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Web3 (also known asWeb 3.0)[1][2][3] is an idea for a newiteration of theWorld Wide Web which incorporates concepts such asdecentralization,blockchain technologies,tokenomics, andprivacy-enhancing technologies.[4] This is distinct fromTim Berners-Lee's concept of theSemantic Web. Some technologists and journalists have contrasted it withWeb 2.0, in which they sayuser-generated content is controlled by a small group of companies referred to asBig Tech.[5] The term "web3" was coined in 2014 byEthereum co-founderGavin Wood, and the idea gained interest in 2021 fromcryptocurrency enthusiasts, large technology companies, andventure capital firms.[5][6] The concepts of web3 were first represented in 2013.[7][8]
Critics have expressed concerns over thecentralization of wealth to a small group of investors and individuals,[9] or a loss of privacy due to more expansive data collection.[10] Billionaires likeElon Musk andJack Dorsey have argued that web3 only serves as abuzzword or marketing term.[11][12][13]
Web 1.0 andWeb 2.0 refer to eras in thehistory of the World Wide Web as it evolved through various technologies and formats. Web 1.0 refers roughly to the period from 1991 to 2004, where most sites consisted ofstatic pages, and the vast majority of users were consumers, not producers of content.[14][15]Web 2.0 is based around the idea of "the web as platform"[16] and centers on user-created content uploaded toforums,social media and networking services,blogs, andwikis, among other services.[17] Web 2.0 is generally considered to have begun around 2004 and continues to the current day.[16][18][5]
Web3 is distinct fromTim Berners-Lee's 1999 concept of aSemantic Web, which was also sometimes referred to as Web 3.0.[19] While the Semantic Web envisioned a web of linked data, web3 in theblockchain context refers to a decentralized internet built upon distributed ledger technologies.[19] Some writers referring to the decentralized concept usually known as "web3" have used the term "Web 3.0", leading to some confusion between the two concepts.[20][21] Furthermore, some visions of web3 also incorporate ideas relating to the semantic web.[22][23]
The term "web3" was coined byPolkadot founder andEthereum co-founderGavin Wood in 2014, referring to a "decentralized online ecosystem based on blockchain."[1] In 2021, the idea of web3 gained popularity.[24] Particular interest spiked toward the end of 2021, largely due to interest fromcryptocurrency enthusiasts and investments from high-profile technologists and companies.[5][6] Executives from venture capital firmAndreessen Horowitz traveled toWashington, DC, in October 2021 to lobby for the idea as a potential solution to questions about regulation of the web, with which policymakers have been grappling.[25]
Specific visions for web3 differ, and the term has been described by Olga Kharif as "hazy", but they revolve around the idea of decentralization and often incorporate blockchain technologies, such as variouscryptocurrencies andnon-fungible tokens (NFTs).[5] Kharif has described web3 as an idea that "would build financial assets, in the form of tokens, into the inner workings of almost anything you do online".[26] A policy brief published by theBennett Institute for Public Policy at theUniversity of Cambridge defined web3 as "the putative next generation of the web's technical, legal, and payments infrastructure—including blockchain,smart contracts and cryptocurrencies."[27]
Some visions are based around the concept ofdecentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).[28]Decentralized finance (DeFi) is another key concept; in it, users exchange currency without bank or government involvement.[5]Self-sovereign identity allows users to identify themselves without relying on an authentication system such asOAuth, in which a trusted party has to be reached in order to assess identity.[29]
Academic researchers, such as Tomer J. Chaffer and Justin Goldston in 2022, have described web3 as a possible solution to concerns about the over-centralization of the web in a few "Big Tech" companies.[30][5][25] Some have expressed the notion that web3 could improvedata security,scalability, andprivacy beyond what is currently possible withWeb 2.0 platforms.[31]Bloomberg states that skeptics say the idea "is a long way from proving its use beyond niche applications, many of them tools aimed at crypto traders".[26]The New York Times reported that several investors are betting $27 billion that web3 "is the future of the internet".[32][33]
Some Web 2.0 companies, includingReddit andDiscord, have explored incorporating web3 technologies into their platforms.[5][34] On November 8, 2021, CEO Jason Citron tweeted a screenshot suggesting Discord might be exploring integrating cryptocurrency wallets into their platform. Two days later, and after heavy user backlash,[34][35] Discord announced they had no plans to integrate such technologies and that it was an internal-only concept that had been developed in a company-widehackathon.[35]
Some legal scholars quoted byThe Conversation have expressed concerns over the difficulty of regulating a decentralized web, which they reported might make it more difficult to preventcybercrime,online harassment,hate speech, and the dissemination ofchild pornography.[36] But, the news website also states that, "[decentralized web] represents the cyber-libertarian views and hopes of the past that the internet can empower ordinary people by breaking down existing power structures". Some other critics of web3 see the concept as a part of acryptocurrency bubble, or as an extension ofblockchain-based trends that they see as overhyped or harmful, particularlyNFTs.[34] Some critics have raised concerns about theenvironmental impact of cryptocurrencies and NFTs.[6] Cryptocurrencies vary in efficiency, withproof of stake having been designed to be less energy intensive than the more widely usedproof of work, although there is disagreement about how secure and decentralized this is in practice.[37][38][39][40] Others have expressed beliefs that web3 and the associated technologies are apyramid scheme.[6]
Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO ofTwitter, dismissed web3 as a "venture capitalists' plaything".[41] Dorsey opined that web3 will not democratize the internet, but it will shiftpower from players likeFacebook to venture capital funds likeAndreessen Horowitz.[9]
Liam Proven, writing forThe Register, concludes that web3 is "a myth, a fairy story. It's what parents tell their kids about at night if they want them to grow up to become economists".[42]
In 2021,SpaceX andTesla CEOElon Musk expressed skepticism about web3 in a tweet, saying that web3 "seems more marketing buzzword than reality right now."[11]
In November 2021, James Grimmelmann ofCornell University referred to web3 asvaporware, calling it "a promised future internet that fixes all the things people don't like about the current internet, even when it's contradictory." Grimmelmann also argued that moving the internet toward a blockchain-focused infrastructure would centralize and cause moredata collection compared to the current internet.[10]
Software engineer Stephen Diehl described web3 in a blog post as a "vapid marketing campaign that attempts to reframe the public's negative associations of crypto assets into a false narrative about disruption of legacy tech company hegemony."[43]
Kevin Werbach, author ofThe Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust,[44] has said that "many so-called 'Web 3.0' solutions are not as decentralized as they seem, while others have yet to show they are scalable, secure and accessible enough for the mass market", adding that this "may change, but it's not a given that all these limitations will be overcome".[45]
In early 2022,Moxie Marlinspike, creator ofSignal, wrote about web3 as not being as decentralized as it appears to be, mainly due to consolidation in the cryptocurrency field, including in blockchainapplication programming interfaces which are currently mainly controlled by the companiesAlchemy andInfura;cryptocurrency exchanges which are mainly dominated byBinance,Coinbase,MetaMask, andOpenSea; and thestablecoin market which is currently dominated byTether. Marlinspike also remarked that the new web resembles the old web.[46][47][48]
Contrary to the spirit of DeFi, [proof-of-stake] tends toward centralization in that, theoretically, one entity—or person—flush with cryptocurrency, could single-handedly shape the blockchain.
Critics say these alternatives may be less secure than proof of work.