Web3 — A new world order?

Let me preface this by saying I lie on the bottom left of the Dunning Kruger graph with regards to understanding web3. So, please feel free to correct me or I would love to have a conversation around this topic anytime on my calendar.

I know nothing and I also have low confidence, but I end up writing about it to document my understanding, correct it and then eventually learn a lot to at least reach the valley of despair

So what is Web3?

There are multiple definitions floating around — some from early 2000s which talk more about semantic web, relating to machine learning and AI. The more recent ones tend to focus on decentralization and security aspects. In essence, web3 is whatever that leads to a paradigm shift in the way world looks at internet and related technologies.

Web 1 was the era in 90s when there was an inter-connected set of static applications that was also discovered primarily through a directory. Then 2000s led to newer shifts and multiple infrastructure changes that caused the advent of interactive and user generated content leading to birth of social media and an entirely new business model focused on RTB (real time bids) advertising.

There was a phase in 2010s which one could say was somewhat of a consolidation which led to the network getting centralized. Data storage and computing was handled by a handful of large centralized nodes/entities which resulted in gatekeeping and bottlenecks in innovation.

With the launch of bitcoin in 2009, the era of decentralization was born. Decentralization has multiple facets to it — administrative, fiscal, political, market, technological and there is a core ideological component to what decentralization stands for. It means that the least centralized component of that network that is capable of addressing/adding value to the network should effectively do so without compromising the security of the network itself. There is an inherent libertarian positioning around such a philosophy which is backed by freedom of choice, individualism and voluntary association.

https://a16z.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/How-to-Win-the-Future-Deck.pdf

When you look at what decentralization in the ideal state is capable of providing, it seems like a no brainer —

· No single point of failure

· Always on

· Secure & in a trust less manner

· Verifiable & immutable

· Self-governing

· Permissionless

· Privacy

· Freedom of choice

However, this also brings in the notion of ‘with great power, comes great responsibility’

When we think of an individual as the smallest possible sovereign unit in a society, it also implies that the individual has certain responsibilities to fulfill by being that sovereign unit that is capable of taking decisions. Do individuals want that responsibility or would they want the power if they knew they had to take responsibility.

Equivalent from an investment perspective

So, even though from an ideal ideological standpoint, web3 (am using web3 as a replacement for the technology that will be used to power decentralization here) paints a rosy picture, the pathway to get to the ideal state is littered with many broken bridges that require re-building.

We are trying to build some of those bridges at Hypto and if that is something that excites you, please write to us at bestdaysofyourlife@hypto.in

PS: this was a more ideological story about how we think the future will be web3 but the way to get there requires a ton of effort. We will be creating a separate engineering focused microsite and community around how we are thinking about technology and solving hardcore engineering problems, to be written by none other than Kartick Vijayakumar (VK) — our engineering head himself.