What is ‘Web3’? Gavin Wood who invented the word gives his vision
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Gavin Wood (computer scientist) coined “Web 3.0” to describe his vision of the future web in 2014.
This phrase is also known as “Web3” and has been a buzzword on the internet recently thanks to high-profile technologists like TwitterJack Dorsey, founder Tesla CEO Elon Musk, debating the meaning of the term.
Wood was one of the cofounders and the founders, Parity Technologies. “Beyond the Valley”Podcast to hear his Web3 vision.
Is there anything wrong with today’s web site?
Proponents call Web3 a decentralized version of the internet — one that is not dominated by a handful of powerful players such as Amazon, MicrosoftAnd Google.
Web1 started off with the idea of an open and decentralized internet, but Web2 — the internet we know today — led to the birth of trillion dollar technology companies that have a strong influence over the internet and own a lot of the infrastructure the web is built on.
Wood said that the main problem is “sort of the same as putting all your eggs into one basket. If something goes wrong with any of these services, then suddenly the service is unavailable for an awful lot people.” Wood spoke on CNBC’s Beyond the Valley podcast.
Trust is also the keyword here. The people who run the services must be trusted. The owners of these companies are our trusted advisors.
Web3 is a web-based search engine.
Wood says Web3 truly is decentralized and more democratic than the current internet.
Web3 really is a different vision of the internet. The services we use aren’t hosted by one service provider, they are purely algorithmic and are hosted by everyone. It’s peer-to-peer, you might say. … Wood explained that participants could contribute small pieces of the ultimate services.
“And therefore, no one really holds any advantage over anyone else… Not in the exact same sense as, for instance, Amazon or eBay or Facebook. Where the company providing the service is in absolute control of what they do to provide the service,
Web3’s Key Terms and Tech
Web3 is built on Blockchain technology. Blockchain is a key technology behind Web3. Bitcoin blockchain records the activity in bitcoin networks. Bitcoin isn’t owned by any one company, person or institution. It is also not issued centrally by an authority such as a central bank. Bitcoin is distributed and managed by an international group of computer specialists.
Decentralization and blockchain are key technologies.
Web3 was built on the concept of “trustless” models. But, right now we must trust companies to provide the services they claim to. Web3 services and products built on Blockchains, and decentralized would only require you to trust their underlying algorithms to deliver the product.
It comes with inherent risks.
How would a Web3 Twitter version look?
Wood used the Web3 Twitter version as an example. He said that it would allow users to have more control over their tweets and help verify identities.
Wood stated, “So it is much more difficult for someone to like me, fake my identification, because we have… cryptographic-based evidences that I have done these, and only you could have possibly done this,”
“We probably have elements of kind of greater, such as freedom speech… In the sense that there isn’t going inherently have gatekeepers. The same way that, you know, Twitter employees act effectively to be gatekeepers to this system.”
How does cryptocurrency fit into all of this?
Web3 experts believe that cryptocurrency will be a major part of the future web. A Web3 application could run on a blockchain which uses a digital coin.
Tokens based on ether may be required for services running on Ethereum’s blockchain.
In the past several years there have been many virtual currencies. Wood said Web3 may not depend heavily on crypto currencies as it is now, however.
It is likely that the currency role will remain in service delivery. Wood stated that although I believe that currency will continue to play a role in services, he thinks that we’ll see more services delivered using tokens.
It’s going to take a leap, I think. It is my belief that it will be one of the main factors to make the service mainstream,” he said. He also suggested that most users won’t need to purchase many tokens in order to access a service.
What will the regulation look like?
Bitcoin has not been subject to regulation because of its non-ownership. But, many businesses who touch cryptocurrency in any way (exchanges included) are subject to regulation.
How will regulators deal with Web3 services that are based on the same decentralization theory as Bitcoin?
Countries around the globe are trying to determine how to best regulate cryptocurrency and other related technologies. Web3 is an example of this conversation.
Wood says it may be hard for the authorities to control Web3 services. Wood suggested that instead, an app could decide to create rules aligning with regulators in their “own interest”.
He said that regulators could look at the users of the service instead of the service.
Is it the end for tech giants?
Web3 proponents suggest that Web3 may challenge technology giants’ power.
But, these same companies such as Microsoft or Twitter are also investing in Web3.
Wood acknowledged that it is difficult to put a dent in Goliaths, but he also compared their situation to Microsoft’s potential in the later 2000s and beyond.
Wood stated that it didn’t matter if you used the Windows operating systems or created your documents in Microsoft Word. “We use the internet as a platform and can be used with any operating system,” Wood explained.
“Ultimately … He said that Web3 would be able to fulfill the future needs better than these centralized service providers.
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