Silicon Valley: After Metaverse comes the Web3

At first there was a lot of talk about the metaverse, but in Silicon Valley the bigger topic is the Web3: It should be a decentralized online ecosystem based on the blockchain – controlled by users.

The Web3 wants to be the radical alternative to the Internet as we know it today. It should be a network that many Silicon Valley thinkers believe belongs to the users. A decentralized web based on the so-called blockchain. This could turn it into a digital directory: anyone can own a piece of it. It shouldn’t belong to tech companies like Google or Facebook, banks or political systems. It is a logical progression, says Alex Wilhelm from the tech service “TechCrunch” in the Twit podcast:

The Web3 is a renaming of the blockchain. And that in turn goes back to the crypto currencies. In the past few years the name has expanded further and further. First we talked about Bitcoin and LightCoin, later they became the blockchain.

Web3: Tokens and Cryptocurrencies

These terms still sound very utopian to most people. But the Web3 has long been here. You can earn tokens on gaming platforms; in discussion forums such as Reddit, you also receive tokens, depending on your participation, and thus get more attention.

But the best known are the crypto currencies. Their reputation is not particularly good, however. Currencies like Bitcoin, Ether or Cardano are suffering from great fluctuations these days, and there have been cases of fraud on smaller exchange platforms time and again in recent months.

Nevertheless, experts agree: These are initial difficulties. The biggest advantage of this technology: The blockchain makes every transaction transparent and therefore traceable. “Web3 also includes NFTs or games that can be played on the Ethereum chain. Something has changed here in the past few months. If you want to sound cool, you now use the term Web3,” says Wilhelm.

No government control, no supervision

The Web3 has a kind of libertarian spirit right now. No state control, no supervision – anyone can participate. Whether this will really happen has not yet been decided. A decentralized web would have a great advantage for users. They could more easily take their data stored in the blockchain with them to other offers. The short message service Twitter would therefore like to rebuild its infrastructure accordingly.

Billions are currently flowing into blockchain technologies. Even football clubs like Real Madrid or Paris Saint Germain issue fan tokens. The German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas recently bought a piece of virtual land called “adiVerse” in the blockchain-based world “The Sandbox”. The goal: to sell virtual goods such as shoes and clothing.

Money comes from venture capitalists

Big money for building this Web3 comes mostly from venture capitalists. They sit along Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. With their financial commitment, however, they counteract the spirit of the decentralized web, say critics, because with their commitment they manifest a kind of central power.

Only recently Facebook changed its name to Meta because it intends to invest more heavily in a metaverse Internet in the coming years. What is meant here is a future Internet in three-dimensional – in virtual – spaces. The exciting question will be which term will ultimately become the generic term and who will be subordinate – Metaversum or Web3.

The Web3 – notably spoken without “point zero” – wants to democratize the network. Should it prevail, it could well pose a threat to the business model of the large tech companies.

Each user controls their data themselves

Users can not only trade in digital currencies and buy goods here. Everyone can take their data with them to other offers because they are registered in the blockchain – a digital directory hosted by many computers. As a result, there could be no more data silos as they are currently maintained by Google or Facebook. An example of tokens are NFTs – certificates of ownership. Virtual art has made headlines here in the past, but a much more practical application would be a digital medical record. And every user controls their data themselves.