Understanding Web3

Last updated January 12, 2022

The Web 3.0->Web3 we are talking about was originally coined by Gavin York (co-founder of Ethereum, now Parity/Polkadot) back in 2014, not to be confused with the Semantic Web - Web 3.0 coined by TBL (2006) but that never gained traction.

• Gavin Wood, 2018: Why We Need Web 3.0

web3 started getting real traction in 2021 as a rebranding of “crypto” as DeFi, NFTs, and DAOs have started taking off.

• https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1468703190166167570
• https://twitter.com/sm/status/1470952672526168066
• https://twitter.com/copyconstruct/status/1468342703507193862

While the stated goals/mission for Web 3.0 includes decentralization and user control of their data and identity, and monetization and sustainability models are drastically different, when boiled down to a base level (IMO), what web3 adds is a credibly neutral system for transferring value on the Internet (in the way that Web 1.0 was primarily about self-publishing information, and Web 2.0 about social aggregation and communication).

• Decentralized authentication using private key signatures (wallets)
• Platforms and protocols implement native value transfer mechanisms on credibly neutral, permissionless networks
• Multiple clients and frontend interfaces are available
• User participation (ownership, governance) in protocol/platform value accrual via tokenization

The current state of web3 is technologically nascent, but this is a paradigmatic shift from the mature Web 2.0 (2008-present)

• China + web3 by Qiao Wang

• Ethereum vs Alt L1s Su Zhu and Hasu (Uncommon Core Podcast)

• 5 Mental Models for Web3 Chris Dixon (Bankless Podcast)

• An Engineer’s Hype-Free Observations on Web3 (and its Possibilities)

• Notes on Web3 - Robin Sloan’s critique of web3

• Venkatesh Rao: Jumping into Web3 - a very long but worthwhile Twitter thread (unrolled)

• https://cdixon.org/2018/02/18/why-decentralization-matters

• https://www.wired.com/story/web3-gavin-wood-interview/

• https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/01/04/what-is-web-3-heres-how-future-polkadot-founder-gavin-wood-explained-it-in-2014/

• https://consensys.net/reports/web3-report-q3-2021/

• https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/most-people-wont-know-web3-exists

https://modelcitizen.substack.com/p/is-crypto-bullshit

• https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1463573466217521159.html
• https://twitter.com/lhl/status/1450405291456040962
• https://www.skalex.io/ethereum-casper/
• https://www.valuethemarkets.com/2021/04/23/ethereum-casperlabs-casper-cspr-token/
• https://medium.com/chainsafe-systems/ethereum-2-0-a-complete-guide-casper-and-the-beacon-chain-be95129fc6c1
• https://www.mindomo.com/mindmap/casperresearch-35f379dac0d04218a99d8cbe901e3414
• https://www.mindmeister.com/1104041598/ethereum?fullscreen=1
• https://www.mindomo.com/mindmap/sharding-d7cf8b6dee714d01a77388cb5d9d2a01
• https://eth.wiki/sharding/Sharding-FAQs
• https://twitter.com/vitalikbuterin/status/1333922620857745408
• https://eth.wiki/en/fundamentals/design-rationale
• https://notes.ethereum.org/@vbuterin/rkhCgQteN#Serenity-Design-Rationale
• Cryptoeconomics
  • https://thecontrol.co/cryptoeconomics-101-e5c883e9a8ff
  • https://medium.com/@venkinarayanan/crypto-economics-101-58e9927fa025
  • https://cbsofbci.thinkific.com/courses/cryptoeconomics-security
  • https://www.startupcolumbia.org/panels-keynotes/2019/04/06/crypto-economics-101
  • https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Cryptoeconomics
  • https://github.com/jpantunes/awesome-cryptoeconomics
  • https://medium.com/0xvlad/crypto-mind-map-92ca07a23765
  • https://diar.co/

• https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html
  • https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1479815125955715072
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/ryk3it/my_first_impressions_of_web3/hrrz15r/
  • https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1479863075301834755
  • https://medium.com/@danfinlay/what-moxie-missed-on-web3-wallets-8dc572e7f39b
  • https://mirror.xyz/suzuha.eth/vb5E5lhzmPTcpxOJcz6Q211TDgSvoFwDLA6JSM1V37Q
• https://seldo.com/posts/crypto-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly
• https://apenwarr.ca/log/20211201
• https://www.oreilly.com/radar/why-its-too-early-to-get-excited-about-web3/
• https://society.robinsloan.com/archive/notes-on-web3/

Stephen Diehl

• https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog.html
• https://twitter.com/smdiehl
• CTO Adjoint (Private Blockchain startup)
  • https://www.f6s.com/stephendiehl
  • https://twitter.com/dystopiabreaker/status/1470126927818067969
  • http://internetofagreements.com/2017/12/18/stephen-diehl-adjoint-smart-contracts-for-new-entrepreneurs/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFlu61wJe2Y
  • http://www.adjoint.io/
  • https://medium.com/@stephendiehl/about
    • https://medium.com/@stephendiehl

https://yesterweb.org/no-to-web3/