Blockchain Engineer @SpheronHQ
Blockchain Engineer @SpheronHQ
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In recent times, there has been a lot of buzz around Web 3.0 and the general idea of decentralization, this has primarily led to a lot of curiosity and inquisition about what it entails, which prompted the need to write this article, hopefully, you gain some insight from this piece.
Getting started, Web 3.0 is more like a sequel to Web 2.0 which we are all very familiar with(the web as it is now, the key facilitator of the creator economy), so let’s take a quick ride, back to Web 2.0 and highlight the drawbacks and how it has pivoted the journey to Web 3.0.
In a traditional Web 2.0 system, ownership and control are highly centralized, meaning some certain individuals or corporations have the ultimate power to make decisions regarding access and usage of their platform. As stated by Dr. Gavin Wood - “The error of the few becomes the problem of the many, leading to incipient, structural failure.“ The data are fully owned by the tech companies and they choose to do whatsoever with it to earn money to cover the infrastructural cost and also to make a huge profit of course.
Imagine a hack or breach to one of these platform databases or data-centers, meaning the users of the platform will be highly affected, as all data will be lost or taken by the wrong people, citing an example Emmanuel macron hacked at the eve of the election, Equifax stating over 143M social security hacked. Other notable data breaches can be found on
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_data_breaches
Not the ignore the problem of openness and accountability, a typical web 2.0 product doesn’t provide access to a large portion of its data, so the official reports can’t be verified and most cannot be held responsible for how they use the data collected on their platform, some even collect these data without the consent of their users.
The web 2.0 system has its huge benefits but it just concentrates too much power on a selected few. Now here comes Calvary 🥁🥁🥁 - Web 3.0
Web 3.0: What is it and Why the Buzz?
Web 3.0 provides a new method of architecting web applications in a future-proof manner. For a technical definition, it is an extensible framework for creating massively multi-user, economically strong applications. Now let’s break this down, Web 3.0 is a tool that enables the creations of decentralized applications with the backing of internet money, it provides a paradigm shift to the way applications are structured, accessed, and generally how value is earned and shared. The concept of Web 3.0 is to provide a decentralized, robust, open, and interoperable network, with a focal focus on creating a human-centered web, with greater clarity, fairness, inclusiveness, and transparency.
Web 3.0 solves the problem of data protection, proves identity, it is open, extensible, and robust. As an improved version of the current web2.0 with it centers on decentralization, tokenization, and trust. The entire journey was spearheaded by the launch of Ethereum, a protocol that allows for smart contract functionalities to run on the blockchain.
A quick illustration, if an organization create a digital platform that enables comedians to share their jokes, well as the owner of the platform, the organization has 100% ownership of the platform and its data, decisions relating to its core operations such as data privacy of the users, financial settlements to the creators, censorships are made by the organization - Ownership & Control 100%. Now upon re-evaluation of the above illustration, the entire could be re-modeled to enable the creators to be the owners of the data and also make the platform to be more trustless, open, without unnecessary censorship and favourable to the creators with the tokenization of the earnings. So data that would have been previously stored and owned by the organization is now decentralized and owned by the creator. Web 3.0 - It’s Open, True and It works.
So its evident that’s we’ve moved from having silos of organizations with centralized control to a space where everything is decentralized, permissionless, open, and on top of that, programmable internet money. Web 3.0 is a movement, it is not powered or sponsored by any individual or organization. It is simply an innovation to a better open and inclusive web. Welcome to a dispensation where we witness the coming together of a decentralized web, blockchain, and linked data.
Accessing products built on Web 3.0 is quite similar to web2.0 but with some differences, one major difference is the authentication system, previously you would have to create and manage your accounts using your email/phone, passwords, social logins, and other 2FA structures but now your identity is verified using your digital signature by signing the transaction with your private key, a platform like Metamask helps make this easy for you. So basically the entire process moves from the Brower → Protocol Extensible API & Languages → Zero/Low Trust interaction Protocols(Bitcoin, Ethereum, Near).
Just so you know, a revolution is upon us, and as Jutta Steiner rightly said: this new technology will fundamentally change how we collaborate - how we build businesses, how we design governance systems, how we operate global organizations.
Use Cases
Let’s go over some certain use cases in the Web3 space, this is divided into some major categories, each highlighting a prominent use case and the solution it provides.
