Silicon Valley has been the epicenter of new technologies for 50 years. It is also a popular haunt of libertarian billionaires opposed to any form of central authority. No surprise then if they dream of a future where the internet is like bitcoin and NFTs, i.e. completely out of control. For better and for worse.
We already know the name of this Internet of the future. This is Web3. A nod to Web 2.0, in which we currently live and which is characterized by rich, dynamic and interactive websites where content created by Internet users is king and master. According to the theory of web evolution, Web 2.0 is highly centralized. It is essentially controlled by GAFAM. You access applications, products and services through your Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google or Microsoft account.
Ten years ago, a “semantic” Web 3.0 was promised, where computers would understand natural language as it is written or spoken. This promise has been partly fulfilled by artificial intelligence, but if we had to use the right numbers, we could resituate this evolution of the Web as, say, Web 2.5.
From bitcoin to NFT then to Web3
Because Web3 is heading in a completely different, more utopian direction. “Web3 is a decentralized Internet based on the blockchain and which would not be beholden to any central platform, therefore which would not be subject to any form of censorship”, explains Stéphane Ricoul, digital specialist and executive director of digital strategy for the Montreal firm Talsom.
“It is a vision very contrary to the GAFAM model, which is obviously also opposed to any form of central control. To say that Web3 is a libertarian vision of the current Web is entirely legitimate,” he adds.
What is called the chain of blocks, and that the followers of the triple cork seven-twenty with tail grab in half pipe on their surfboard call the blockchain, is the main technical component that drives cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. It is also an essential element to the very existence of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs in the language of the Big Air.
The blockchain is a distributed database, that is to say distributed over as many computer stations as it is possible to network. It lists all the successive transactions carried out between users of the same system or the same platform. Each of these transactions represents a “block”, or a link in the chain.
On paper, therefore, Web3 is the logical evolution of bitcoin and NFTs, because like the other two, it needs to exist that millions of computers exchange information on the activity of its users. Ultimately, users of the same Web3 environment could also become its owners by participating in the development of the cryptocurrency that underlies this environment.
And as all this is done automatically, without human intervention, Web3 will live without a single person being able to control the information circulating there.
This promise of decentralization strikes a chord with those who currently feel suffocated by all forms of authority, both online and in person: broadcasters of questionable and hateful content banned by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, opponents of “big government etc.
Web3 currently remains rather abstract. He’s on the lips of investors in Silicon Valley as he promises to create brand new web services in the shadow of the digital giants. And in the wake of the speculative craze that surrounds cryptocurrencies and NFTs, Web3 is also attracting excessive interest from people who hope to line their pockets, even if they do not yet know exactly how.
But as they say, the riskier it is, the greater the potential return.
Freedom or polarization?
Still in theory, Web3 somehow promises freedom for all. Thus, Donald Trump would only be banned from a social platform if a majority of users were eager for him to no longer share his insults and insults there.
This freedom would therefore be more akin to the will of the greatest number. With a nuance: the greatest number of people present on the same platform at the same time. Those who find public opinion divided and polarized at present have seen nothing. Web3 promises to further distance people with opposing views from reality, since they will be able to group together according to their opinion on different platforms.
Naturally, the bigger and more diverse Web3 is, the bigger the infrastructure behind it will have to be. Currently, Web3 promoters favor the use of a single currency, Ethereum, which consumes the equivalent of two-thirds of all the energy used in Quebec. It’s enormous. This could change, however, since it would be possible to operate this cryptocurrency in a way that would reduce its energy footprint by 99.5%.
Is it believable? Again, you will have to choose your side. A clean, free and decentralized global Internet that is free from any regulatory authority is decidedly utopian. It is premature to imagine that Web3 could exist when we see how bitcoin and even NFTs are slow to fulfill their revolutionary promises. And we are not talking about the many cases of fraud or scams made possible by these new technologies.
That said, it is always allowed to dream. And in a Silicon Valley crammed with billionaires, that’s the kind of dream that just might come true.