Wtf is Web5?
In today’s edition, own your own web, and Do Kwon’s manhunt.
Good morning! Welcome to The Daily Moon. It’s Monday again! The weekend is gone. But Binance is happy to get rid of the week. BNB Chain had to hit pause after a hack. The number seems to be constantly changing but at last count $500 million may have been stolen. The BNB token fell almost immediately.
Moving on, today we talk about the web3 versus web5 decentralisation battle and Do Kwon’s on the run.
The markets were hit with losses. Bitcoin slipped below $20,000 while Ethereum was at $1,310 levels. Nasdaq fell on rate hike fears. Back home, Sensex and Nifty closed lower because of choppy trades.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Web5 vs Web3: Who Owns Your Internet?
There was web1, then came web2, and we’re about to enter the world of web3. But Jack Dorsey is two steps ahead. He’s working on web5. It will be super internet where you, the user, will have 100% control.
Every time you browse the internet, you inadvertently share data. This data is stored on third-party websites. Web3 wants to decentralise the internet and safeguard user data.
But all these terms are confusing. What’s web3, what’s web5?
It started with web1 and web2
The era began with web1. You probably don’t know about the old days of dial-up internet. That was web1, where websites were read-only. People went to the internet, aka Yahoo, MSN, and Google, to look for information.
It soon became boring. Everyone wanted to interact, share their views, and connect with people across the world. That gave birth to web2, or the social-led internet. From Blogger, WordPress, Orkut, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, web2 is all about social networking. But the problem here is that you really don’t have any privacy.
Then came web3
Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood spoke about web3 in 2014. He thought of web3 as an alt-web controlled by the public. The blockchain would be the technology running it. Think of Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and the platforms built on them.
For instance, OpenSea, built on the Ethereum blockchain, is a web3 platform. Users buy the SAND token to have a say in the platform’s governance decisions.
Jack brings web5
In web3, there’s still some level of centralisation. This is because a central server stores your crypto wallet information. Personal information is taken for crypto transfers because governments mandate it.
Jack Dorsey claims he will make the internet truly yours. 100%. No T&C. He’s called it web5, an “extra decentralised” web platform. His technology company Block has a subsidiary TBD which is building web5.
Now the question is why do we need web5 when web3 exists. Dorsey contests that web3 isn’t truly decentralised. It’s the venture capitalists who own the companies and hence own your data. Web5 won’t have any external investors except the end user.
Source: TBD’s Web5 Project
So, how is it different?
Web5 is an upgrade to web3. Say you want to book hotel tickets for New Year’s. You’d visit multiple websites, add your travel dates, and room preferences, and finally shortlist one. On web2, it’s a pain to re-enter information to look for better prices.
Here, web3 gives you control where your information is stored on a token. Hotel reservations may even be on an NFT. Web5 switches it up. This new protocol can help visualise your itinerary, and you make your hotel reservations using decentralised web nodes. To simplify:
Web3 decentralises the existing internet. But web5 decentralises web3 further, by completely eliminating central servers.
All information is stored with you at all times. Apps can only access information only when you give consent, as and when required.
Each web5 user has a “DId” or Decentralised Identifier that authenticates the identity of the individual. This is absent on web3.
TL;DR The privacy offered by blockchain user under web3 is higher than web2, web5 truly creates a decntralised internet. Ok. When do you get your hands on the future? No one knows yet.
Where Is Do Kwon?
He claimed he could be found by any of his friends. He tweeted about being available when called. But he isn’t. After the Interpol notice, the South Korean courts have asked Do Kwon to hand over his passport by next week or it will be cancelled. The founder of Terra-Luna cannot be tracked.
There was a fresh twist to this saga when an associate of the billionaire (is he still?) was arrested and then released.
What happens to the token?
All the unfortunate souls still trading either of the tokens saw a roller coaster. Prices of the tokens dropped and then rose and then corrected once again.
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Who are we? This newsletter’s ambition is to educate (and to entertain). The world of money is changing everyday and we want to help you decode what’s happening in the world of crypto, public markets in the US and India.