Some call it the next phase of the Internet. Some say it’s a quick money scam that will collapse. But what is Web3?
The phrase “Web3” is widely used to refer to a Internet of the new era which will run on blockchain accounting technology, a decentralized public accounting system. The current iteration of the Internet, Web2, by comparison, runs on centralized, company-owned servers.
WHAT IS THIS?
Web3 “offers a read/write/own version of the Internet in which users have a financial stake in and greater control over the web communities to which they belong,” allowing users to own their data, according to Harvard Business Review.
Investors hope that this version of the Internet will lead to democratization of data on the Internet, where transactions and contracts can be verified by all users. however, consumers should be skepticalaccording to venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, as major products have yet to materialize despite large cash investments.
WATCH PALANTIR CO-FOUNDER JOE LONSDALE EXPLAIN WHY HE FEELS WEB3 IS A “PONZI SCHEME”:
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“A lot of what people are calling Web3 was a Ponzi scheme, and it didn’t make any sense,” the Palantir co-founder previously told Fox News. “However, decentralized ownership protocols are very interesting.”
Decentralization, a key feature of blockchain, distributes the responsibilities of key Internet functions such as server management, transaction confirmation, and timestamping among a network of users rather than traditional methods where all transactions would be handled by one company or organization. Where something like Amazon Web Services servers were almost located 30% of the internet in 2020, Web3 promises to distribute this responsibility between users, fundamentally changing how we interact on the Internet.
Decentralized digital infrastructure—such as cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—are designed as key components of Web3 and will be necessary for it to function.
Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, believes that crypto still has a strong future despite the fact that the industry is facing a series of company failures.
(Fox News Digital/Jon Michael Raasch)
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
“In the long run, it really makes sense to have more decentralized power and to have something like Bitcoin,” Lonsdale said in a previous interview. Bitcoin “gives the financial system more freedom from governments that act very badly.”
Elon Musk, meanwhile, expressed skepticism about Web3.
“I’m not saying web3 is real – now it seems more like a marketing buzzword than a reality,” Tesla CEO tweeted last year.
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Twitter founder Jack Dorsey also questioned the Internet of the new era.
Users “don’t own” web3 “,” it tweeted last Decemberthrowing cold water on the notion that users will be able to monetize their data online.
Dorsey worked on a a Web3 competitorwhich claims on its website to be “an additional decentralized web platform”.
To watch the full interview with Lonsdale on Web3, click here.
Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
