Argent Learn: What is Web 3.0?

Quick summary

Web 3.0 is an attempt to take back control of the internet using decentralization and blockchain technology. Its advocates see it as the next era of the Web, after Web 2.0 - the era of the tech giants, like Google - and Web 1.0, the Web’s beginnings.

The World Wide Web

The creation of the World Wide Web is one of the most significant technological innovations of all time. And since its creation, it has undergone three changes, with this third change, Web 3.0, being the focus of this article.

Web 3.0 is an emerging movement and loosely defined term based on the failures of Web 2.0. It is centered around the decentralization of the internet and taking back control of your data from large corporations like Google and Facebook. For Web 3.0 to achieve these goals, blockchain technology like Ethereum makes it possible.

To better understand Web 3.0, we need to explain the history of the Web.

Web 1.0

The Web was born from the frustration of its founder Tim Berners-Lee's inability to get information from different computers while working at CERN. So in 1989, Tim Burners-Lee created the Web as a way for researchers to share information over the internet easily.

Web 2.0

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Web expanded as websites became more interactive. That meant users could create and share information in the form of blogs, videos, and social media. With search engines connecting users to find what they wanted.

Problems with Web 2.0

With users producing content, the amount of data they created from these interactions increased. Large corporations like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple captured this user data. They would then sell it to advertisers for hyper-personalized ads, profiting from your data.

Instead of the Web being an open and collaborative environment, it became controlled by a small group of corporations.

An alternative was needed.

The solution: Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is an attempt to restore the internet to its original core values. And this is possible by decentralizing the web with blockchain technology, like Ethereum, but it is blockchain agnostic.

Web 3.0 wants to eliminate centralized parties like Google and Facebook from controlling or restricting information or data. Instead, it aims to give everyone free and open access to information and the means of collaboration and exchange. Rather than giving large corporations control of the internet, Web 3.0 gives power to its user, meaning you're in control of your data. If someone wants to use your data, it should be you who profits and not someone else.

The core values of Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is radically different from Web 2.0, offering an exciting and fair vision for the future of the internet.

The core values of Web 3.0 are:

Censorship resistance: There is no single point of failure that can suppress or restrict users from accessing information.
Competitive: Web 2.0 allowed monopolies to form which restricted users from accessing services and prevented competition. By decentralizing the Web, companies are forced to innovate, specialize and meet the needs of the market.
Privacy matters: Privacy is a fundamental right. You should be in control of your data. If anyone wants access to your data, then they should pay for it.
Interoperable identity: With Web 3.0, you will have a digital identity that you can use cross-platform. If you choose to move platforms, you keep your data and take it with you. No longer will this data get kept on individual platforms.
Collaboration: With an open internet, anyone can share ideas and work together on projects.

Argent and Web 3.0

Argent is the world's most simple and safe cryptocurrency wallet, allowing you to easily access everything Web 3.0 has to offer. Whether that be a new financial system with DeFi or verifiable proof of ownership with NFTs. Your personal data is yours, your Argent username is your identity, and we're fully open source.