Creating Decentralized Applications is the ultimate goal of the Web3 movement. There have been tons of DApps developed in the past couple of years, ranging from PancakeSwap, Axie Infinity, Opensea, Mirror, and many more. Let’s look closely into Mirror - the platform used to write and publish this article. As a writer on a typical publishing platform, chances are you’ve experienced or heard of, the following issues:
Removal Of Content
Illogical Policy Violation
Unfair Monetization
A ban or suspension
These issues are being addressed by Mirror, whose Mission is
Through a decentralized, user-owned, crypto-based network, Mirror’s publishing platform revolutionizes the way we express, share, and monetize our thoughts.
Mirror ensures that the writers’ arent’s just publishers but co-owner of the platform, using their native crypto token $WRITE as a means of validating writers and making decisions. With regards to monetization, writers can directly get tips from readers, mint their article as an NFT or Crowdfund for a story idea and share ownership with the contributors.
DAO - Decentralized Autonomous Organization
According to Wikipedia Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), sometimes called a decentralized autonomous corporation (DAC), is an organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent, controlled by the organization members, and not influenced by a central government. A DAO's financial transaction record and program rules are maintained on a blockchain“.
People, projects, and finance will always be in co-existence as we strive to make the world a better place, now the process in which these three are managed is very important. DAO avails an opportunity to righty connect these three pieces in a structured, transparent, and democratic manner all powered by a smart contract. This eliminates the rampant issues of bias and corruption. DAO is a system for like-minded individuals to work together in achieving a common goal. One prominent example is Friends With Benefits DAO “Friends with Benefits is the ultimate cultural membership powered by a community of our favorite Web 3.0 artists, operators, and thinkers bound together by shared values and shared incentives ($FWB).”
Defi - Decentralized Finance
Ethereum Official Website defines Defi as
a collective term for financial products and services that are accessible to anyone who can use Ethereum – anyone with an internet connection. With DeFi, the markets are always open and there are no centralized authorities who can block payments or deny you access to anything. Services that were previously slow and at risk of human error are automatic and safer now that they're handled by code that anyone can inspect and scrutinize.
We’ve largely talked about decentralization in this article so let’s look into the term - finance. Investopedia explains finance as a broad term that describes activities associated with banking, leverage or debt, credit, capital markets, funds, and investments. Basically, finance represents the getting, the spending, and the management of money. Simply put Defi is a programmatic way of addressing the core aspects listed in this definition without a centralized authority.
Aave($11.06+) is one of the top-performing Defi projects out there, Aave protocol is a decentralized, open-source, and non-custodial money market protocol. Depositors earn interest by providing liquidity to lending pools, while borrowers can obtain loans by tapping into these pools in both an overcollateralized or undercollateralized fashion.
Aave protocol is unique in that it tokenizes deposits as Tokens that accrue interest in real-time. It also features access to highly innovative flash loans, which let individuals borrow instantly and easily; no collateral is needed. With 20+ different assets, 5+ of which are stable coins, Aave protocol is the most diverse lending pool in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Gaming
Web 3.0 has also revolutionized the gaming industry, now you don’t just play games for fun or competition, you also EARN from playing games, isn’t that a crazy dream turned into a reality. When many crypto enthusiasts tell you Web 3.0 gives you an opportunity to own a piece of the internet, trust me you weren’t being lied to. One leader in this space is Axie Infinity with over $3.25B volume trading volume, Axie has a fully player-owned economy allowing players to seamlessly sell and trade their game assets for digital currency.
Each Axie is a non-fungible token (NFT), a unique collectible that can be bought or sold across exchanges outside of the game. To know more about NFTs check the article by Opensea.
https://blog.opensea.io/guides/non-fungible-tokens/
How to Get Started: Floating in
I know all of this information might be quite overwhelming to consume at once, but the aim is to introduce you to the Web 3.0 space and also share some recommended paths to follow. To get started, you’ll need to get a wallet to serve as a store of value for your tokens and also to serve as a gateway to interact with decentralized apps.
To further gain more insights on the Web 3.0 space, there are some platforms that offer some interesting challenges/quests to explore and earn some incentives for completing the quests. Gitcoin quest is one good resource to check out.
There are some fundamental skills you’ll have to pick up to participate in such a technical space, and one way of getting these skills is by picking them up at Rabbithole and applying the skills to selected projects and quests.
