Imagine a new internet that not only interprets what you put in, but also understands everything you say, both through text, voice, or other methods of communication. One where all the material you consume is more personalized to you than ever before. We have reached the watershed moment in the web’s development. Some early pioneers refer to it as Web 3.0.
The World Wide Web’s creator, Tim Berners-Lee, initially named the Semantic Web after it. It was aimed at a more autonomous, intelligent, and open internet.
A Web 3.0 world is one in which data is linked in a decentralized manner, making it a significant improvement over our current internet (Web 2.0), where data is mostly kept in centralized repositories
Furthermore, data will be able to interact with people and machines. However, in order for this to happen, programs must comprehend information both conceptually and contextually. Semantic web and artificial intelligence (AI) are the two cornerstones of Web 3.0.
Evolution of the Web 3.0 technologies
Web 3.0 will be born out of a natural evolution of older-generation web tools combined with cutting-edge technologies like AI and blockchain, as well the interconnection between users and increasing internet usage. Apparently, Internet 3.0 is an upgrade to its precursors: web 1.0 and 2.0.
Web 1.0 (1989-2005)
The first and most reliable internet in the 1990s was Static Web 1.0, also known as the Static Web, which provided restricted information with little to no user interaction. Creating user pages or even commenting on articles wasn’t a thing back in the day.
In the early days of the internet, it was difficult for people to discover what they were looking for because there were no algorithms to sort through web pages. Simply said, it was a one-way road with a tiny sidewalk on which content was produced by a select few people and information came mostly from directories.
Web 2.0 (2005-present)
The internet is a lot more interactive thanks to developments in web technologies like Javascript, HTML5, CSS3, and others, which allowed start-ups to create interactive online platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, and many other sites.
This opened the door for social media and user-generated content production to grow since data can now be shared across a number of platforms and applications.
A collection of software tools was developed by several web pioneers, such as Jeffrey Zeldman, in the internet era.
- Ubiquity
- Semantic Web
- Artificial Intelligence
- 3D Graphics
Web 3.0 and cryptocurrency
Now that you’ve seen what Web 3.0 is all about, you’re undoubtedly curious as to what it has to do with cryptocurrencies. Because Web 3.0 will be decentralized, it will utilize decentralized networks—the same ones on which blockchain and cryptocurrencies are developed.
We’re already seeing early-stage applications on the blockchain; these applications have been doing quite well. Furthermore, tokens linked to Web 3.0 apps on the blockchain have exceeded expectations, especially when compared to Bitcoin and altcoins.
According to Messari, Web 3.0 tokens witnessed a 244% increase in value on average for the whole year as of August. While that’s lower than NFT‘s 2,726% growth, it’s far better than Bitcoin’s 37% rise within the same period. While Bitcoin has become more stable and a worthy asset for institutional investors, this data shows that Web 3.0 might be the new frontier for speculative crypto traders looking to make huge wins.
Despite the crypto market downturns this year, top decentralized internet cryptocurrencies have enjoyed significant gains. Coins such as Helium (HNT), BitTorrent (BTT), and Livepeer (LPT) have increased by at least 800% in just a few months. Experts believe that this is beneficial to the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Nick Mancini, a research analyst for Trade The Chain, stated that the exponential growth of the Web 3.0 ecosystem and how it has managed to preserve most of its gains despite market downturns is wonderful. Furthermore, higher prices signify more demand and services expansion that are helpful to the ecosystem.
This year’s trends in the blockchain industry have all revolved around Web 3.0 tokens, which have seen an unprecedented surge in value. Even though they aren’t widely used yet, the growth of value and their applications are driving demand. It will just be a matter of time until this sub-field becomes as popular as DeFi.
