Web3 — A real revolution?

The revolution of Web3 and blockchain promised us decentralization and, thanks to the possibility of creating content and objects, also entering a new phase of the Internet. Abandonment of centralized media and instead taking control of data by the common user. Are we close to realizing such a utopia?

If we take into account what the Internet looked like in the 90s, the progress is simply unimaginable. It is enough to mention that in order to use the Internet, one had to connect to the phone and block the line, the Internet itself was very static and the only signs of user activity could be seen on forums and chats. It was a time when the network could be the most controllable. When AJAX appeared around 2005, we can say that the era of Web2 has begun. Users began to co-create the network and the data contained in it. It was also a time when this beginning of Internet decentralization affected the lives of each of us. Because don’t we open Wikipedia instead of the encyclopedia in the bookcase? Haven’t social media and YouTube replaced our daily news and television? Today’s Internet has taken customers from companies in many industries in the real world. And Twitter and Facebook have become opinion-forming media.

It is difficult to say precisely when the Web3 phase began. One thing is certain, after 2020 the internet has become a database. A base as large as we have never had the opportunity to experience. Currently, there is information on the web that describes each of us in detail. Servers collect data on the history of visited websites, and thanks to the blockchain, we officially know how many cryptocurrencies we store and which ones. Nevertheless, the blockchain is not centralized. Therefore, users are not at the mercy of a single entity.

What else distinguishes Web3 is its commitment. This is how De-Fi or decentralized finance begins. The commitment in question is to specify a specific amount of cryptocurrency that can be extracted, no more and no less. Thanks to this, such a cryptocurrency is anti-inflationary. The commitment should be included in the code of the application that has been placed on the blockchain. Thanks to the availability of data, each user can check the code to avoid misallocation of funds. Correct, unquestionable and audited code means that we can work with it as with a bank, but without its intermediation.

The difference between Web2 and Web3 is also collaboration. The codes are freely available and you can easily use them for your own project. “Composability” allows for faster programming, using a solution to a problem that someone else came up with before us. This makes Web3 development extremely fast.

Most of us think Web3 is a distant future. Something that is happening far and beyond us. However, adoption is progressing very fast and many blockchain services have already entered everyday use.

It is worth mentioning, however, that adoption progresses the fastest in poor countries, in countries where access to banking services is very expensive or almost completely out of reach.

But we know that not all Web3 decentralization goals have been implemented yet. Adequate Internet infrastructure is still lacking, and most of it will not be under the control of only one entity. There are also problems of consolidating whales, which by their actions increase their voice. Applications aimed at protecting their users and at the same time being open are also a challenge.

Decentralization in Web3 is also DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations). They resemble cooperatives where artificial intelligence helps to make the right decisions, build company or project strategies and implement them. This idea is still being tested, but its positive effects can already be observed.

Web3 is first and foremost a huge collaborative venture that continues to evolve. Users co-creating and creating a product is an opportunity for new and old businesses. They educate the market and take over the role of marketing in the company. There is no more engaged user than the one who is so attached to the product that at some point he becomes its ambassador.