Web 3.0 Will Power Cryptoverse To New Highs In 2022

*This is in partnership with BloombergQuint Brand Studio

2021 was a bumper year for digital assets. As investors look to new investment avenues, 2022 will present new opportunities for cryptocurrency and blockchain to become the cornerstone of the Internet’s latest avatar—Web 3.0.

When Asia's richest man and India’s biggest business tycoon Mukesh Ambani asserted his faith in the power of blockchain, which he believes will redefine the financial world—it's time for equitable value across geographies and economic classes to be created through Web 3.0.

What is Web 3.0?

Originally referred to as the Semantic Web by Tim Berners-Lee, Web 3.0 was aimed at building a more sovereign, cerebral and open Internet. While there is no precise definition for Web 3.0, it can be understood as 'interconnected data in a decentralised manner'. Where, currently, most data is stored in centralised repositories, decentralising information would augment the current Internet generation.

Consider this: Web 1.0 had its humble beginnings in the 1990s to democratise access to information. In the mid-2000s, Web 2.0 introduced leading platforms from companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook to provide easy and accessible connections. But with time, these platforms garnered considerable dominion. Here is where the seed of Web 3.0 emerged—to reclaim power for the average user like you and me.

No longer a technologist's argot, conversations today are dotted with Web 3.0—also known as Web3 on social media—that points to the direction of expunging intermediaries on the Internet.

Why Web3.0?

With a handful of companies owning major Internet platforms, users and those who contribute to the success of these platforms seldom have anything to show for it. Web 3.0 will be an exemplar where social platforms, marketplaces and search engines will have no digital autocrats running the show. Rather, they will be decentralised and built upon the blockchain system, currently supporting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets.

In the Web 3.0 revolution, individuals will be the ones to command data, steer new dialogues and drive the new wave of decentralised finance (DeFi), and blockchain and cryptocurrency will be at the heart of it.

What will Drive the Web 3.0 Universe?

The cornerstone of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology are decentralised protocols. As Web 3.0 networks operate through these protocols, a powerful confluence and synergetic relationship between Web 3.0, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, along with other areas, will emerge. They will exchange and make use of information, be impeccably cohesive and machine-driven through Smart Contracts.

Four technologies are slated to make Web 3.0 a reality. They are:

1. The Semantic Web: involving web principles extended from documents to data; think of it as a data web.

2. Decentralised Technology: Peer to Peer [P2P] Networks and blockchain are the chief decentralised technologies that will drive the decentralised web. In Web 3.0, blockchain will exercise P2P technology principles and assimilate cryptography and consensus algorithms to scale systems of decentralisation among the larger populace and supersede traditional databases currently in use for most online accomplishments.

3. 3D Interactive Web Technology: design revolutionising user experiences. Whether it is geospatial contexts or e-commerce, the border between physical and online are slowly blurring. 3D interactive web in Web 3.0, such as virtual identities, interactions and more will grow in use. And incidentally, this is what the metaverse is all about.

4. The Social Web: In Web 3.0, social media will be largely defined by decentralised technology. For instance, a social media platform built on a blockchain network will operate without centralisation through incentive structures to recompense users for their contribution. One such example is minds, a blockchain-based social network dedicated to transparency, offering monetary rewards such as cryptocurrency for participation and contributions.

NFTs: Powering the Web 3.0 Movement

A key element boosting the Web 3.0 movement is Non-Fungible Tokens [NFTs], digital collectibles transacted with cryptocurrency.

In the decentralised Web 3.0 future, NFTs can be far more easily monetised by creators with open standards. Moreover, it would lay the foundation for creators to associate with their users and for the users to become creators—making it an almost utopian universe.

New companies would find it easier than currently embedded legacy players to pivot as NFT companies. For example, when going down this path, companies have to choose the layer-1 protocol to build NFTs. Take for instance, Ethereum, which is a layer-1 protocol—the oldest and largest where people can create Smart Contracts. However, Ethereum comes with speed and expense, also known as gas fees for every transaction. In the Web 3.0 future, when companies build their NFT world, considered a layer-2 protocol, it will be a far more encompassing cosmos—with free access to resources, content and applications and a spate of decentralised possibilities for all, provided all cryptographic keys are in place.

The principal premise behind Web 3.0 is to seek openness and clarity, the same principles that blockchain attempts to achieve. At its core, blockchain aims to keep insights organised as blocks, encrypted for immutability and security. By breaking away from conventional business models centred around profiting large establishments, Web 3.0 present the prospects of community-centred economies of scale.

Conclusion

Companies that extend optimum technology to fund the Web 3.0 biome will be the ones to receive extensive backing from users and creators. The decentralised Web 3.0 world with open participation to all will attract more participants to succeed given an appropriately strategized and devised incentive structure.

Since the dawn of the Internet, technologists have aimed for the quixotic ethos—equality on the information superhighway. Finally, with Web 3.0, the dream that was overpowered and controlled by giant tech companies will become a reality.