a16z Partner: Why is Web 3 important?

This article is reproduced from Deep Tide

byChris Dixon

Note from Shenchao: The current VC investment is actually very introverted. It not only requires investing in good projects, but also needs to be able to write small essays, milk tracks, milk projects... In this regard, a16z can be called a real master. From "software is Devouring the world" has been shouting for Web 3 in the blockchain world, and a16z can always occupy the minds of entrepreneurs in advance. This article about "Why Web 3 is important?" "The article, from a high position, compared the value capture of Web 1 and Web 2, and sublimated Web 3 and Crypto at a theoretical level, kneeling down.

original:

Web 1 (circa 1990-2005) was about open protocols, decentralized and community-governed, with most of the value going to the edges of the web - users and builders.

Web2 (circa 2005-2020) was about isolated, centralized services run by enterprises. Most of the value is captured by a handful of companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

We are now at the beginning of the Web3 era, which combines the decentralization, community management ethos of Web 1 (with the advanced, modern capabilities of Web3.

Web 3 is an internet owned by builders and users, coordinated with tokens.

Why is Web 3 important?

First, let's look at the problem with centralized platforms.

Centralized platforms follow a predictable life cycle. At first, they did what they could to recruit users and third-party complementers such as creators, developers, and businesses.

They do this to strengthen their network effects. As platforms move on the S-curve of adoption, their power over users and third parties grows steadily.

When they reach the top of the S-curve, their relationship with network participants changes from a positive-sum relationship to a zero-sum relationship. To continue growing, data needs to be extracted from users and competition with (former) partners.

Notable examples of this are Microsoft to Netscape, Google to Yelp, Facebook to Zynga, Twitter to its third-party customers, and Epic to Apple.

For third parties, the transition from cooperation to competition feels like a bait and switch. Over time, the best entrepreneurs, developers, and investors have learned not to build on top of centralized platforms, which has stifled innovation.

Now let's talk about Web 3. In Web 3, ownership and control are decentralized. Users and builders can own fragments of internet services by owning tokens, both non-fungible (NFTs) and fungible.

Tokens give users property rights: the ability to own a piece of the Internet.

NFTs give users the ability to own objects, which can be art, photos, code, music, text, game objects, certificates, governance rights, access rights, and whatever else people dream up next.

NFTs exist on top of blockchains like Ethereum. Ethereum is a decentralized global computer owned and operated by its users.

A blockchain is a special computer that anyone can access, but no one owns.

Ethereum is powered by a fungible token, ETH, which is used to incentivize the physical computers underpinning the system. ETH is also the native transaction currency of the system, such as buying NFT.

Users have many ways to earn fungible and non-fungible tokens. You can buy them, but there are also ways to earn them.

Uniswap is retroactively airdropping 15% of its governance tokens to early adopters of the protocol. Community grants like these are already common in Web 3 as a way to build goodwill and incentivize adoption.

You can also earn tokens for creative and entrepreneurial activities. For example, people earn about $100 million worth of ETH every day selling NFTs.

Tokens enable network participants to work towards a common goal - the growth of the network and the appreciation of the token.

This solves the core problem of the centralized web, which is that value is accumulated by one company, which ultimately plays against its own users and partners.

Before Web 3, users and builders had to choose between the limited capabilities of Web 1 or the corporatized, centralized model of Web 2.

Web 3 offers a new approach, combining the best aspects of previous eras. It's early days for this movement and a great time to get involved.

Cointelegraph Chinese is a blockchain news information platform, and the information provided only represents the author's personal opinion, has nothing to do with the position of the Cointelegraph Chinese platform, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Readers are requested to establish correct currency concepts and investment concepts, and earnestly raise risk awareness. In view of the fact that China has not yet issued policies and regulations related to digital assets, users in mainland China are advised to be cautious in digital currency investment.