Web 3.0 Paradox – VnExpress Digitization

Web 3.0 – the term for the third generation of the Internet, built on a decentralized foundation – is becoming a new craze in the technology world when attracting hundreds of millions of dollars from large investment funds.

Statistics of Cryptopolitan shows that in the first quarter of the year, Web 3.0 startups received more than $173 million. Meanwhile, in the whole year of 2020, only about 20 million USD was poured into this market. Web 3.0 from a vague concept is becoming the new bet for investment funds.

Web 2.0 now allows anyone to read, create content, and share information online, but users’ data is in the hands of major Internet firms such as Google, Facebook, Apple… As for Web 3.0, users take ownership and control of their own data, identity and destiny.

According to Forbes, despite always emphasizing user ownership, there is a paradox that the early investment funds poured millions of dollars into Web 3.0 shows that they are the real decision makers in the next generation of the Internet. . That is, power can still be in the hands of the few instead of “decentralized” as the slogan Web 3.0 is aiming for.

The best example of this paradox is that at the end of 2021, the world’s largest NFT trading platform, Opensea, wanted to IPO but faced opposition from the community. After that, a decentralized organization called OpenDAO was established with the aim of promoting the development of NFT and supporting participants in the Opensea market.

OpenDAO then released the SOS token for free to the community. But the release fell into a speculative trap. The community questions who will actually regulate OpenDAO when 50% of the tokens are held by the project management team.

The DAO is a structure that represents the spirit of decentralization and the emerging crypto-economic system. In the DAO model, all token holders have the right to decide. But in reality, the “whales” holding many tokens still have a decisive voice. Thus, investors bring the Internet back to a model similar to Web 2.0 to optimize benefits. That’s why billionaires Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey constantly criticize those who advocate building Web 3.0. Both argue that Web 3.0 is just a business gimmick.

The original purpose of Web 3.0 was to fight the giants that dominate the Internet. Proponents argue that today’s online platforms are too centralized, dominated by technology firms like Apple, Amazon, Google or Facebook. They store loads of data and personal information around the world, making it hard for users to trust.

However, the announcement of Meta and Microsoft’s participation in Web 3.0 has raised concerns that the trend is simply another garden of Web 2.0 and that ultimate control remains in Big Tech’s hands.

Tim O’Reilly, one of Silicon Valley’s leading intellectuals and the originator of the Web 2.0 concept, believes that Web 3.0 will only truly emerge when the cryptocurrency bubble bursts.

“Web 2.0 is not just a number, it’s the second version of the web after the dotcom failure. Cryptocurrencies must first fail like the dotcom bubble – the event that shook the entire technology industry when the stock price was The votes involved in the 1990s were overhyped and collapsed quickly.I don’t think the next step of the Internet is Web 3.0, until the cryptocurrency is broken.Only then can we. see what lasts,” said O’Reilly above CBS Moneywatch in February.

Currently, Web 3.0 is still in the early stages of development and there are many contradictions and controversies. Forbes As quoted by economist Dr. Tascha Che, there are currently only 180 million Ethereum addresses being used for connecting Web 3.0 applications. At such a growth rate, it will take at least another 5 years to reach one billion users and then Web 3.0 will really come to life.

Khuong Nha