Before we talk about Web 3.0, let us understand how the web 3.0 came about and learn a little about Blockchain upon which web3 is envisioned. Blockchain tech has come a long way. It wasn’t that long ago that crypto remained at the fringes, evangelized by a vocal minority. Now Blockchain has gained momentum and many industries both private and public have started to adopt the change. Even the Governments across the globe has started experimenting and implementing Blockchain.
This generation is fortunate to experience and be a part of this revolution. As we work towards this future, we will be redefining the fundamentals of digital systems. “Blockchain will democratize the digital world and give the power back to its true owners (THE PEOPLE)”.
What is Blockchain?
According to https://wikipedia.org: “A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed, and oftentimes public, digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved block cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks”. This allows the participants to verify and audit transactions independently and relatively inexpensively. A blockchain database is managed autonomously using a peer-to-peer network and a distributed timestamping server. They are authenticated by mass collaboration powered by collective self-interests. Such a design facilitates robust workflow where participants’ uncertainty regarding data security is marginal. The use of a blockchain removes the characteristic of infinite reproducibility from a digital asset. It confirms that each unit of value was transferred only once, solving the long-standing problem of double spending. A blockchain has been described as a value-exchange protocol. A blockchain can maintain title rights because, when properly set up to detail the exchange agreement, it provides a record that compels offer and acceptance.
What is Web (www)?
According to https://wikipedia.org: The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system where documents and other web resources are identified by Uniform Resource Locators (URLs, such as https://example.com/), which may be interlinked by hyperlinks, and are accessible over the Internet. The resources of the Web are transferred via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), may be accessed by users by a software application called a web browser, and are published by a software application called a web server.
History of World Wide Web
What is Web 3.0?
Web3, also known as Web 3.0, is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web that incorporates decentralization based on blockchains. It is often contrasted with Web 2.0, wherein data and content are centralized in a small group of companies sometimes referred to as “Big Tech”. The term was coined in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and the idea gained interest in 2021 from cryptocurrency enthusiasts, large technology companies, and venture capital firms.
Concept of Web 3.0:
Specific visions for Web3 differ, and the term has been described by Bloomberg as “hazy”, but they revolve around the idea of decentralization, and often incorporate blockchain technologies, such as various cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Bloomberg described Web3 as an idea that “would build financial assets, in the form of tokens, into the inner workings of almost anything you do online”. Some visions are based around the concepts of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Decentralized finance (DeFi) is another key concept; in it, users exchange currency without bank or government involvement. Self-sovereign identity allows users to identify themselves without relying on an authentication system such as OAuth, in which a trusted party has to be reached in order to assess identity.
Will Web 3.0 scale?
Blockchain technology is fast becoming the most transformative technology of recent times and has created hype and optimism, gaining much attention from the public and private sectors. It has been widely deployed in decentralized crypto currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin is the success story of a public blockchain application that propelled intense research and development into blockchain technology. Web3 will open up lot of opportunities and give the power to the end user. However, scalability remains a crucial challenge. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are encountering low-efficiency issues with low throughput, high transaction latency, and huge energy consumption. The scalability issue in public Blockchains is hindering the provision of optimal solutions to businesses and industries. Although Web 3.0 will definitely revolutionize the way we fundamentally perceive World Wide Web today, Web3 has lot of challenges to be addressed before it can be functional anytime soon.
Scaling this decentralized web framework will pose lot of functional problems. The Decentralized network will have to handle billions if not trillions of transactions per second to authenticate, validate and approve a transaction. Considering the amount of activity and transactions on the internet every second, we will have hard time scaling and meeting end user expectations.
Due to this scaling problems, there could potentially be a hybrid internet with both Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 co-existing. What do you think?
Although I do believe that the future of the internet is Web 3.0 on Blockchain, I also believe that we need to solve lot of issues before it can be functional. That being said We at DataHackr.com are working on an innovative Blockchain solution for data exchange online.
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