Why should you care about Web3?
While I discussed several technical topics surrounding Web3 in my last articles, I now want to highlight the key points, which I think are the biggest value propositions of Web3 and Blockchain.
The concept of Web3 often triggers discussions centred around tokens and cryptocurrencies, but its concept extends far beyond digital currencies, although this is mostly what is talked about when discussing this topic. And it is also the first thing most people encounter when hearing about Web3 and Blockchain.
But just as the internet evolved from a medium primarily for email transmission to a multifaceted infrastructure facilitating various aspects of our lives, Web3 represents a paradigm shift towards a deterministic society, driven by mathematics and cryptography rather than probabilistic assurances.
In theory this would mean a fundamental reorganization of how online transactions are handled. While this currently mostly encompasses financial transactions in the understanding of most people, there are also many other possibilities.
The core Ideas
In the traditional, probabilistic world, trust is placed in institutions, brands, and individuals to uphold their promises. However, history as well as our own experiences are full of examples of banks failing to return deposited funds, insurance companies refusing payouts or other institutions or persons not adhering to contracts or agreements. These systems are governed by human discretion and require trust, leaving room for manipulation and uncertainty.
In contrast, Web3 operates on the principles of determinism, where mathematical algorithms dictate outcomes. Through concepts like private keys and cryptography, individuals gain control over their digital assets independent of centralized authorities.
Transactions are executed based on predefined rules encoded in smart contracts, ensuring adherence to agreed-upon terms without the need for intermediaries, which makes the trust needed a thing of the past. Ideally, the smart contracts take care of everything and are coded in a way, so that you no longer need to rely on a human to keep their word.
In essence, the transition to Web3 signifies a shift towards a verifiable internet. I wrote an article explaining in detail the concept of the verifiable web, where digital interactions are governed by three fundamental properties:
1. Verifiability: Users could verify the functionality of the system, ensuring transparency and trust in its operations. This can happen because on a public blockchain, all data is indeed public. As a result, all transactions are publicly available.
2. Real-time Transparency: Participants can monitor and understand system activities as they occur, creating a sense of accountability and reliability. As soon as a transaction is verified on-chain.
3. Deterministic Transactions: Transactions are executed according to predefined conditions, providing certainty, and eliminating the risk of arbitrary interference. Furthermore, this also means that you can have processes dependent on these smart contract transactions and events, opening the possibilities to trigger further proceedings only if a condition has been verified by a smart contract.
4. Decentralization: One of the most important, if not the most important promise of this whole concept of Web3. By making transactions decentralized, you reduce the risk of manipulation. Consequently, the bigger a blockchain network gets, meaning the more validators and nodes it has, the more resistant it becomes against certain exploits. Due to this nature of blockchains, it is in the best interest of Web3 to onboard many more people, as this can lead to more decentralization and therefore a better system regarding the previously mentioned focal points.
In a deterministic world, the control over assets lies not in the hands of centralized entities but in the immutable laws of mathematics. Whether it's withdrawing funds from a bank, claiming insurance payouts, or wanting to have verify the status of a transaction for a business, individuals and corporations can rely on the inherent logic of the system to enforce their rights without having to fear human errors. With further advancements in technology there will also be further improvements in how people can interact with the blockchain and Web3 DApps. Keep an eye out for my other articles where I go more into depth about the technical aspects of Web3!
Why I care!
The true essence of Web3 lies in this promise of deterministic relationships, where digital applications operate with consistency and reliability. Imagine having access to an application that offers the same features, speed, and usability as its traditional counterpart but with the added assurance of deterministic behaviour. In such a scenario, rational economic agents would inevitably prefer the deterministic version, recognizing its inherent value proposition.
However, due the controversies surrounding tokens and cryptocurrencies, the core ethos of Web3 often gets overshadowed. It's like the early days of the internet when electronic mail was hailed as its primary innovation, overlooking the transformative potential of information technology as a whole. In the past, Web3 was plagued by many malicious actors and scams. Many of you reading this article will likely have more than one example of this.
From FTX, to other much smaller scams that happen daily, it leaves a bad taste in people´s mouths, and as a Web3 Developer myself I can also not look past these issues. But I am not writing this article despite of these problems, I am writing this article because of this.
The reason is quite simple. I believe, that Web3 is the next evolution of the internet and can bring many benefits. But right now, there are many people only in it for the money and many people who have no understanding of the fundamentals. But these are problems which can best be solved by providing education and insights into Web3 and demystifying certain aspects of it.
But Web3 is much more than that! It embodies a vision of a decentralized infrastructure that makes deterministic relationships possible, offering a possible future where trust is rooted not in human promises but in mathematical certainties. For those intrigued by the idea of a more transparent, reliable, and secure digital landscape, Web3 and blockchain present great opportunity for exploration.
Embracing Web3 isn't merely about adopting a new technology; it's about embracing a fundamental shift towards a more deterministic and trustworthy digital paradigm.
