What is Web3? - California18

To analyze the evolution of the Internet, it is possible to divide the history of the Web into some main stages based on the technologies and transformations applied in the period. It is in this context that the term Web3 appears, indicated to indicate a new phase between the forms of connection.

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What does Web3 mean?

Web3 is a set of technologies that represents a new milestone during the evolution of the internet. Its main premise is the decentralization of the Web, reinforced by concepts such as blockchain and digital tokenization, going against the grain of a scenario in which data and platforms are concentrated in Big Techs.

The term was created by Gavin Wood, founder of the Ethereum blockchain platform, in 2014. It is worth noting that the concept is very abstract and, in some situations, still resides in the theoretical field. But, before understanding what this third stage means, it is necessary to define what came before.

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Web1, Web2 and Web3

These terms were used to define other major evolutions in the use of the internet. There is no single starting point that separates the eras, but researchers analyze a set of similar characteristics between the periods.

Web 1.0

The beginning of the World Wide Web, between the end of the 1980s and the 1990s, marks this first stage. The sites were mostly static, limited to text, hyperlinks and few images.

Due to these characteristics, Web1 limited the users’ experience to reading only, with few interaction options and difficulty in getting their own website.

Web 2.0

In the early 2000s, it was already possible to experience the second evolution of the internet: Web 2.0 opened up space for interaction between users. Instant messengers, comment spaces on websites and blog platforms made it possible to create your own content.

The big leap came with social networks — the platforms led the experience of going online and expanded the forms of production (and monetization) of content. While Web 1.0 was limited to reading, the next step allowed reading and creating at the same time.

Social networks are an exponent of Web 2.0 (Image: Reproduction / Pixabay)

Furthermore, Web 2.0 also represented the arrival of portability and applications. With the option of accessing the internet on any device, it was possible to develop versatile platforms that met different demands.

The result is a change in conventional forms of consumption: ordering food by phone has been replaced by the delivery app, taxis have given way to Uber, and so on.

One of the main consequences of “Web2” was the centralization of data in Big Techs. Meta, Amazon, Google and other tech giants have concentrated user information and kept tabs on Internet habits among a few products.

Web3

If Web2 centralized the flow of data between large companies, Web3 emerged to decentralize this process. The idea involves using blockchain technologies to empower users and allow them to manage their own data.

In summary, the blockchain can store information about the ownership of a digital asset and make the records publicly available. Thus, people would not depend on the servers of a large company to access this information, while the entire user community could keep the registration active, without the participation of companies in intermediation.

“Web3 eliminates the need for intermediaries because it offers the possibility of carrying out secure transactions directly between users (peer-to-peer), through new technologies based on blockchain, such as smart contracts”, explains the CEO of the consulting firm specializing in Web3 Go Digital Factory, Adriana Molha “It is the era of ownership, decentralization and communities”, adds the executive.

The use of blockchain is one of the most important aspects of Web3 (Image: envato/Prostock-studio)

Many of Web3’s concepts are already applied in the markets for cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFT) and other digital assets — so it’s very difficult to talk about one without mentioning the other. This web stage promises that everyone will be able to read, create and own some digital property within the internet.

Adriana Molha reinforces the importance of blockchain for this function. “While it offers data privacy, it also guarantees ownership of the content produced by the user”, he explains. “In other words, what is yours on Web3 is yours. It is registered in these decentralized networks called Blockchains and not on a company’s server”, he continues.

What are the main characteristics of Web3?

Web3 has a few main pillars:

Decentralization: creates independence from traditional Web structures, government agencies, banking systems, among other cases. The idea is to use blockchain hosting to create a free and borderless structure;
Privacy: allows users to have more control over their own data, in response to the strategy of using trackers and targeted advertising by social networks and other websites;
Virtualization: expands the possibilities of actions in the virtual space — the metaverse is one of the main examples.

Are Web3 and Web 3.0 the same thing?

Here, the answer gets a little more complicated. There are some theorists who use a separation between Web3.0 and Web3: in this case, the nomenclature “3.0” represents some standards of access to websites, while Web3 is used to encompass all other technologies.

A concept often attributed to Web 3.0 is the semantic web, that is, a standardization of the Internet that can be understood by humans and machines. This changes the interpretation of the data and allows algorithms to develop answers and anticipate problems.

So, it is common for some researchers to use the term Web 3.0 to address the semantic web and Web3 to define security and decentralization processes.

Does the metaverse have anything to do with all this?

When it comes to creating new experiences for the internet, the metaverse is a frequently mentioned example. Although virtual space is not a recent concept, it can be combined with Web3 technologies to increase its popularity.

Activations with metaverse and virtual reality can expand the marketing of digital assets to these spaces (Image: Reproduction / Freepik)

These two themes intertwine when involving tokens and digital assets. “The metaverse is inserted within the context of Web3 from the moment that transactions in this metaverse are made via Blockchain technology”, reinforces Adriana Molha.

“When it is mentioned that Web3 will be an immersive web, we can understand the metaverse proposal as the possible interface for this realization”, completes the executive.

What is already practice and what is still theory

The most practical way to understand how Web3 works still involves the use of cryptocurrencies. As these technologies are usually operated on blockchain, it is already possible to understand the stages of this network.

Some browsers, such as Opera and Brave, have already adapted their interface to receive Web3-oriented features, such as their own cryptocurrency wallet.

Outside the financial market, blockchain is also used to protect digital signatures, for example, in addition to adding layers of encryption in cloud storage. There is even a project to create a national blockchain system for a virtual currency developed by the Central Bank of Brazil, called Real Digital.

On the other hand, there are still other resources that are taking their first steps or have not even left the drawing board. The concept of dApps, applications created on a decentralized and blockchain-protected network, may be a response to conventional apps, but there are still few models available.

Possible problems

At the same time that it seeks to solve problems generated by Web 2.0, Web3 also raises some questions about the very way it works.

The first involves data processing capacity: blockchain technology takes time to complete a transaction and cannot operate with so much information at the same time. Therefore, servers from Google, Amazon and other companies are more consolidated options with greater storage power.

There is also the environmental issue of this whole process. Blockchain depends on mining and the presence of supercomputers, which generate problems from energy consumption and the need for physical space to accommodate them.

Privacy risks also draw attention: a cryptocurrency wallet could store all of the user’s personal spending information. In this case, there are still no methods to hide some data from visitors.

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