Web3
Web3 refers to a vision of the internet built on decentralized, blockchain-based infrastructure, where users can own data and digital assets directly through cryptographic wallets rather than depending on centralized platform operators.
Definition
Web3 refers to a vision of the internet built on decentralized, blockchain-based infrastructure, where users can own data and digital assets directly through cryptographic wallets rather than depending on centralized platform operators.
Overview
The term contrasts with Web2, the current era dominated by centralized platforms that host user data and mediate interactions. Web3 applications instead run logic through smart contracts on a public blockchain such as Ethereum, with users authenticating and holding assets through self-custodied wallets rather than platform-issued accounts. In practice, Web3 spans several overlapping areas: decentralized finance applications that replicate banking functions without intermediaries, decentralized applications with front-ends that read and write directly to smart contracts, NFTs representing unique digital ownership, and decentralized autonomous organizations that use token-based voting for governance. Web3 remains a contested and evolving term — proponents see it as a path to user-owned data and censorship-resistant infrastructure, while critics point to scalability limits, usability barriers, and the fact that much of today's activity still runs through centralized exchanges and interfaces layered on top of decentralized backends.
Key Concepts
- Built on decentralized blockchain infrastructure rather than centralized servers
- User identity and assets held in self-custodied cryptographic wallets
- Applications governed and executed by public smart contracts
- Emphasis on user ownership of data and digital assets
- Token-based governance models for decentralized communities and protocols
- Interoperability across applications that share the same underlying blockchain