For a more structured way of learning and gaining technical knowledge of the web3 you can check out Crypto Startup School
https://a16z.com/crypto-startup-school/
Useful resources: Dive into the waters
This section is targeted towards developers who would love to explore the Web 3.0 space and contribute to building decentralized applications. In my quest on learning about blockchains and building DApps, I came across these very useful resources, which can help you become a Web 3 engineer.
The first resource is Buildspace, A platform that facilitates a faster and easier onboarding process for devs into the Web 3 space. “If you're a dev that's curious about web3 but not sure where to start -- this is the spot for you. Learn + start building cool stuff right now, earn NFTs, access secret work opportunities in crypto” It has a super helpful discord channel for navigating through any issues you encounter or even networking with other developers.
Another amazing resource is Questbook, which is more like a project-based hackathon for Web 3.0. “Questbook is a Decentralized University where learning is always free. Join 15,000+ developers in learning web3, earn crypto and NFTs on the way”. With backing from Y Combinator, Near, Solana, Ethereum, you can count on Questbook to deliver one of the best learning guides for blockchain development. Completing the tracks gives you a good amount of projects to hone your skills and add to your portfolio. Questbook also has a mobile app for ease and convenience.
One of the first individuals that inspired me to explore the web3 space is Nader Dabit, he constantly shares useful resources and has one of the most highly referenced guides in developing Ethereum based DApps.
https://dev.to/dabit3/the-complete-guide-to-full-stack-ethereum-development-3j13
Wesly also created a great resource with access to top books, courses, podcasts, code challenges, and even jobs. It’s a one-time stop for all you need to get started and start building your DApps.
Figment Learn is another top resource, it prides itself as the “The Web 3 education platform for developers, by developers.“ With a wider coverage of blockchain protocols, this is a great resource to explore.
The Developer DAO provides a great community to learn, network, and build in the web3 space. For access to top-quality learning resources, industry leaders, innovative projects, and a vibrant community, I’ll suggest you join the developer DAO.
https://discord.com/invite/devdao
To stay updated on the fast-growing space and also connect with some of the brightest minds in the space, consider following these accounts on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa/status/1462994664215105543
The web3 space is still very much early and there are tons of opportunities in it, learn, explore, build, network. We’re all gonna make it(WAGMI). Cheers and see you in the metaverse.
In recent times, there has been a lot of buzz around Web 3.0 and the general idea of decentralization, this has primarily led to a lot of curiosity and inquisition about what it entails, which prompted the need to write this article, hopefully, you gain some insight from this piece.
Getting started, Web 3.0 is more like a sequel to Web 2.0 which we are all very familiar with(the web as it is now, the key facilitator of the creator economy), so let’s take a quick ride, back to Web 2.0 and highlight the drawbacks and how it has pivoted the journey to Web 3.0.
In a traditional Web 2.0 system, ownership and control are highly centralized, meaning some certain individuals or corporations have the ultimate power to make decisions regarding access and usage of their platform. As stated by Dr. Gavin Wood - “The error of the few becomes the problem of the many, leading to incipient, structural failure.“ The data are fully owned by the tech companies and they choose to do whatsoever with it to earn money to cover the infrastructural cost and also to make a huge profit of course.
Imagine a hack or breach to one of these platform databases or data-centers, meaning the users of the platform will be highly affected, as all data will be lost or taken by the wrong people, citing an example Emmanuel macron hacked at the eve of the election, Equifax stating over 143M social security hacked. Other notable data breaches can be found on
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_data_breaches
Not the ignore the problem of openness and accountability, a typical web 2.0 product doesn’t provide access to a large portion of its data, so the official reports can’t be verified and most cannot be held responsible for how they use the data collected on their platform, some even collect these data without the consent of their users.
The web 2.0 system has its huge benefits but it just concentrates too much power on a selected few. Now here comes Calvary 🥁🥁🥁 - Web 3.0
Web 3.0: What is it and Why the Buzz?
Web 3.0 provides a new method of architecting web applications in a future-proof manner. For a technical definition, it is an extensible framework for creating massively multi-user, economically strong applications. Now let’s break this down, Web 3.0 is a tool that enables the creations of decentralized applications with the backing of internet money, it provides a paradigm shift to the way applications are structured, accessed, and generally how value is earned and shared. The concept of Web 3.0 is to provide a decentralized, robust, open, and interoperable network, with a focal focus on creating a human-centered web, with greater clarity, fairness, inclusiveness, and transparency.
