# Web3 vs Web2 — Which One Is the Future? (+ IPFS Impact)

By [Aytan Hasanova](https://paragraph.com/@aytan-hasanova) · 2025-05-07

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🌐 **Web2** = centralized data, owned by platforms like Facebook & Google.  
🔗 **Web3** brings:– 👤 **User ownership**– 🧠 **Smart contracts & token economy**– 🛰️ **IPFS** for **decentralized file storage**  
📌 **Real difference:**– Web2: YouTube video hosted on Google servers– Web3: Video stored on **IPFS** — **resistant to censorship**, **globally replicated**  
💡 **Examples:**– ✍️ **Mirror.xyz** uses IPFS to publish articles– 🎨 **OpenSea** stores NFTs permanently on IPFS

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/2cbd0a50250b03e12ea649175ba36d7c960f7c456841893455df0aeb96e2eb65.jpg)

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*Originally published on [Aytan Hasanova](https://paragraph.com/@aytan-hasanova/web3-vs-web2-which-one-is-the-future-ipfs-impact)*