Web 3
Blockchain is an important part of Web 3. The Web 3 – future internet – will require many interoperable components to improve digital user experiences. Blockchain and Web 3 will enable people to own and control their digital identity, data and values.
What is Web 3?
Web 3 definition: Web 3 is the vision of the serverless internet, the decentralized web.
Result: An internet where users are in control of their own data, identity, and destiny.
Blockchain is an important part of Web 3 and the decentralized internet. As you can see in the picture from Web 3 Foundation, various components are needed to enable the Web 3. It’s impossible to solve all requirements of a great Web 3 in an effiencient way with one blockchain protocol. Therefore, the Web 3 – also called the “internet of value” will consist of many interoperable protocols and components. Scalability, functionality or privacy may be partially solved on layer 2 (L2) but the core blockchains need to enable these layer 2 solutions (See Vitalik Buterin’s blog post). It will be key for blockchain protocols and other solution providers to position themselves well, find their niche, add real value to the existing tech stack and be compatible with other solutions. Ultimately, blockchain will be one important part of Web 3.
Layer 0
The Web 3 and blockchain is based on existing protocols.
This layer includes the standardized building blocks of which layer 1 tech can be assembled. This includes p2p internet overlay protocols and platform neutral computation description languages.
Layer 1
Core blockchain protocols are an integral part of this Web 3 layer.
This layer is responsible for distribution and interaction. It includes data distribution protocols such as IPFS, zero/low-trust interaction (blockchain) protocols such as Ethereum or Bitcoin and temporary data messaging.
Layer 2
The “middleware stack” is solving issues “inherent” to blockchains.
This layer is an enhancement for the lower layers and includes meta-protocols and solutions to scaling, privacy, computation or storage. It is possible to add multiple components from this layer to the existing tech stack.
Tooling
Tooling allows more people to work with the core protocols.
This layer includes human-readable languages, code libraries and other developer tools which should make development easier.
“Browser”
People want efficiency, convenience, good service and easy payments.
This is the user-facing layer which makes it easy for anyone to interact with the technology. For example, people can use Metamask to use the blockchain.
Tech stacks and resources
Web 3 Stack by Kyle Samani
Kyle Samani from Multicoin Capital shared his view of the Web 3 ecosystem, the tech stack including detailed components of the middleware stack and extended his great overview from 2018.
The Convergence Stack
Outlier Ventures used the OSI model to define a tech stack with 6 layers of synergistic technologies based on an investment thesis around blockchain, IoT, AI and robotics.
hashstaX
Telekom Labs started an ecosystem with hashstaX that should enable businesses to utilize blockchain and features such as payment, identity or smart contracts through a single interface without being bound to one tech.
Fabric Ventures - What Is Web 3.0 & Why It Matters
Web 3.0 is an emerging paradigm shift in internet applications and a fundamental disruption. It is a leap forward to open, trustless and permissionless networks.
Wikipedia - The semantic Web
The semantic web is an extension of the world wide web through standards (W3C). The goal of the semantic web is to make the internet data machine-readable and allow reasoning over data and operating with heterogeneous data.
Haralambos Marmanis & Dmitry Babenko - Algorithms of the intelligent Web
This provides an insight to intelligent web apps, the use in the real world and how intelligence can be built into the web.
Messari - Web 3 Trends 2020
Some critical pieces of infrastructure need to be in place to “re-decentralize” the internet. Decentralized hardware, computation, domain registry, identity and governance systems are just a few.