Jan.2022, Lesley

Data Source: Footprint Analytics

In 2021, Web3 became one of the year’s top 12 technology buzzwords according to Reuters.

Whereas Web1 had low engagement and interaction between users, Web2 is a creator-centric internet generally controlled by tech giants, with users’ behavior, data and communications controlled and utilized by centralized institutions.

As dissatisfaction around information control grows, a new vision of the next generation of the internet has emerged.

In this article, we will introduce Web3 using 6 representative projects.

Web3 is based on blockchain technology, and its core lies in decentralization and devolution of power to the people. Users’ can control their own information, rather than being controlled by tech companies. Through blockchain technology, Web3 can reintroduce true ownership, verifiability, and reopen the internet to secure peer-to-peer interaction.

Web3 is a very broad concept, but in general, it is all moving towards a decentralized network with blockchain-based power. Building a Web3 network takes a lot of work. Based on the development of technology and applications, Web3 now has a preliminary architecture.

At the level of decentralized infrastructure, the most basic network architecture, privacy protection, data storage, and DAO governance are needed to operate the projects. At the level of decentralized applications, projects such as creator economic platforms, social entertainment, and games will emerge.

In this article, we will introduce the five representative projects of Web3.

1.Polkadot

In the era of Web3, people expect to build a decentralized internet, but the current blockchain information is not interoperable and there is no possibility of communication as well as interoperability. In other words, there is no way for the current blockchain to carry a huge, complete network.

Polkadot was founded in 2015 as a heterogeneous and scalable multi-chain protocol. It aims to allow separate blockchains to communicate with each other, becoming the underlying infrastructure to Web3.

The Polkadot network has three main parts.

Parallel chain: Expands the capacity of blockchain horizontally by parallel chains, which are responsible for data operation and transaction information processing.

**The trunk chain: **Verifies the blocks given out by each parallel chain and gives the final proof of certainty, and is responsible for network sharing security, consensus and cross-chain interoperability.

Transfer bridge: Allows parallel chains and parallel threads to connect and communicate with external networks such as Ethereum and Bitcoin.

The data from Polkadot shows that the current circulation rate of Polkadot Chain token DOT is still high, indicating the vitality of Polkadot. With the popularity of the Web3 concept, the number of projects on Polkadot has now reached 529, covering all aspects of tools, wallets, stablecoins, DeFi, infrastructure and more.

2.ENS (Ethereum Name Service)

In traditional networks, web domain names are generally prefixed with the name of the subject, .com, .org endings, which is relatively easy to remember. But this is not the case in the blockchain world. Blockchain domain names are all combinations of 2 digits + letters starting with 0x, which are very user-unfriendly. But the decentralized domain name system solves this problem by converting long strings of addresses into decentralized domain names in the form of .eth domains.

As one of the Web3 infrastructures, ENS has the functions to help users manage their addresses and simplify the payment process on the chain, which solves the very important problem of user experience on the way of Web3 popularity and is an important project in the Web3 era.

Decentralized domains have been steadily declining in token price after the heat has passed. Footprint Analytics data shows that the ENS token has been on a slow downward trend for the past 90 days, from a high of $74 currently down to $16. Therefore, we can see that people are not yet very enthusiastic about the application of decentralized domain names in the primary stage of the Web3 network, but mostly for investment.

In the future, when the Web3 network develops further and people care more about their decentralized identity proof, decentralized domain names may regain their vitality.

3.Arweave

Traditionally, data is usually stored on centralized servers, but with the increase of data volume and the development of big data technology, problems are gradually emerging. Data is exploited, centralized charges are high, and hacking attacks are endless.

In addition, most blockchains currently store data on their own chains, which leads to certain technical difficulties for project owners and users’ concerns about centralization. Therefore, Arweave has huge market space potential.

In terms of token price and trading volume, Arweave started to be noticed in 2021. Web3 is coming, but the promotion of decentralized storage still needs social consensus and the development of more decentralized blockchain protocols. However, it is certain that decentralized storage will be an important part of the Web3 era.

Decentralized storage is in line with the characteristics of open-source transparency and data decentralization in the Web3 era, and decentralized services must require a strong decentralized data storage foundation.

4.Decentraland

Blockchain games are one type of application that makes Web3 accessible for more people. As a Web3 application with rich information, high interactivity and low entry threshold, games will definitely play an active role in Web3’s popularity.

Web3 games will also adopt the governance mechanism of DAO, which gives priority to the interests of participants, and an open ecosystem of creators, builders, users, and investors. In addition, the biggest difference between Web3 games and Web2 games is the possibility of gaining revenue, and its Play To Earn model and open ecology make Web3 games very attractive.

Decentraland is a decentralized virtual world platform on Ethereum where users can buy and sell properties, participate in socializing, display and sell NFT collectibles, and other activities.

The data shows that Decentraland’s token price is greatly influenced by the trading volume. It means that for decentralized games, trading volume is very important.

5. Mirror

Mirror is a decentralized writing platform built on Ethereum that helps creators crowdfund by providing them with token issuance tools.

As mentioned above, Web2 is the era of creators, but Web3 also needs creators’ participation. Web3 creators’ platform’s advantages mainly lie in censorship resistance and profitability.

The Web3 creator platform records content on a chain, making it impossible for content to be censored by centralized institutions. Mirror’s website says that you will not just be a member of Mirror, but an owner of the platform, and that Mirror is the sum of all its users.

Many people call Mirror the Web3 version of Medium, which is enough to see its importance.

What is Footprint Analytics

Footprint Analytics is an all-in-one analysis platform to visualize blockchain data and discover insights. It cleans and integrates on-chain data so users of any experience level can quickly start researching tokens, projects and protocols. With over a thousand dashboard templates plus a drag-and-drop interface, anyone can build their own customized charts in minutes. Uncover blockchain data and invest smarter with Footprint.

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