Web3 supporters say that this version of the internet will be decentralized and will empower people to create and carry out transactions efficiently and securely using blockchain technology.

However, Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and SpaceX, and Jack Dorsey, who stepped down as CEO of Twitter in 2021, have been skeptical about this promise.

We will hear more and more about this tech trend, but what is Web3?

The promises of Web3

Web3 ditches the “.0” and the space between the word and the number (unlike its predecessors, Web 1.0 and Web 2.0).

Its supporters see it as a utopia. It’s the promise of a decentralized internet which will hand power back to users, like Web 1.0 did initially, but easy to use and with the security guarantees of blockchain.

Jesús Aguilar González, director of Undergraduate and Graduate Computing at Tec de Monterrey’s School of Engineering and Sciences, explains that blockchain technology allows us to create digital assets that give users the ability to own a piece of the Internet which won’t be infringed upon, copied, or distributed illegally.

He believes Web3 to be the next phase of the internet, which will be characterized by the use of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrencies, and decentralized finance.

Web3 will be a creator economy because individuals will be responsible for everything they create. They won’t need intermediaries, as is the case now when they publish their videos on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok.

Its predecessors: Web 1.0 and Web 2.0

The first phase of the Internet was Web 1.0, which was launched by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 and is what we know as the World Wide Web, which allowed people with technical expertise to post information online in a decentralized manner.

In his particle physics laboratory at CERN, he created the first web server, the first internet browser, and the first web page.

At the beginning of 2005, Web 2.0 or the “social web” was born. It was named by Darci DiNucci in an article in which she predicted that the development of user-friendly tools meant anyone would be able to create online content.

It became an interactive network, which is when social media emerged, offering a lot of content at the cost of centralized tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

According to Aguilar González, “There came a point when users said, ‘Yes, I’m creating my own content, but I rely on technology companies to monetize it.’” The idea of Web3 emerged to reclaim independence from those companies.

Artists have celebrated this new kind of economy and feel that it’s necessary, but not everything to do with Web3 is wonderful.

Web3 components

Tim Berners-Lee first spoke about Web3 in 2001, calling it the “Semantic Web” because it adds information in order for both people and machines to create content.

In 2014, the term was coined by Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum, a blockchain that was created with the aim of improving the capabilities of cryptocurrency and allowing smart contracts (objects that cannot be copied or replicated) to guarantee the security of those buying them.

They both cemented the idea of Web3 and it’s been a buzzword since 2020.

NFTs are referred to as scarce digital objects because they’re unique objects that are also based on blockchain.

“They’re tokens that store information about the object and therefore cannot be replicated,” explains Jesús Aguilar, who is also a PhD candidate in the area of User Interface Design at the University of Barcelona.

In this ideal version of Web3, people won’t rely on operating systems or hard drives, everything will be in the cloud, and it’ll be much faster and more personalized.

The dark side of Web3

Skeptics, scientists, and entrepreneurs have begun speaking out to question the Web3 protocol.

Elon Musk mockingly posted on Twitter: “Has anyone seen Web3? I can’t find it.” In similar fashion, Jack Dorsey replied: “It’s somewhere between A and Z.”

They see it as a centralized entity with a different label (but ultimately it has received investments from venture capital companies).

Their criticism is that it can’t be entirely decentralized because there could be chaos. While Web3 can be controlled, it’s not clear who will do so or what the rules will be.

Jesús Aguilar, director of the undergraduate Information Technology and Business Engineering program at the School of Engineering and Sciences, mentions other negative aspects of Web3:

Speculation

Cryptocurrencies, elements that allow us to carry out commercial transactions, lend themselves to speculation. The idea behind this is that when someone creates digital content, they’ll have the responsibility of specifying their price, but monopolization can happen, which is very dangerous.

Concealment

As you can protect your personal information with blockchain, you could be guilty of tax evasion and concealment. Many people believe Web3 will become a tax haven.

Environmental impact

This is perhaps the most worrying issue because, in the midst of a climate crisis, one Ethereum transaction consumes 800 million joules of energy, which is the equivalent of turning on your air conditioning at home for 50 hours. And Bitcoin transactions can consume more.

Nonetheless, the specialist has no doubt that we’ll see Web3 take shape in less than 10 years. It’s new and has many gaps but over time, aspects such as privacy, security, and regulation will be cleared up.