Web3.0: A misnomer, a hoax, or a revolution?
The popular media often conflates web technology with internet-based technology, which has resulted in inaccurate classifications like “Bitcoin is a Web3 technology.” We give an explanation of the layers of networking technologies to dispel this myth and give readers the technical background they need to understand Web3. The blockchain web and the decentralized web are two concepts of Web3 that coexist. The first alludes to the incorporation of blockchains into the web, while the second describes a decentralized, permissionless, and trustless replacement for the established World Wide Web.
The term “Web3,” as it is most often used, combines two different ideas that cover two basics. The development of web-to-other internet technologies interfaces and modifications to the prevailing central client-server architecture These ideas are referred to as the “blockchain web” for online content that interacts with the decentralized technology of blockchains and the “decentralized web” for material that is also made possible by decentralized technologies.
The Blockchain Web: Bitcoin is not a web protocol and cannot be accessed directly by conventional web browsers since it does not use HTTP. In a similar way, the Ethereum network does not have a direct HTTP interface or a browser interface that is easy to use. To close this gap and link blockchains to the web, blockchain web technology was created. Blockchain node provider services, wallets, and decentralized apps (DApps) are some of the most significant advancements in this field.
The Decentralized Web: Decentralizing blockchain technology is different from decentralizing web technologies. The “decentralized web” is a term we use to describe a network of material that is decentralized, permissionless (anyone may use, build, and/or administer it), and trustless. It might be seen as aiming to achieve security between other participants and/or central authorities. Every user may contribute material, connect with other users, and supply web infrastructure in the ideal decentralized web, which is one in which no one user gives up control to a strong central middleman.
The blockchain web ecosystem
The elimination of trusted third parties is the online revolution that blockchain technology brings about. Blockchain technology makes sure that something is scarce without the need for centralized control. It does this by making it impossible for one person to change ledger or database records about digital assets. So, web-based blockchain technologies make it possible for new ways to do business in the digital world. The nonfungible token (NFT) is one of the tools that helps simulate the strong ownership and scarcity of the real world in the digital world. On a ledger, a token has a digital representation. In contrast to cryptocurrencies, a nonfungible token can’t be traded or swapped for another one of the same kind. Additionally, NFTs cannot be unilaterally split amongst owners. 40 On the blockchain, they are like receipts that show who owns a physical or digital good.
Collective, collaborative activity is unavoidably affected by the blockchain network as it grows. A type of organizational structure that is becoming more well known is the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). With Web2 technology, a community’s limited digital assets are all linked to a single central issuer who controls the community’s economics and administration. On the other hand, a DAO tries to create decentralized community governance instead of having a board of directors or other central authority run the business. This is possible because the platform is self-sufficient and relies heavily on smart contracts to carry out the wishes of the people who own tokens on the blockchain.
Several blockchain networks that don’t work together have broken up the ecosystem of the blockchain web. Most blockchains don’t have ways to move assets to other ecosystems in their protocol layer. To facilitate cross-chain transactions using a certain asset standard, cross-chain bridges are made. The blockchain web area will innovate more quickly if the interoperability issue is resolved. When assets and code are separated into ecosystems that are tied to certain chains, users can’t switch to new technologies that offer more desirable features, like lower transaction costs and better security. Building a cross-chain interoperable system for the whole industry will promote fair competition and speed up the growth of a thriving and dynamic sector.
The decentralized web ecosystem
“Decentralized Web” is the second most commonly used term these days. It is a less concrete and more politically loaded idea than the blockchain web, which is a well-defined technical stack. It describes a network with the characteristics of decentralization, trustlessness, and permissionless. There may be debates on the precise manner in which these ideas are stored. The Blockchain Web has useful links to the decentralized technology of blockchains, but its own technologies are limited because they are centralized. So in order to establish a decentralized web, further technologies are needed. At its most fundamental level, the Web may be considered a file storage network. Clients access HTML and JavaScript files from central web servers through the internet. Finding a way to decentralize the web’s functionality is one of the most important steps in building a decentralized web.
Telling nodes where to upload and download files is crucial for a decentralized web. Distributed hash tables (DHT) are capable of doing this. DHTs are the main technology behind many decentralized P2P file-sharing networks and other types of communication networks. The majority of these projects were first published around 2000. BitTorrent and Perfect Dark are two examples of simple file-sharing programs that are used to spread movies, music, ebooks, and software. Freenet and GNUnet both provide users with a fundamental Web1 experience by including HTML pages with clickable links. They may be considered early versions of a decentralized web. A small group of network users that offer to keep their nodes available all the time primarily give storage and bandwidth.
Protocol Labs’ new DHT-driven decentralized web project, the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), gets around the bad incentive structure of earlier projects thanks to its huge ecosystem of related goods and services. As a result, companies such as Pinata, Filebase, Kaleido, and Infura can now charge customers who want their published information to be accessible for a long time but are unable to keep their machines up and running all the time for pinning services. But these pinning services essentially concentrate the supply and storage of material. Filecoin is a peer-to-peer network of storage providers that can be used by users to make the system even more reliable. For the typical user, IPFS is also quite accessible. Even though it doesn’t use HTTP directly, browsers can get to it through HTTP gateways. Protocol Labs and other companies like Pinata, Cloudflare, and Infura provide public gateways. Also, unlike other decentralized web projects, IPFS has been built into a major browser, Brave. Users of Brave can view network content by downloading and running an IPFS node with the flip of a switch.
Conclusion
So, is Web3 a new Internet technological revolution or just marketing hype? Web3 most often refers to “the blockchain web.” The blockchain web is not a technical advancement, but blockchains are. It includes tools that only link blockchains to graphical user interfaces. The problem with this is that it is linked to some of the most popular user-facing technologies, like browser wallets and DApps. Along with these graphical front ends, node infrastructure is an important part of the blockchain web. Blockchain Web apps’ technological flaws, on the other hand, show that the decentralized web is still just a concept. In the creation of a decentralized web, decentralized name services (DNS) will make crucial use of blockchain technology.
The term “web3” has usually meant a combination of the decentralized web and the blockchain web. Blockchain web technology doesn’t create a decentralized network on its own; it just connects the web to distributed ledgers. The blockchain web and the decentralized web should be seen as two separate ideas, even if blockchain technology has certain potential uses in a decentralized web. Unfortunately, blockchain media and venture investors do not distinguish between these two things when they use the term Web3.