Do you remember the first time you heard about Facebook? Well! It was a dominant buzzword that seemed to change the way we engage with content. It wasn’t the boring web1 version anymore where we just ate what was thrown at us. Here at Facebook, We became the feeders as well!
From likes to posts, from comments to tags, we established an active engagement with the content. Now, get honest with yourself – didn’t that seem like the highest achievement of technology?
Well! Even I thought so.
But, here we are! Fast forward to 18 years, getting FOMO about bitcoin and blockchain.
Yes, there is a thing with technology. Here, Innovations never seem to cease. From web1 to web2 to web3, we have constantly been exposed to more updated and seemingly more secure versions of the internet. Wanna know whether or not web3 does what it says?
Let us do a quick rundown!
1. WHAT IS A WEB3, WHY WEB3?
To understand this better, let us take an example! Suppose you write a private letter to your partner and send it via a postcard. Only to later find out, that it was already read by the postman! Dreadful isn’t it? That was the WEB1 and even the WEB2 version of communication.
Whaaaat! Wait I thought WEB2 is safer!
Oops! Sorry to disappoint you.
But, no not really!
According to a report by Forbes, Cybersecurity threats are increasing every year at an alarming rate. This leads to an overall increase of data breaches in all areas – business, IoT, Ransomware, and the list goes on. [1]
Phew! What leads to so many data breaches?
Well! The data breach is inevitable. Look at the way WEB2 is designed. According to the Forrester study, the major reasons behind data breaches are – increased access to data through multiple locations, centralization of data, and the third reason? You may surely not like it being accused? Do you?
It is your favorite – high-speed internet. The lesser time it takes to store the volume of data, the higher the chances of a data breach. [2]
And by using WEB3 security login WEB3 applications are more secure from malicious online threats.
Ughhh! Looks like I made privacy and the most favorite – internet speed, stand at war with each other?
Ok. Let us fix that through WEB3
You may wonder what makes WEB3 so different? The answer lies in the way it is designed.
The stylish Avatar way? Yes, that is there too. But, all that privacy hoax. Technically, they are decentralized blockchains designed to maintain a peer-to-peer exchange. This seems like a major revolution – changing the way data is controlled. [3]
Interesting? Let us dig deeper into that
2. YOUR COMPLEX QUERY ENDS HERE. KNOW ALL ABOUT THE WORKING OF WEB3
The working of WEB3 can be reduced to a token economy. Quite literally. The entire data transfer is supposed to take place through machine-generated readability. This technical jargon is projected to have an immense effect on decentralizing the data. [4]
Wondering what decentralization does to the internet?
Well, it does the same as what democracy did to monarchy. Snatching the data control from the government, corporations, and other entities and handing it over to the users.
Seems like a big promise? Let us understand it step by step.
How will it manage to decentralize the data? Is it possible?
The short answer – is yes, It is capable of decentralizing data. It will have an independent entity neither controlled by the government nor by corporations. Not centralized as they call it but dispersed through a multitude of nodes. This ensures that the data is just shared between the users. And not to the platform. Goal accomplished?
What facilitates this data transfer just between users? Tell me more
Lets us take an example of a traditional vending machine. What does that do?
It simply provides an outcome through the intake of input with no centralized data.
The transfer of data in WEB3 similarly takes place. Most developers have added a programming language to encrypt the conversation between two users. [5]
Oh and that Ethereum hype. How can we miss that!
All about DApps
This cool acronym stands for decentralized application. Its specialty? Countless it seems.
With multiple nodes, they disperse the data throughout the network. Not in centralized farms and large servers as in the case of WEB2.
This explains why the benefits are countless – There are no single points of failure. Complete transparency is ensured through chain-based transactions. And the Ethereum! How can we miss that?
Ethereum is almost like an interface to all these DApps. It also enables exciting features like DEFI, sounds cooler than WIFI? Most important of all, it is better than Bitcoin. One simple reason – The prior’s supply doesn’t depend upon inflation.
Does this protect me and my business from Hacking and malpractices?
It does. In a simple word, WEB3 has a complicated blockchain that processes the data transmission at every stage, making it difficult for hackers to track the same. [6]
Furthermore, WEB3 comes up with its version of incentives for compliance with digital guidelines and disincentives for non-compliance. And how are these digital rules set?
