Meta: Are you interested in Web3 and how it will impact our future? Continue reading to find out whether cryptocurrency is the key to its long-lasting success.
In the past couple of decades, digital-heavy buzzwords and catchphrases have been doing the rounds on the internet and confusing a brand-new generation of non-digital natives in the process. In 2014, however, the term Web3 was coined by Polkadot founder and Ethereum co-founder, Gavin Wood, to describe something of a decentralized online ecosystem that is largely based on blockchain.
It has been condemned and criticized in the years since for its ability to transform the ways in which we know and love the internet as it stands but with the explosive popularity of cryptocurrency poised as the secret to its success, continue reading to find out everything you need to know.
A brief summary of Web3
If you are still confused, Web3 is, in the simplest of terms, the next logical chapter in the internet’s long and colorful history that will be decentralized as opposed to controlled by governments and corporations. In 1991, for example, the early days of the internet were collectively referred to as Web1 until around 2004 when the advent of social media heralded the arrival of Web2.
In recent years, emerging technological advancements, such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse, have paved the way for a brand-new generation of the internet that will see the vast majority of operations powered by blockchain technology. This has led us to find ourselves placed firmly between Web2 and Web3 with a number of social media platforms, namely Facebook, already experimenting with the capabilities of the metaverse in the hopes of eventually providing a mix of both traditional Web2 and Web3 content for its users in the not-so-distant future despite the threat that Web3 poses to both large and small technology firms all over the world.
The role of cryptocurrency
In the same way that it has infiltrated a number of global industries and sectors in recent years, cryptocurrency is also poised to play a fundamental role in the growth and development of Web3. If you were to develop a decentralized app, or dapp as it has become more commonly known, in Web3, for example, you will receive digital tokens that will give you the power to make a series of important decisions, such as how much it will cost, how it will evolve, and how certain groups will oversee its progress. These digital tokens can then be sold to users in the form of a reward in a way that is somewhat similar to the process to buy BTC if they win a blockchain game, for example, with communities formed known as decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, voting on how the decentralized app’s funds are distributed.
A tricky terrain
It may sound nothing but promising but as has been the case with a number of similarly complex Web3 developments in the past couple of years, it has already run into several problems. It can, for example, be difficult for users to find a solution to a problem that may arise in Web3 with a lack of customer service options readily available. In addition, regulators have also faced challenges when attempting to identify and allocate ownership and responsibility in a virtual world that is completely decentralized and governments have thus far struggled to monitor, track, and control the spread of harmful or illegal content as cybercriminals run rampant on the virtual space.
This situation has led to the public condemnation of a number of central figures, namely Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who somewhat famously testified against a widespread failure to responsibly oversee the world’s most popular and successful social media platform amongst other things in 2018. It has also led to a growing number of technology experts and consumers wondering whether apps available in Web3 will actually differ from Web2 or are likely to remain largely unchanged as the definitions of Web2 and Web3 continue to overlap.
Slow but steady progress
If Web3 is to not only survive but thrive, cryptocurrency must continue its mission to slowly but surely achieve mainstream adoption throughout the world. This may have already proven successful in a number of global industries and sectors, including online gaming, healthcare, sports betting, finance, and e-commerce, but if the world is to take Web3 seriously, it must be accepted, and trusted, for a wider range of online and in-person transactions.
It may require a great deal of public education and reassurance for such a strange and unfamiliar concept to be adopted on a global scale but with its wide-reaching benefits outperforming any concerns early investors had, there is no reason why it shouldn’t become the norm sooner rather than later. If you are curious as to what Web3 is and how it will impact our future, it may be worth taking the time to research the latest and greatest digital trend in greater detail.
By analyzing a brief summary of Web3, the role of cryptocurrency, its early criticism, and the pressing need for widespread cryptocurrency adoption, however, it becomes clear that Web3 may not only become a reality sooner rather than later but provide a wide range of benefits for its users in the process.
