What stage has Web3 reached?

Looking back at the development of the Internet, it completed the digitization of the traditional advertising industry in the Web1 stage, completed the digitization of the content industry in the Web2 stage, and completed the digitization of the life service industry under the catalysis of the mobile Internet trend. Finally, with the support of artificial intelligence, big data and algorithms, the interconnection of all things has become the climax of the development of the Internet. The development of the Internet seems to have come to an end.

However, Web3 based on blockchain technology and tokenized economy has allowed people to see new directions in the development of the Internet, so venture capital funds, entrepreneurial teams and opinion leaders have flocked to it.

So, what stage has Web3 evolved to? What are the debates and discussions around Web3?

What stage has Web3 evolved to?

Looking back at the history of Web development may provide inspiration for the development of Web3.

If we count from the birth of ARPANET in 1969, the Internet has already gone through 52 years of life as of 2021. It can be said that the 52 years of the Internet are a magnificent global epic and a half-century of light-speed development of human civilization and productivity.

The development of the Internet has gone through some key stages. In the 1960s, the US military launched the ARPANET, which laid the technical foundation for the Internet and marked the beginning of the development of the Internet. In the 1970s, the birth of TCP/IP made computers no longer independent entities, and the basic protocol gave the Internet its initial prototype. In the 1980s, applications such as e-mail, BBS and USEnet emerged like mushrooms after rain, promoting the popularization and development of Internet applications.

This was the prehistory of the Internet.

In the 1990s, the birth of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the commercialization wave brought the Internet to thousands of households. Browsers, portals, e-commerce and other applications were the most distinctive features of this era, which is also the well-known Web1 stage; in the first decade of the 21st century, blogs, social media and netizens became the main producers of content; in the second decade of the 21st century, the rise of 4G networks and mobile devices brought us into the mobile Internet era. This is the Web2 stage of the Internet.

So, can the development of the Internet bring inspiration to the development of Web3? Or, where does the current Web3 correspond to in the history of Internet development?

Perhaps there are many dimensions to measure this issue, such as the amount of venture capital, entrepreneurial teams, infrastructure development, etc., but the number of users will inevitably be the most critical part of the measurement criteria.

In 1997, according to World Bank statistics, the number of Internet users worldwide reached 300 million. In 2022, the number of global crypto asset holders will be exactly 300 million!

Therefore, if the number of coin holders is equated with the number of Internet users, Web3’s 2022 is the Internet’s 1997.

From 1995 to 2000, the Silicon Valley technology circle (representing the development of the global Internet) was full of ups and downs. In the five years, Netscape Navigator was launched in August 1995, Yahoo was launched in April 1996, and Amazon was launched in May 1997...

In 1995, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page met. In 1996, a basic version of the search engine called Backrub was launched. In 1997, Backrub was named Google. Google went public seven years later in 2004. If the two founders had not wisely brought in Eric Schmidt as Google's CEO in 2001 and were not convinced by the latter that the best way for search engines to make money was to attract businesses to place advertisements and make strategic adjustments, the world might have lost a good browser and an open and inclusive video media streaming site.

However, the number of active users on the chain may be a better reference.

According to the tracking data of the on-chain data tool Nansen in late February, the total active addresses of the 9 major mainstream networks in the crypto world (Ethereum/Polygon/Arbitrum, etc.) in 7 days were approximately 9.163 million.

The year in which this figure coincides with the World Bank's statistics on the number of global Internet users is 1991. At that time, the number of Internet users accounted for 0.1%-0.2% of the world's total population (5.4 billion). With the birth of the World Wide Web and the wave of commercialization, applications such as browsers, portals and e-commerce are the most distinctive features of this era, and they have brought the Internet to thousands of households.

Jim Clark and Marc Andreessen’s Netscape, Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s Google, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, Jack Ma’s Alibaba, Jerry Yang’s Yahoo, Ma Huateng’s Tencent, and Steve Jobs’ Apple were all born in this era.

At present, in the Web3 world, with the lively scene of Ethereum/ICP/Solana/Avalanche/Cosmos/Polkadot/Terra/Polygon/Near/Fantom/Flow/Harmony and other public chains competing for supremacy, we have to carefully search for clues that can be used as reference for Web3 in the development history of the Internet from 1991 to 2000.

If all this is true, I would rather make the assumption that the current Web3 world is in the 1991-1997 of the Internet. Given that so many exciting business legends have happened in the meantime, if this time period must be precise to within 3 years, then 1993-1995 would be the answer.

Although, we are still in the process of constant dispute and exploration.

Controversy always exists

The controversy in the Web3 world revolves around Jack Dorsey's questioning of Web3.

Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter and CEO of Block, believes that it is actually large venture capital firms like a16z, which has invested more than $3 billion in the Web3 field and has invested in dozens of crypto companies including OpenSea/CryptoKitties/Dapper Labs, that will control these new network systems.

Regarding Web3, followers say that blockchain and crypto asset systems will allow users to "own" the next generation of networked games, applications and services, rather than handing over all power and profits to Web2 giants such as Google, Meta and Amazon. The new network system means having voting rights and original shares in the next large social network.

However, Jack Dorsey believes that you don’t really “own” anything in Web3, which means that in Jack Dorsey’s eyes, Web3 is a lie concocted by nihilists. Elon Musk also said when forwarding Dorsey’s tweet: Has anyone seen Web3? I didn’t see him.

When any new technology comes along, controversy is inevitable.

In an internal memorandum of Western Union in 1876, it was recorded that "this 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be used as a real means of communication. The thing itself is of no value to us."

The title page photo and preface of "A Century of Silicon Valley" show and describe the passionate entrepreneurial journey of entrepreneurs in this hot land of Silicon Valley. They created Oracle, Intel, AMD, Apple, Google and Amazon, the greatest companies in human history, as well as pioneering entrepreneurial companies such as Go and Webvan that were well-funded but eventually went bankrupt.

It was these entrepreneurs who overcame all difficulties and created the 50-year-long evergreen Internet software and hardware technology in the United States, and turned the barren Santa Clara Valley in California into the richest and most attractive region on the blue planet - it is also a model of business order.

I am also looking forward to the story of Web3, hoping that the story of Web3 will continue to be glorious here.