Web3, or Web 3.0, also known as Semantic web is the next generation of the internet, with services based on blockchain technology.
What is Web3?
- Web3, the successor to Web2, is an internet version in which new social networks, search engines, and marketplaces emerge with no corporate controllers like Google or Facebook.
- They’re decentralized, and they’re based on the blockchain, the same technology that powers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Think it is a type of bookkeeping where data is stored on multiple computers at the same time and is searchable by everyone. It is run by a group of users rather than a corporation. For taking part, people are given “tokens.” The tokens can be used to vote on issues and potentially gain real-world worth.
- People in a Web3 world control their own data and use a single personalized account to go from social media to email to shopping, creating a public record of all of their activities on the blockchain.
What were Web1 & Web2?
The term Web 1.0 generally refers to everything from the early connections of computer networks in the 1970s and 1980s to the first heyday of browsers and websites in the 90s. In the next phase, Web 2.0, companies built applications from social media to search engines and wikis. These applications are primarily based on user-generated content. Much of the web is decentralized in some way, but majorly most of them are still running through large companies.
What’s this have to do with crypto?
Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, works by storing all transactions in a public database called the blockchain. The ledger is decentralized because it is managed by a huge network of computers connected to the Internet. The operator will be rewarded for the efforts given the opportunity to create more Bitcoins. However, the blockchain cannot only be used to record digital coin transfers. You can use it to create contracts and manage software and app functionality.
Given its importance in assisting decentralized app (DApp) developers, Ethereum may be the most popular Web 3.0 blockchain. As a result, ether will receive greater attention. Other crypto initiatives are already attempting to improve the Web3 experience, like Polkadot, Helium, and Kusama, among others. Web3 will also integrate nicely with the metaverse, making it easier to purchase and trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which reflect your ownership of a virtual good, using cryptocurrencies.
What are the drawbacks of Web3.0?
- Web3, like so many other ideas about the internet’s growth, is still only a concept, or even vaporware, a term for overly-hyped technology that has yet to be realized. It may possibly not prove to be as helpful as intended.
- Regulators are concerned about some initiatives, including decentralized finance, or DeFi apps that allow people to lend, borrow, and exchange currencies with one another without validating their identities or undertaking anti-money laundering checks. Many development teams believe they aren’t to blame because they have given authority to their users.
- The massive amount of computer power required for mining blockchains, which has raised environmental concerns, while newer systems may ease this. Software defects and hostile hacking attacks exist since so much of the code was written in all-nighters.
- Many projects don’t even provide contact information. If you send money to the wrong account by accident, it could be lost forever.
Conclusion
In the end, cryptocurrency trading and investment is a by-product of a much larger concept. And for those who don’t fully agree with that concept, Web 3.0 should be able to change their perspective over time.