Web 3.0 solves the problem of data protection, proves identity, it is open, extensible, and robust. As an improved version of the current web2.0 with it centers on decentralization, tokenization, and trust. The entire journey was spearheaded by the launch of Ethereum, a protocol that allows for smart contract functionalities to run on the blockchain.
A quick illustration, if an organization create a digital platform that enables comedians to share their jokes, well as the owner of the platform, the organization has 100% ownership of the platform and its data, decisions relating to its core operations such as data privacy of the users, financial settlements to the creators, censorships are made by the organization - Ownership & Control 100%. Now upon re-evaluation of the above illustration, the entire could be re-modeled to enable the creators to be the owners of the data and also make the platform to be more trustless, open, without unnecessary censorship and favourable to the creators with the tokenization of the earnings. So data that would have been previously stored and owned by the organization is now decentralized and owned by the creator. Web 3.0 - It’s Open, True and It works.
So its evident that’s we’ve moved from having silos of organizations with centralized control to a space where everything is decentralized, permissionless, open, and on top of that, programmable internet money. Web 3.0 is a movement, it is not powered or sponsored by any individual or organization. It is simply an innovation to a better open and inclusive web. Welcome to a dispensation where we witness the coming together of a decentralized web, blockchain, and linked data.
Accessing products built on Web 3.0 is quite similar to web2.0 but with some differences, one major difference is the authentication system, previously you would have to create and manage your accounts using your email/phone, passwords, social logins, and other 2FA structures but now your identity is verified using your digital signature by signing the transaction with your private key, a platform like Metamask helps make this easy for you. So basically the entire process moves from the Brower → Protocol Extensible API & Languages → Zero/Low Trust interaction Protocols(Bitcoin, Ethereum, Near).
Just so you know, a revolution is upon us, and as Jutta Steiner rightly said: this new technology will fundamentally change how we collaborate - how we build businesses, how we design governance systems, how we operate global organizations.
Use Cases
Let’s go over some certain use cases in the Web3 space, this is divided into some major categories, each highlighting a prominent use case and the solution it provides.
Creating Decentralized Applications is the ultimate goal of the Web3 movement. There have been tons of DApps developed in the past couple of years, ranging from PancakeSwap, Axie Infinity, Opensea, Mirror, and many more. Let’s look closely into Mirror - the platform used to write and publish this article. As a writer on a typical publishing platform, chances are you’ve experienced or heard of, the following issues:
Removal Of Content
Illogical Policy Violation
Unfair Monetization
A ban or suspension
These issues are being addressed by Mirror, whose Mission is
Through a decentralized, user-owned, crypto-based network, Mirror’s publishing platform revolutionizes the way we express, share, and monetize our thoughts.
Mirror ensures that the writers’ arent’s just publishers but co-owner of the platform, using their native crypto token $WRITE as a means of validating writers and making decisions. With regards to monetization, writers can directly get tips from readers, mint their article as an NFT or Crowdfund for a story idea and share ownership with the contributors.
DAO - Decentralized Autonomous Organization
According to Wikipedia Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), sometimes called a decentralized autonomous corporation (DAC), is an organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent, controlled by the organization members, and not influenced by a central government. A DAO's financial transaction record and program rules are maintained on a blockchain“.
People, projects, and finance will always be in co-existence as we strive to make the world a better place, now the process in which these three are managed is very important. DAO avails an opportunity to righty connect these three pieces in a structured, transparent, and democratic manner all powered by a smart contract. This eliminates the rampant issues of bias and corruption. DAO is a system for like-minded individuals to work together in achieving a common goal. One prominent example is Friends With Benefits DAO “Friends with Benefits is the ultimate cultural membership powered by a community of our favorite Web 3.0 artists, operators, and thinkers bound together by shared values and shared incentives ($FWB).”
Defi - Decentralized Finance
Ethereum Official Website defines Defi as
a collective term for financial products and services that are accessible to anyone who can use Ethereum – anyone with an internet connection. With DeFi, the markets are always open and there are no centralized authorities who can block payments or deny you access to anything. Services that were previously slow and at risk of human error are automatic and safer now that they're handled by code that anyone can inspect and scrutinize.
We’ve largely talked about decentralization in this article so let’s look into the term - finance. Investopedia explains finance as a broad term that describes activities associated with banking, leverage or debt, credit, capital markets, funds, and investments. Basically, finance represents the getting, the spending, and the management of money. Simply put Defi is a programmatic way of addressing the core aspects listed in this definition without a centralized authority.
