Web 3.0: The evolution of the Internet

Overview

Web 3, although not necessarily new, has recently become a prominent topic of discussion and research, particularly with the surge of cryptocurrencies and the growing need for decentralization in various aspects of everyday interactions.

This paradigm shift, often referred to as Web 3.0, represents the next evolutionary stage of the internet, aiming to empower users, enhance privacy, and enable decentralized applications.

At the heart of Web 3.0 is the concept of distributed ledger technology, popularized by blockchain. Blockchain provides a transparent and tamper-resistant platform where transactions and interactions can be securely recorded and verified.

Web 3.0 aims to address the shortcomings of Web 2.0, such as data privacy concerns, centralized control, and limited user ownership of digital assets.

To understand the essence of Web 3.0, it is vital to acknowledge its historical roots, beginning from the static websites of Web 1.0 and evolving through the interactive nature of Web 2.0.

So, let us embark on this exciting exploration of Web 3.0, where innovation, decentralization, and user-centric experiences converge to shape the future of our digital world.

Web 1.0

Web 1.0 is the first generation of the so-called World Wide Web, it was launched in the early 90s and lasted until around 2004. At that time, the internet was mostly used by companies, rather than individuals. In reality, not many people knew how to use the internet back then.

During this period, websites were static, called “Read-only” applications, which means that people couldn’t interact with each other. They also had a very basic style and poor design compared to today’s web.

There were not many content creators at the beginning of the internet, but in comparison to that number, there were a lot of content viewers. It is also important to mention that it was very expensive at the time to have a computer at home, and because of that, the rise of users didn’t happen very quickly.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is the face of the internet that we see today. The revolution of Web 2.0 was that it gave the ability for users to interact with each other, create content, write blogs, etc.

With the development and upgrades of computers and other devices, it became cheaper to access the internet. People began buying computers for their households, and with the rise of users, companies started to take shape in the space, like Google, Facebook (Meta), Youtube, Yahoo, Paypal, and many others.

Today, the internet is used by everyone. Companies need the Internet to operate, people use it all the time to communicate, watch the news, play games, study, and work! All of that is great for the evolution of the world, but during its development, the internet has lost one of its core values, which is decentralization.

The web was created to be a place where everyone should have equal access to information, but the space today is totally dominated by large corporations that strongly control the environment, making everyone rely on them.

Decentralization has been a hot topic during the last decades, and people started developing applications and having very clever ideas of a new place to be built and used by everyone, and that’s when Web 3.0 appeared in the history of the internet.

Web 3.0

The term “Web 3.0” was first introduced by Gavin Wood in 2014, who is a computer scientist, co-founder of Ethereum, and the creator of Polkadot. Both are blockchain ecosystems that are in line with Web 3.0 concepts.

As described by Wood, “Web 3.0  is truly decentralized and a more democratic version of the current internet — one that is not dominated by a handful of huge players like Amazon and Microsoft as it is today”.

Multiple developers around the world are using blockchain technology to create a decentralized, secure, and permissionless web, which relies on cryptography to create applications where these core concepts are the center of the system.

• Bitcoin is a blockchain network where users can send and receive funds from any place in the world while maintaining privacy, without the need for a centralized company to participate in the transaction.  Another example is Ethereum, a blockchain that developed the applications of smart contracts on many products, making it possible to create a lot of different features that can be simply executed by code instead of third parties.

The state of Web 3.0 today and where can it reach?

We are still in the early stages of Web 3.0 adoption, many products and services are already operating in the space, but it’s not largely used by people that are not in contact with this kind of technology, and this reminds us a lot of the early days of Web 1.0!

Web 3.0 have the potential to reach a larger market share than Web 2.0. It could provide utilities that go beyond social media, streaming, and gaming, for example. With blockchain technology, these 3 points can be strongly developed, and also many other sectors could be revolutionized, like the entire financial system, healthcare, transport, and education!\n\t\nAll of these possibilities are very exciting, but it’s not easy to change an entire system in a short amount of time. Regulatory entities have been closely monitoring the development of this decentralized world that Web 3.0 has been creating.

Even though many things can be developed for the good, others can be explored by criminals or anyone with bad intentions, so it’s a process that takes time to shape itself for large adoption.

Final Message

If you are looking to invest in Web 3.0 projects, you should do it carefully and keep yourself updated with the news, especially because it’s a place that is in constant development. Many people compare the current state of the crypto market with investing in the early days of the .com bubble. Of course, most of the companies failed, but a lot of them are today among the most valuable corporations in the world, like Apple and Amazon!

Investing in crypto is not the same as buying a company’s stock, so you should be familiar with the space before doing it!