The 1990s were the most brilliant and fastest-growing era of the Internet in the United States.

This is due to the strong pull of the troika, that is, the emergence of the World Wide Web and browsers, the strategic policy guidance of the Clinton administration, and the crazy blessing of venture capital. With the continuous and strong boost of these three-stage rockets, the most imaginative and legendary journey in the history of human science and technology has been written so far.

If the crazy blessing of the World Wide Web, browsers and venture capital is only the inevitable result of technological progress, rather than an artificial will transfer, then the strategic policy orientation of the Clinton administration is that the government formulates policies to conform to the trend of technological development. Smooth sailing, escort. All three are indispensable.

So how did the Clinton administration's policies promote the development of the Internet industry? Recently, US state governments are adopting policies in line with the development of Web3. For example, the city of Austin, Texas will introduce relevant policies to support the development of blockchain and Web3 technologies. What is the current state of Web3 policy? Can the glory of the Internet be reproduced with the help of policy?

Regulatory exploration in a Web3 world

In October 2021, several executives from top venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) traveled to Washington, D.C., to explain to leaders on Capitol Hill and the White House why they should regulate the next generation of the Internet (Web3).

According to a16z, policymakers are urged to develop national strategies for these technologies, identify appropriate regulations based on the risks of different types of products, and consider cross-agency cooperation, not just SEC regulation.

a16z lobbies at the highest levels of government in the White House, the executive branch, regulators, the House of Representatives and the Senate. And let high-level government decision makers understand what Web3 really means - a suite of technologies that includes blockchain, cryptographic protocols, digital assets, decentralized finance and social platforms.

Tomicah Tillemann, global policy director at a16z, believes it would make sense to create a new agency someday to govern this emerging technology.

"There is probably no area more important in determining a country's long-term success in the 21st century than the quality of its digital infrastructure," Thieleman said. It is not clear that many of our policymakers are aware of the ongoing competition

Following this, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a 5-hour symposium on December 8, 2021, titled “The Future of Digital Assets and Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the U.S.” Hearing. This is the most positive, constructive and bipartisan hearing on crypto finance ever in the U.S. House of Representatives

During the hearing, Tomicah Tilleman, director of policy at a16z, said: “This is the first time that members of Congress have used the platform of a committee plenary hearing to emphasize that Web 3 is the future of the Internet. This is a historic turning point in the national discussion on decentralized technologies. You Also saw committee members acknowledge that the Web3 platform has the potential to address many of their issues, including remittances and financial inclusion. The tone of all attendees so far has been reasonable and constructive. So far so good.”Furthermore, policy development around Web3 is not without progress.

On March 12 this year, the city of Austin, Texas will introduce policies to support the development of blockchain and Web3 technologies. The mayor of Austin, Texas has directed city administrators to help create an enabling government and community environment that supports blockchain and Web3 technologies. Creation of new technologies such as Web3.

Austin, Texas Mayor Steve Adler has proposed two new initiatives to take full advantage of the benefits blockchain technology and cryptocurrency payments bring to the city. Mayor Adler tweeted that Austin is excited to support the businesses and innovations that bring the promise of Web3, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to life.

On February 16, a regulatory filing by the New York Stock Exchange with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this month was made public. It wants to build a "cryptocurrency and NFT exchange" and compete with Web3 companies like OpenSea.

None of this so-called regulatory action, though, can be compared to the US presidential-level policy assistance and financial support on the eve of the Internet explosion in the early 1990s, which just goes to show that Web3's development is still in its infancy.

At least, at this stage, we clearly define what Web3 is.

Back in 2006, when people asked Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, what was Web3, he said, "People keep asking what Web3 is, and I think when SVG is built on top of Web2, use -- everything ripples. , folded up, it doesn't look like a water chestnut -- the whole Semantic Web covers a huge amount of data, and you have access to this incredible resource of data."

Meanwhile, when asked about Netflix founder Reed Hastings, he came up with a simple formula for defining networking terms:

"Web1 is dial-up Internet access, with an average bandwidth of 50K, and Web2 with an average bandwidth of 1M. Then Web3 should have a bandwidth of 10M, a full-image network, and this feeling is Web3."

Now it seems that Web3 is by no means a faster Web2, nor a network with larger data capacity, but a value Internet based on a new architecture. Finally, can Web3 reproduce the glory of the Internet with the help of policy? We will wait and see.