Aave($11.06+) is one of the top-performing Defi projects out there, Aave protocol is a decentralized, open-source, and non-custodial money market protocol. Depositors earn interest by providing liquidity to lending pools, while borrowers can obtain loans by tapping into these pools in both an overcollateralized or undercollateralized fashion.
Aave protocol is unique in that it tokenizes deposits as Tokens that accrue interest in real-time. It also features access to highly innovative flash loans, which let individuals borrow instantly and easily; no collateral is needed. With 20+ different assets, 5+ of which are stable coins, Aave protocol is the most diverse lending pool in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Gaming
Web 3.0 has also revolutionized the gaming industry, now you don’t just play games for fun or competition, you also EARN from playing games, isn’t that a crazy dream turned into a reality. When many crypto enthusiasts tell you Web 3.0 gives you an opportunity to own a piece of the internet, trust me you weren’t being lied to. One leader in this space is Axie Infinity with over $3.25B volume trading volume, Axie has a fully player-owned economy allowing players to seamlessly sell and trade their game assets for digital currency.
Each Axie is a non-fungible token (NFT), a unique collectible that can be bought or sold across exchanges outside of the game. To know more about NFTs check the article by Opensea.
https://blog.opensea.io/guides/non-fungible-tokens/
How to Get Started: Floating in
I know all of this information might be quite overwhelming to consume at once, but the aim is to introduce you to the Web 3.0 space and also share some recommended paths to follow. To get started, you’ll need to get a wallet to serve as a store of value for your tokens and also to serve as a gateway to interact with decentralized apps.
To further gain more insights on the Web 3.0 space, there are some platforms that offer some interesting challenges/quests to explore and earn some incentives for completing the quests. Gitcoin quest is one good resource to check out.
There are some fundamental skills you’ll have to pick up to participate in such a technical space, and one way of getting these skills is by picking them up at Rabbithole and applying the skills to selected projects and quests.
For a more structured way of learning and gaining technical knowledge of the web3 you can check out Crypto Startup School
https://a16z.com/crypto-startup-school/
Useful resources: Dive into the waters
This section is targeted towards developers who would love to explore the Web 3.0 space and contribute to building decentralized applications. In my quest on learning about blockchains and building DApps, I came across these very useful resources, which can help you become a Web 3 engineer.
The first resource is Buildspace, A platform that facilitates a faster and easier onboarding process for devs into the Web 3 space. “If you're a dev that's curious about web3 but not sure where to start -- this is the spot for you. Learn + start building cool stuff right now, earn NFTs, access secret work opportunities in crypto” It has a super helpful discord channel for navigating through any issues you encounter or even networking with other developers.
Another amazing resource is Questbook, which is more like a project-based hackathon for Web 3.0. “Questbook is a Decentralized University where learning is always free. Join 15,000+ developers in learning web3, earn crypto and NFTs on the way”. With backing from Y Combinator, Near, Solana, Ethereum, you can count on Questbook to deliver one of the best learning guides for blockchain development. Completing the tracks gives you a good amount of projects to hone your skills and add to your portfolio. Questbook also has a mobile app for ease and convenience.
One of the first individuals that inspired me to explore the web3 space is Nader Dabit, he constantly shares useful resources and has one of the most highly referenced guides in developing Ethereum based DApps.
https://dev.to/dabit3/the-complete-guide-to-full-stack-ethereum-development-3j13
Wesly also created a great resource with access to top books, courses, podcasts, code challenges, and even jobs. It’s a one-time stop for all you need to get started and start building your DApps.
Figment Learn is another top resource, it prides itself as the “The Web 3 education platform for developers, by developers.“ With a wider coverage of blockchain protocols, this is a great resource to explore.
The Developer DAO provides a great community to learn, network, and build in the web3 space. For access to top-quality learning resources, industry leaders, innovative projects, and a vibrant community, I’ll suggest you join the developer DAO.
https://discord.com/invite/devdao
To stay updated on the fast-growing space and also connect with some of the brightest minds in the space, consider following these accounts on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa/status/1462994664215105543
The web3 space is still very much early and there are tons of opportunities in it, learn, explore, build, network. We’re all gonna make it(WAGMI). Cheers and see you in the metaverse.
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