What is Web 3.0?
The third generation of web technologies is Web 3.0 (Web3). The World Wide Web, commonly referred to as the web, serves as the basic building block of the internet by offering website and application services.
There are only a few, accepted definitions of Web 3.0 because it is continually changing and being defined. However, it is evident that Web 3.0 will heavily emphasize decentralized applications and utilize blockchain-based technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are used in Web 3.0 to enable more brilliant, more adaptive applications.
The move from the first web, Web 1.0, to Web 2.0 took more than ten years, and it is anticipated that Web 3.0’s complete implementation and reshaping of the web will take just as long, if not longer.
It can be supposed that Web 3.0 will alter both how websites are created and how users interact with them. If the trend of change is tracked down from Web 1.0, a static data provider where people are reading websites but rarely make contact with them. To Web 2.0, an interactive web enabling user collaboration.
How does Web 3.0 work?
The Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) standard governs the design and delivery of webpages with Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 technologies. Therefore, with Web 3.0, HTML will still be a core layer, but how it relates to sources of data and where these data sources are located may differ from past web generations.
In the Web 2.0 age, the majority of websites and almost all applications rely on some kind of centralized database to provide data and support functionality. With Web 3.0, applications and services employ a decentralized blockchain in place of a centralized database. Therefore, the fundamental notion behind blockchain is that there is a type of distributed consensus rather than an arbitrary central authority.
In the blockchain and Web 3.0 communities, the idea of a decentralized autonomous organization is an emerging form of governance (DAO). With a DAO, Web 3.0 technologies or communities offer a type of self-governance. In an effort to move away from centralized control over platform operations.
More so than with fiat money, Web 3.0 also functions fundamentally with cryptocurrencies. The use of cryptocurrencies, which are all constructed and facilitated on top of blockchain technology. It enables finance and the use of a decentralized form of payment throughout Web 3.0.
Key features of Web 3.0
The design of Web 3.0 may take into account ubiquitous characteristics, semantic web, and AI. The rationale for employing AI is to give people faster access to more accurate data. An AI-powered website should be able to sort through the data and present the information. It believes a particular user will find it useful. Therefore, the results are websites that users have voted on social bookmarking as a search engine. It can produce better results than Google. These outcomes, however, are equally subject to human manipulation. AI might be used to distinguish between authentic and fake results, providing outcomes akin to social media and social bookmarking but without negative feedback.
There are several Web 3.0 features that help to define the third generation of the web are the following:
- Decentralized Web 3.0 will be decentralized in contrast to the past two generations of the web, which had heavily centralized governance and applications. A distributed method without a centralized authority will enable applications and services.
- Blockchain-based-The development of decentralized applications and services is made possible by blockchain. In contrast to centralized database infrastructure, blockchain uses a distributed way to disseminate data and connections between services. In a decentralized environment, blockchain can also offer an irreversible ledger of transactions and activities, assisting in the provision of verified authenticity.
- Cryptocurrency-enabled-Use of cryptocurrencies, which primarily replaces fiat money, is a key component of Web 3.0 services.
- An autonomous and artificially intelligent-A key aspect of Web 3.0 is more automation overall, which will mostly be driven by AI.
Difference between different web versions
Web 1.0 | Web 2.0 | Web 3.0 |
Created in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee | Term coined by Tim O’Reilly in 2004 | Modern usage with blockchain defined by Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum, in 2014 |
Static website content | Dynamic content and user input | Semantic content that can benefit from AI |
Information delivery | Social networks | Metaverse worlds |
Centralized infrastructure | Cloud utility infrastructure that is still largely centralized | Decentralized, edge computing and peer-to-peer |
Web 3.0 applications
However, with blockchain at its core, Web 3.0 makes it possible for an expanding range of new apps and services, such as the following:
- NFT- Nonfungible Tokens (NFTs) are tokens that are individually unique and are kept in a blockchain with a cryptographic hash.
- DeFi- Decentralized blockchain technology is being used as the foundation for decentralized finance (DeFi), an emerging use case for Web 3.0 that allows for the provision of financial services outside the constraints of conventional centralized banking infrastructure.
- Cryptocurrency- A new universe of money that strives to be distinct from the traditional world of fiat cash is being created through Web 3.0 apps like cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
- dApp- Decentralized applications (dApps) are applications that run programmatically and are logged in an immutable ledger. They are built on top of the blockchain and use smart contracts to enable service delivery.
- Cross-chain bridges- In the Web 3.0 era, there are numerous blockchains, and cross-chain bridges enable some level of interoperability between them.
- DAOs- DAOs are poised to potentially take on the role of Web 3.0’s governing bodies, offering some structure and decentralized governance.
Introduction to Blockchain
Blockchain is a system for storing data in a way that makes system changes, hacking, and cheating difficult or impossible.
A blockchain is simply a network of computer systems. It duplicates and distributes a digital ledger of transactions across the entire network. Each block on the chain comprises a number of transactions and each participant’s ledger receives a copy of each new transaction that takes place on the blockchain. Therefore, Distributed Ledger Technology refers to a decentralized database that is governed by numerous users (DLT).
Transactions on a blockchain are recorded with an irreversible cryptographic signature known as a hash.
Therefore, it would be obvious that a block had been modified if it appeared in just one chain. Hackers would need to alter every block in the chain. On all of the distributed versions of the chain, in order to compromise a blockchain system.
Blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum are continuously expanding. As a result, new blocks are added to the chain, greatly enhancing the ledger’s security.
Key elements of a blockchain
- Distributed ledger technology- The distributed ledger as well as its immutable record of transactions is available to all network users. Transactions are only recorded once with this shared ledger, preventing the duplication of effort present in conventional corporate networks.
- Immutable records- Once a transaction has been added to the shared ledger, no participant is permitted to alter or interfere with it. A fresh transaction must be added to undo an error in a transaction record before both transactions are displayed.
- Smart contracts– A set of instructions known as a smart contract is saved on the blockchain and automatically carried out to speed up transactions. A smart contract can specify parameters for corporate bond transfers, stipulate how much must be paid for travel insurance, and much more.
How blockchain works
- As each transaction occurs, during the process it is recorded as a “block” of data
- Each block is connected to the ones before and after it
- Transactions are blocked together in an irreversible chain: a blockchain
Benefits of blockchain
- Greater trust- As a participant in a members-only network, you may use blockchain to ensure that the information you receive is correct and timely and that only network participants you have explicitly authorized access to will have access to your private blockchain records.
- Greater security- All network participants must agree that the data is accurate, and since all confirmed transactions are permanently stored, they cannot be changed. A transaction cannot be deleted by anyone, not even a system administrator.
- More efficiencies- Time-consuming record reconciliations are minimized by using a distributed ledger that is shared among network participants. Additionally, a set of instructions known as a smart contract can be saved on the blockchain and carried out automatically to speed up transactions.
Conclusion
In this blog, we’ve learned the basics of Web3.0.
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