. Archived from the original on December 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  32. 1 2 3 Hatmaker, Taylor (November 9, 2021). "NFTs and crypto wallets could be in Discord's future". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  33. 1 2 Hatmaker, Taylor (November 10, 2021). "Discord pushes pause on exploring crypto and NFTs amidst user backlash". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  34. ↑ Harbinja, Edina; Karagiannopoulos, Vasileios (March 11, 2019). "Web 3.0: the decentralised web promises to make the internet free again". The Conversation. Archived from the original on March 14, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  35. ↑ "Cryptocurrency goes green: Could 'proof of stake' offer a solution to energy concerns?". NBC News. June 2021. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  36. ↑ London, Eva Szalay in (January 19, 2022). "EU should ban energy-intensive mode of crypto mining, regulator says". Financial Post. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  37. ↑ Lin, Connie (January 21, 2022). "How to clean up crypto mining—and what's at stake if we don't". Fast Company. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022. Contrary to the spirit of DeFi, [proof-of-stake] tends toward centralization in that, theoretically, one entity—or person—flush with cryptocurrency, could single-handedly shape the blockchain.
  38. ↑ Kharif, Olga; Mathis, Will; Saul, Josh (November 8, 2021). "Crypto's Energy Guzzling Sparks an Alternative That Merely Sips". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022. Critics say these alternatives may be less secure than proof of work.
  39. ↑ Vlad Savov (December 21, 2021). "Jack Dorsey Stirs Uproar by Dismissing Web3 as a Venture Capitalists' Plaything". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
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  47. 1 2 Sloane, Garret (April 4, 2022). "How brands can prioritize multicultural marketing in virtual worlds: Some Web3 projects are leading with diversity to include everyone in the evolution of the internet". Ad Age. Vol. 93, no. 6. p. 1.
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