Will Web3 Change the Way We Do E-Commerce?
A decentralized network might pave the path for new internet business models.
Web3, or Web 3.0 as it is also known, is a trendy buzzword. Google searches for the keyword were around 20 times higher in early December compared to the previous year.
According to Google Trends, more people are searching for “web3” these days than a few months ago.
Given the increased interest, the concept of web3 shopping website development may be something that ecommerce firm owners and managers should be aware of.
If web3 is widely used, it has the potential to aid in massive, dependable e-commerce transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Web Modification
The internet originated in the 1960s as a project primarily for schools and the military. The web is now social and can be utilized to interact. Web3 depicts how this critical technology may evolve in the future.
Juan Benet, the CEO of Protocol Labs, described the transition in four steps.
The internet defines the rules that computers must obey and how they communicate with one another. It is simply “wire and network.”
Web 1.0 simplified the sharing of “read-only” files and information.
Web 2.0 introduced social media and new ways for individuals to communicate with one another. It enables nearly anyone to create and distribute their own material. From Facebook to online commerce, we now rely on Web2. It’s known as the “read-write” web.
Web 3.0 is a software architecture that, according to its supporters, reimagines web applications in a way that distributes power, verifies identity and intent, and creates a better, more sustainable collection of tools that anybody can share and use.
Web3 is not the “read-write-execute” web that its forefathers envisioned. Instead, it’s the “read-write-truth” web.
Not Faith, But Truth
Today, web2 apps rely on trusted centralized authority and a small handful of trusted security protocols. Every internet user must have faith in governments and commercial enterprises. This entails believing what others say as well as what they do.
Authorities ensure that when someone enters a website URL, they are directed to the correct site. When someone uses Facebook, they are putting their trust in the firm to store and share information about them. When you shop online, you must trust the merchants, payment processors, and protocol administrators. People who bank online have faith in more than one company.
The issue with this configuration is that these authorities and security protocols are not always dependable. Here are some facts about the year 2021.
The personal information of over 100 million Android users was made public by app developers who did not intend to do so.
Hackers harvested and published the personal information of about 553 million Facebook members.
LinkedIn lost control of 700 million user accounts, including complete names, phone numbers, physical addresses, geolocation data, and other information.
Aside from data breaches, which may be viewed as errors, many customers are concerned about how firms and governments use the information they acquire.
Because of privacy concerns, rules around the world have changed significantly regarding how data is acquired and how online advertising works on various devices.
Web2 applications require trust, but they do not necessarily earn it. On the other hand, you cannot rely on web3. The web3 framework operates under the assumption that no one or no organization can be trusted. Hence it always verifies identity and intent.
It distributes applications in the same way as cryptocurrencies distribute money.
In some ways, web3 is intended to solve all of the present social and interactive web security, privacy, and trust issues.
To quote Dr. Gavin Wood, the founder of Ethereum and president of the Web3 Foundation, the next generation of the web will be built on truth rather than trust.
The Web3 Foundation funds “research and development expert teams that are establishing the robust foundation of the decentralised web.”
The Economy is Doing Well
“Web3 is an expandable platform for creating applications that can be utilised by a large number of people and are beneficial to the economy,” Wood explained. It is also a “proven, strong technique to assist an application with continuing to function in adverse conditions.”
For us, the important phrase in Wood’s definition is “economically powerful.” According to Wood, this means that programs may manage very big financial transactions safely.
Today, someone may pay several thousand dollars online without any consideration. However, in order for two businesses to make a $10 million agreement, they would require lawyers and contracts.
Web2 ecommerce authorities are simply not reliable enough to use at $10 million. Instead, the parties concerned would rely on the rules of the jurisdiction in which the contracts are made to ensure that the promises are followed.
“In terms of the economy, software like Facebook or Twitter is not so strong…
“You wouldn’t want to do agreements worth hundreds of millions of dollars on Facebook,” Wood explained.
“What we’re creating are applications that are powerful economically and provide you with solid guarantees as well as the capacity to send strong economic messages.”
Right now, everything is simply an idea. However, web3 and the cryptocurrencies that accompany it may enable new types of large-scale shopping and everyday transactions.
Not yet, though. Web3 has piqued people’s interest, but it hasn’t yet had the impacts that Wood mentions. Furthermore, nearly no one believes that web3 will replace web2. Instead, they will be living together for many years.