What Is Web3, and How Will It Change the Internet as We Know It?

The transition to a Semantic Web is underway, and blockchain technology is playing a significant role.

Since its inception in 1990, the internet has grown from Web1 — read-only static sites with little interaction between users — to Web2, dynamic read-write pages where advertising is revenue and user information is sold as a commodity.

However, times are changing, and more companies are choosing to operate remotely, data and privacy are becoming more of a concern and blockchain technologies are rapidly advancing.

This is leading to a shift in how we use the internet and the development of a new and improved web: Web3.

What is Web3, what role will blockchain play in its development, and what can we expect for the internet’s future?

The internet of today

Web2 is what we know and use today. Social networks, blogs and dynamic content have become the norm. Content is distributed worldwide every second, and information is available at the touch of a button.

Although the past decade of growth has been undeniably exponential, many flaws are yet to be addressed.

There is an over-reliance on large corporations that monopolize parts of the internet. Cloud storage companies and social networks own our data, which can be deleted at will or sold to advertisers.

Global availability is a major concern, and corporations have chosen to favor profit over people. First-world countries take the internet for granted as a right rather than a privilege. However, over 1 billion people — upwards of 10% of the population — are without internet access.

Although a long road lies ahead and many issues remain unaddressed, a push toward a new and democratized internet is underway.

The future of the internet

Web3 is often considered a crypto-specific term popularized by Polkadot (DOT) founder Gavin Wood. It’s a phrase used to describe a new internet of ownership and decentralization.

While this is a large part of the new internet revolution, the concept has been around far longer than blockchain technology, dating back to the dawn of the internet itself.

In an article published in 2001 by internet founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee, he described his vision for a Semantic Web.

“The Semantic Web will enable machines to comprehend semantic documents and data, not human speech and writings.”

“Properly designed, the Semantic Web can assist the evolution of human knowledge as a whole.”

While Mr. Lee’s vision has yet to be fully realized, it’s widely shared and has been advocated for by many over the past couple of decades.

It’s been adapted to the idea that the web is democratized and decentralized, bypassing internet monopoly silos to put ownership of information, assets and data back into the hands of the people.

While it’s unlikely that there will be a flick-of-a-switch transition from Web2 to the Semantic Web or Web3, things are moving in the right direction. And blockchain technology may be the deciding factor that changes the internet as we know it.

Blockchain and Web3

Blockchain is typically interpreted as cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Litecoin, that act as digital currencies.

Many people are unaware of how far beyond digital payments, blockchain and decentralized technologies stretch.

Decentralized storage

Projects including Stratos (STOS), Filecoin (FIL) and Arweave (AR) are developing decentralized storage and cloud infrastructure intending to bring ownership of online assets back to their creators.

Using technologies such as IPFS, users can upload and access data quickly and securely, regardless of file size.

Through edge computing and thousands of widely distributed nodes acting as microservers, computation and storage are brought closer to where data is generated.

This allows for better connectivity in the developing world and true decentralization, bypassing centralized servers and data hubs prone to downtime and outages.

NFTs

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are still in their infancy and have primarily been popularized as digital and tradeable art. However, the potential use cases for NFTs extend further.

Technology has advanced rapidly, while asset ownership and verification have been left behind. Signing legally binding documents with pen and paper is highly dated. ID fraud and online theft are prevalent and seemingly unavoidable.

NFTs have the potential to fix these issues and many more. Blockchain-based projects are working hard to develop NFT use cases for issues including voting, medical records and ID for developing countries, intellectual property ownership, supply chain management — the list goes on.

While digital art may be the first iteration of NFTs, its technology has a long road ahead.

Digital wallets

Cryptocurrency wallets are a way of transferring digital assets between parties. Users have full access and control over their cryptocurrencies via public and private keys.

Once again, this is likely just the beginning.

Projects like Status (SNT) are developing digital wallets with additional features, including encrypted messaging and decentralized Web3 browsers.

These projects have the potential to compete with social media companies and remove the need for ads and data collection as a source of revenue.

Users could hold and control not only their crypto but their private information, identification and tokenized assets, such as property.

These are a few examples of the use cases for blockchain technology and the role it will play in Web3 and a truly decentralized, Semantic Web.

Where to go from here?

There’s no saying how far the idea of Web3 and the Semantic Web will stretch and what’s yet to come.

If you proposed the idea of rideshare platforms, artificial intelligence and blockchain in the early ’90s, your thoughts would likely have been written off. Proposals and potential use cases for Web3 will likely be met with a similar response.

Trial and error will play a prominent role — some projects will succeed, and others will fall by the wayside.

However, with online businesses and remotely operating companies in constant development, adaptations and advancements will inevitably continue to suit consumers, filling in gaps we didn’t know were there.

In addition to this, more people are starting to recognize flaws in its operations. Data and personal information are sold as commodities, single companies own significant portions of the internet and turn over trillions of dollars a year in profit, yet over 1 billion people are still unable to access the internet.

But times are changing: Blockchain and decentralized technologies are fast being realized as a necessary piece of the puzzle for the future of the internet.

Web3 is more than cryptocurrency. It’s whatever we make it, and it has the potential to change the world for the greater good.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.