These are set by mutual agreement between users and are supported by “Network Tokens”
Network Tokens! How?
Every time, someone adheres to the mutually accepted digital guidelines, they are awarded a network token – a form of cryptocurrency. Hurray!
Okay! I trust it will protect my privacy. What else is exciting?
3. THIS PRIVACY USP IS BORING, LET US EMBELLISH WEB3 WITH THE AVATAR VERSION
Surprised, aren’t you? But, how could we miss this?
Crypto King, Meedits, and the one and only one “The bored Yacht Club”.
We get to form our digital avatars in an “NFT” market space.
What is NFT?
NFT stands for ‘Non-fungible assets’ – Assets that are non-interchangeable with other assets and goods. This explains how you can have your own unique digital space, and buy assets. Cool! Isn’t it? [7]
NFT as a marketplace for Buyer, collectors, and creator
NFT as a marketplace is full of opportunities for all three. For creators, it is an endless space for creativity to finally get their stickers approved. For Buyers and collectors, it is a market full of hope – collecting and waiting for the price to go up!
Ummm seems like a perfect fit for all three.
But, what about Avatar?
Well! How could we miss upon this?
With as many as 10,000 self-styled punks that include apes, aliens, and zombies, get to choose an Avatar that you get best represented in.
Looks all gleamy and glossy! Aren’t there any challenges?
There are!
4.LET US DISCUSS THESE THREE CHALLENGES IN THE WAY OF WEB3
The incentive – disincentive game. Have we got that right?
Here we are made to think completely in terms of network tokens. Incentives for compliance with the “smart deal”. And disincentives for the violation.
Simple?
Think twice before you conclude.
What we refer to as a “Smart Deal” is a set of mutually accepted agreements among users. And what we call incentivization is a network token in the form of Bitcoin.
There are two questions you should ask yourself here:
- Is incentivization that strong to alleviate breach?
- Aren’t there limits to this cool-sounding “Smart Deal”?
Of course there are!
Here in this TEDx video, Shermin Voshmgir explains how Smart Deal is just a few lines of programmed codes that represent access rights and rules. You agree to the smart contract and unlock the key. Sounds easy! [8]
Not really.
These rules according to experts are technologically driven. But who gets to decide what exactly should be rules? Who gets to decide the penalties for defying the rules? The technology, we know is very smart. But, what about governance, what about the economy. [8]
Therefore, despite branding itself as freedom driven, WEB3 cannot step out of the reasonable confines of government and lawmakers.
I know you are still excited about getting rich through network tokens.
Let us discuss this in our next challenge.
Absolute power in the user’s hands, does that serve the purpose?
Incentivization through network tokens – Bitcoins. Seems like an easy way to get rich. Let us start using WEB3 as much as we can. The more we use, more are the free tokens we get. This is amazing! Finally, I will get through the list of crypto millionaires.
Hold your Horses before it goes too far.
According to the creator of DAO, Network Tokens are highly plutocratic. The more processing power you have, the more you can control the system – the more money you make.
Seems like a capitalistic cycle. [9]
The same old product is in new packaging.
With a promise to free us from Algorithm bias, here WEB3 is – entangling us in the protocol bias.
Unpleasing from the prism of the most important – Environmental Concerns
Disappointment Alert for the environmentally conscious
WEB3 has earned a bad reputation when it comes to climate goals. With more and more network tokens, the demand for bitcoin rises – increasing the energy intensity. Blockchain used even for a basic data exchange uses extensive ether mining. Doesn’t seem like a climate goal! [10]
Wait! What about those environmentally friendly WEB3 projects – Crypto Coral Tribe and Treejer?
Yes. A silver lining but a far cry
Well, do all these challenges explain Elon Musk’s prediction of WEB3 as a mere “Buzzword” and “Scam”?
– Maybe or Maybe not.
Whether WEB3 is a hoax, Or the real revolutionizer of Data Privacy. Depends upon how quickly it can fill the gaps.
Till then, let us hang on tight and continue with our search of getting a stylish Avatar.
