Evolution of annual FAAMNG turnover in billions of dollars
between 2005 to 2020.
Source: Statista
Criticism has spread against these data merchants, perhaps a little too late since they are now considered to be more powerful than some states. If companies have amassed too much power, Web 3.0 is all about reclaiming some of that power.
An Internet where new social networks and search engines appear without any corporate overlord. A promise of decentralization of power to users? This is the ambition of this new internet age. A decentralized web powered by blockchain technology and its distributed ledgers. Imagine it as a sort of public accounting ledger where many computers house data that can be viewed anywhere in the world by anyone. A public ledger of data operated by users collectively, rather than by a corporation.
Users who contribute to the system will then be remunerated for their contribution and participation in order to validate operations on the blockchain. An operation could be, for example, to publish a post on a social network, a request on a search engine or even send an email to your favorite colleague and all this algorithmically via a blockchain. Don’t worry, our computer critters are here to do those calculations for us.
I am well aware that Web 3.0 can be likened to voodoo, a digital utopia distant from the idea of reinventing the entire Internet. But as with many technological disruptions, the first steps of these innovations are often associated with obscure projects such as the financing of terrorism or money laundering and therefore little publicized on radio waves or television channels, or if they do so. are, it is seldom to their advantage. Web 1.0 did not escape these criticisms in the 90s and cryptocurrencies democratized the technology that supports Web 3.0, namely the blockchain. Although cryptocurrencies are widely criticized, attacked from all sides by crossfires from central banks and a number of media, the blockchain seems to be almost unanimous on the technology provided, generating a lot of new money. for private players deploying it in their business model.
It must be said that the architecture of Web3, and implicitly the blockchain, fits perfectly into the ethical concerns of consumers, namely: to reclaim the trust of the security of personal data, respect for privacy and transparency of information. By using the network of a blockchain, made up of decentralized nodes (by deformation, connected computers) capable of validating transactions secured by cryptography, we can do without centralized entities. By extension we can consider the following example:
Message from Romain to Roxane on a decentralized messaging application on a blockchain: “Hi, how are you?” => encrypted message on the blockchain:
(public address, Romain)
26f5e963125dioe9989b7884569277eb8e731rrczota9e68f79f8ca43c570b94b
(encrypted message: “Hi, how are you?”)
9172e6rtc99f144f72eca9a569412580azopt2cfd174567f07e657569493bc44
(public address, Roxane)
6PMnRF6NbRnIp7KkqBGorSyLGM16NVW2LA87456azddrf269fdaze1489poiurt32d
We understand that at the same time, we are able to keep our private identity and that in addition, our interactions are pseudonymized and not anonymous, thus allowing traceability, and to avoid the recovery and excessive marketing of data. as it is now.
We will dedicate a specific article explaining the process of creating the public address, which involves different functions, such as private key and public key generation. But it should be remembered that it is possible to trace the actions of each public address, but without knowing its content, since the creation of the blockchain. Here, it is about showing the pseudonymized side of individuals on a blockchain, and not anonymized as some detractors suggest. Although some blockchains are anonymized, this is not the case with Bitcoin for example. Moreover, it is possible to trace the amounts exchanged between each public address on Bitcoin since its creation, which proves its degree of transparency. We can know how many bitcoins have been exchanged between address A and address B in the past ten years for example. If in addition, you have entrusted your account to giants such as Binance or Coinbase, the police can immediately discover the identity behind these addresses by contacting these platforms. Back to our Web3.
If this new technology allows us to pseudonymize our identity and encrypt our interactions while allowing traceability and transparency without a central control body, then we understand that the tech giants have to worry about. Today’s internet is an oligopolistic market for commercializing user identities and social data, but it is a safe bet that the rules of the game will change, although it is highly unlikely that giant, centralized entities will give in so easily. the control of these data generating monstrous profits. Blockchain purists are aiming for an outright eradication of these players, but with a less radical view, we can think that the web 2.0 oligopoly will integrate web 3.0 services to remain relevant.
Between slayer and fanatic of the cryptosphere, the question of decentralization and disintermediation is widely debated. The initiators of the illumination of the blockchain, like the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, have probably brought about the emergence of a disruptive technology for the internet nowadays. Giving power back to users will not be easy, but the promise is great.
This episode 1 of Web 3.0 is finally a long introduction of the technological cataclysm that is preparing behind the scenes, for episode 2, I am concocting a series of concrete cases in the world of NFT, and far from me the idea of you convince to buy a Cyberpunk or other digital monstrosity that can reach stratospheric sums. We will put on the table the current initiatives with the ambition to give you back control of your data, and even better, to be able to monetize your digital creations and experiences. Convinced of having made you salivate, I hasten to write episode 2 in order to publish it in the columns of Zonebourse. At the question : Is Web 3.0 attacking GAFAM? The answer is definitely yes. Small spoiler, the next question is: to what extent? See you in the next episode.