After writing about blockchain fundamentals, it's time to zoom out and look at the bigger picture: Web3, the vision of what the decentralized web could become.

A Brief History: Web1, Web2, Web3

Web 1.0 (1990s–early 2000s): The read-only web. Static pages, mostly informational. Users consumed content. Think early websites, directories, basic HTML pages.

Web 2.0 (mid-2000s–present): The read-write web. User-generated content, social networks, interactive applications. Think Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google. The web became participatory — but increasingly centralized. A handful of platforms own your data, your identity, and your content.

Web 3.0: The read-write-own web. A vision of the internet built on decentralized protocols — where users have ownership and control over their data, digital assets, and identity, without relying on corporate intermediaries.

Core Concepts of Web3

Decentralization

Rather than apps running on centralized servers owned by companies, Web3 applications (dApps — decentralized apps) run on peer-to-peer networks like blockchains. No single entity controls the infrastructure.

Ownership

Web3 introduces the concept of true digital ownership. Through tokens and NFTs, users can own digital assets in a verifiable, transferable way — without the platform's permission.

Trustless Interaction

Smart contracts replace intermediaries. Code executes automatically when conditions are met, without needing a bank, lawyer, or platform to enforce the agreement.

Decentralized Identity

Your identity isn't tied to a platform account that can be deleted or banned. It's a cryptographic key pair you control — you bring your identity with you across the web.

The Technology Stack

A simplified Web3 stack looks like this:

  • Layer 1 blockchains — Ethereum, Solana, etc. The foundational layer.
  • Smart contracts — Programs deployed on-chain that define the rules of an application.
  • Wallets — MetaMask, Phantom, etc. Your identity and asset manager.
  • Decentralized storage — IPFS, Filecoin, Arweave. Storing files without centralized servers.
  • Frontend — Still React, Next.js, etc. The UI layer is familiar; it's what it connects to that changes.

Honest Caveats

Web3 is still early. Many of the promises are aspirational. Current challenges include:

  • User experience — Wallets, gas fees, and seed phrases are still deeply confusing for most people
  • Scalability — Many blockchains are slow and expensive compared to centralized alternatives
  • Speculation — The space attracts a lot of speculation that can obscure genuine utility
  • Environmental concerns — Proof-of-work blockchains use significant energy (though proof-of-stake addresses much of this)

Why It Matters

Regardless of where Web3 ultimately lands, the underlying technologies — cryptographic ownership, decentralized storage, smart contracts — are genuinely new primitives. They make things possible that weren't before.

Working at Protocol Labs on IPFS and Filecoin puts me in the middle of this space daily. I'll keep sharing what I'm learning.