For a while, it troubled me why Web 3.0 is linked to Blockchain and Crypto currencies. Here is my take.
Though crypto, bitcoin, blockchain are all mixed up, there are broadly two parts. Blockchain is the underlying technology—part1, Bitcoin(cryptocurrency in general) is an application/solution built on Blockchain—part 2. Blockchain is a decentralized and immutable ledger. In simple words, in the context of India, it is a khata that a business person maintains. By decentralized we mean – when you make entry in your khata, same entry is made in khata maintained by me as well and in khatas maintained by others. Thus, if you manipulate your khata, entries do not match with khatas of others. In other words, there is no single authority who has control on khata. The khata/ledger is owned collectively. By immutable – we mean entry cannot be changed. Now, this kind of ledgering system is suitable for financial transaction and hence likes of Bitcoin use blockchain. What attracts, I guess, Web3.0 proponents in blockchain is decentralization (openness and trust) – no single authority.
The crib about internet being owned by few companies like FB, Google, Microsoft, Apple is this.
99% of the traffic goes through Chrome or Edge or Safari. So Google, MS or Apple have data of our browsing behaviour. We give tons of data about us, our movement etc via our mobiles to Google and Apple. Google has all the data about what people like to watch, when and where via YouTube. Discovery of websites is pretty much under Google’s control via Google search. Online conversation/opinion is under control of FB (via FB, WhatsApp, Insta) and Twitter. These companies have total control and have the ability to tilt elections in developed countries. They are making money by using data you and I are providing (cliché – data is new oil).
If data is helping them make money, and if data is supplied by us, should we not get some share in the money they make? That is the question, I guess, Web3.0 proponents ask. If not money, should data be not available to public in general?
If this data is not controlled by few authorities (like Google, FB) and is decentralized, then it can be available to all. And also some mechanism can be worked out to make some money every time you generate data. Let’s take Google Search. Instead of Indexed data existing in Google data centres, if that exists on blockchain-like decentralized infrastructure, then search will be more democratic and out of control of one corporation.
Since Blockchain is the epitome of decentralized infrastructure, trust and transparency, Web3.0 enthusiasts want everything on blockchain.
In the decentralized world, people who participate in enabling Web3.0 have to be compensated for their contribution in terms of compute facility, storage, web-services, governance and administrative efforts etc. This compensation happens through tokens/cryptocurrency.
Thus, I guess, web3.0 gets linked to blockchain and Cryptos. It’s all about freedom from control and authority.
All this still leaves many questions yet to be answered. Why should one be compensated in Crypto? Why not in regular currency? How does one decide how much to be paid for a given kind of work? Who pays? And more such questions.
so{M}usings 