Web3: Onboarding the next billion users — The road ahead
Recent geopolitical events have polarized the world. Partisanship and the ideological divide have further balkanized the internet, whose gatekeepers have trampled upon the rights of millions to access financial services. Nations are gradually waking up to the reality of having neutral protocols and national stacks.
Hailed as the next generation of the internet, Web3 will be sanction-resistant and free of data silos. Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum and creator of Polkadot and Kusama, coined the term Web3 in 2004. Five years later, the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper was released in 2009, which further cemented the imperative of decentralization. Is the decentralization narrative here to stay? Let’s find out why Web3 is gaining ground today.
Related: Decentralization vs. centralization: Where does the future lie? Experts answer
Web3 can offer global digital rails to aid innovation and independence. The clamor to reign in Big Tech have propelled the discussions around Web3. Big Tech’s dominance over the internet and its control over personal data has fueled the war cry for its decentralization. A renowned Silicon Valley Venture Capital firm, a16z published its policy paper “How to Build a Better Internet: 10 Principles for World Leaders Shaping the Future of Web3.” It states that data ownership and monetization will lead to newer business models in the Web3 era, advocating that:
The fundamental premise of the internet centered around connecting people. The internet has evolved over the last 30 years, and our interaction with it has also changed. Despite the changes, the era of online communities can be broadly classified into three time periods.
“Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age,” said Eric Hughes,
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