What Is WEB3 and What Is Its Role in NFTS?
Web3 (or Web 3.0), which uses blockchain technology to implement decentralization, will fundamentally alter how we use nfts the internet. Some predict that it will transform the internet in the same way that bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies did for the world of finance. Understanding Web1 and Web2 will help you better understand Web3 development:
We now refer to the early years of the internet as Web1 (or Web 1.0). You could access internet content on Web1, but only a little else. Internet websites were static and non-interactive; the only communication options were one-way emails or simple one-way messages. Companies were beginning to create their websites, but they were mostly used as glorified press releases and not as a means of communication with the general public.
You could contrast Web1 with a real newspaper in this way. You are only a consumer; you are made of paper and ink. You cannot interact with other readers, and there is no way to transparently see how popular an article is or who is reading it.
Most people refer to the current internet as Web2 (or Web 2.0). Because Web2 is interactive, you can make your content, comment on and respond to other people’s content, and communicate with other users. This made it possible to develop interactive websites like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and other social media networks. Using our earlier analogy, you could imagine Web2 as our newspaper moving online to a platform that enables interaction in ways that weren’t previously possible.
Web3 was created in response to privacy and personal data usage concerns. In Web 2, the biggest social media sites, browsers, and websites have much control over user data. At the same time, Web3 is intended to be a more open and impervious to censorship version of the internet. It gives users control over the internet’s architecture and personal data, making it more democratic than Web2’s forerunner.
Beyond that, Web3 embraces the crypto ethos and is made to be open to all (little to no censorship of people or ideas), permissionless (no centralized gatekeepers), and trustless (no need to place your trust in a third party).
NFTs and Web3
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be integrated with Web3 and have many benefits of blockchain technology. NFTs, exclusive blockchain tokens, let you transparently prove who owns things like digital artwork, music, data, in-game items, personal records, and more.
NFT verification systems are now available on some social media platforms, allowing you to use your crypto wallet as proof of ownership and use it as your profile picture (PFP). NFTs also enable you to manage your online identity and give you access to membership and voting privileges. An NFT with voting rights may let you decide how a blockchain functions, where charity funds are allocated, or even the specifics of the NFT platform itself (such as which artists are featured and what fees are charged).
You typically pay a third party to provide these services when registering or selling a Web2 address like “examplezyx.com.” The Domain Name Service is a centralized database Web2 (DNS) uses. You can link your domain to a cryptocurrency wallet to accept cryptocurrencies using decentralized Web3 domain options like Crypto Name Service (CNS) and Ethereum Name Service (ENS). Like any other NFT, you can even trade your Web3 domain on an NFT marketplace.
The promises of decentralization are expanding what is possible on the internet thanks to the deepening connections between NFTs and Web 3. To take advantage of the opportunities above and the yet-to-be-developed solutions that will make the Web2-to-Web3 transition even more dramatic than the migration from Web1 to Web2, NFT and crypto usage on the internet will likely become ubiquitous.
