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author | Brock edit | Doorman operations | Small Stone
Recently, Web3.0 seems to be taking over the GameFi hot spot. In fact, the concept of Web3.0 is not unfamiliar to the old people in the currency circle. As early as several years ago, we began to look forward to the grand vision of Web3.0, but at that time, it was limited by the imperfection of the overall infrastructure of the industry, and many things could only remain in theory for the time being.
At present, a distinction between the Web era has been widely circulated in the industry: It can be seen that the key point of Web3.0 lies in "ownership". Having said so much, what exactly is Web3.0? Let's try to give a definition: The vision of Web3.0 is to realize a decentralized network system where users can have ownership of their assets, identity, data, privacy and other rights. The industry has developed rapidly in recent years, and the prosperity of local hotspots such as DeFi, NFT, new public chains, L2, GameFi, etc. are invisibly laying the foundation for Web3.0. The token model allows us to easily grasp the ownership of (homogeneous) assets, and driven by the prosperity of DeFi, the circulation and application of such assets on the chain have been realized. The launch of Ethereum (L2+PoS) and various types of new public chains indicates that the underlying infrastructure can at least meet the most basic performance requirements of Web3.0. The NFT model can well encapsulate various non-homogeneous rights and interests, and is also an important step into Web3.0. The rise of GameFi seems to be a reminder that it is time to start building the grand vision of Web3.0. You know, there was a wave of GameFi popularity a few years ago, but there was no DeFi at that time, so we called it "chain reform", but due to the imperfect infrastructure, the design of the token model was played at that time.
Although according to the definition of Web3.0, the development and evolution of cryptocurrency should all be within the scope of the Web3.0 vision, the recently resurgent concept of Web3.0 may be more inclined towards data ownership, or more broadly speaking, more inclined towards the reshaping of Web2.0 Internet applications on the Web3.0 blockchain platform. However, before specializing in the Web3.0 sub-sector, we need to have a comprehensive understanding of the entire Web3.0 technology application stack. In fact, several years ago, well-known investment institutions such as Multicoin\A16z have given their own understanding of the Web3.0 stack framework. In this article, we will try to stand on the shoulders of giants and review and update the current Web3.0 stack from top to bottom. While understanding each stack module, we will explore modules that have not yet exploded. 「 User Terminal Stack
This is the level of direct interaction with users. According to the current evolution of the industry, it can be divided into:
Wallet key management Such as the most common Metamask, on-chain wallet TokenPocket, smart wallet MyKey\Argent, hardware wallet; Torus: A distributed key management system that generates secret keys through third-party accounts such as Google and logs into the decentralized ecosystem. Multicoin Capital led the investment, with participation from Binance Incubator, Coinbase Ventures, etc. Magic: Former Fortmatic. With Magic, new users do not need to register an Ethereum wallet separately. They can create, log in, and verify their wallets via email or mobile phone number. Placeholder led the investment, and Lightspeed Ventures and others participated in the investment. Currently, some mainstream DApps (such as Uniswap, TokenSets, and PoolTogether) support this login method. DApp Browser: Brave Front-end hosting: This module is currently missing, but it seems indispensable in the journey of decentralization. For example, Uniswap officials had to violate the principle of anti-censorship due to regulatory pressure and took the initiative to remove some tokens from the front-end. Although there are currently some like Liquidity token incentives to drive the community to develop front-end pages, and some have hosted the front-end on IPFS, but neither is the final solution. We can continue to observe the future development of this module. DApp application: This is the level we are most familiar with, and it is also the level where the internal modules are updated and changed the fastest. Here we will not list all the modules in this level, but pick out some representative and developmental modules to learn about: Derivatives market (futures & options): a star track with high certainty and relatively low risk, with leading projects such as dYdX, Perpetual, and opyn Algorithmic stablecoins: Does the decentralized world need native stablecoins that are not anchored to traditional fiat currencies? It is highly experimental, but this year, with the super-high performance of OHM\FRAX, the status of algorithmic stablecoins has gradually improved. Metaverse & NFT: It has been very popular this year, and is even as popular outside the circle as inside it. It may be one of the most noteworthy technological developments in the next decade. GameFi: Axie leads the P2E trend, but current blockchain games still lack the most essential playability. They basically repeat the routine of issuing NFTs first, then issuing game tokens or governance tokens, and then polishing the game. Given the length of the game development cycle and the cycle of the market itself, GameFi may usher in a cooling-off period in the future, but games are a long-term track, and the ownership of game assets and other rights and interests has long existed in Web2.0, so it is expected to be transformed and optimized in Web3.0. Cross-chain bridge: The coexistence of multiple chains is the current market pattern. With the increase in the number of public chains and L2 projects and the gradual improvement of their respective ecosystems, the demand for cross-chain user assets will also grow rapidly, and cross-chain bridges will inevitably become a rigid demand. However, there are many cross-chain solutions on the market, and there are also many technical trade-offs. It is also one of the targets of hackers. Before choosing a specific investment target, you must understand its security solution. Social: Ideally, we look forward to using the Web3.0 technology application stack to reshape the social platform in the Web2.0 era. This involves the user's ownership of identity, data, privacy and other rights. It is a major step, but also a difficult step, and it deserves long-term attention. DAO: Decentralized Autonomous Organization, more and more people are beginning to see it as an organizational structure that goes beyond the company.
「 Middleware Stack
This level mainly encapsulates some business data processing logic and simplifies the development process of DApp. It belongs to the application layer infrastructure module. According to the current evolution of the industry, it can be divided into:
On-chain data retrieval layer: The Graph, dfuse. Application & data storage layer: Arweave, Filecoin, Storj, Swarm. On-chain automated operations: Gelato, Autonomy, Keep3rV1. This type of middleware protocol focuses on automated execution, which can make up for the defects of current smart contracts that require external accounts to trigger operations, and has ample application space in liquidation, rebalancing, custom transactions, etc. Off-chain service layer: In Multicoin’s definition, this module is optional. This module is generally more technical and does not directly intersect with end users, so we will not discuss it for now. Others: Blockchain development tool providers such as Biconomy attempt to simplify the transaction experience of Web3 applications through a series of APIs.
「 Layer2 Scaling Stack
In Multicoin’s division, the expansion stack is actually divided into the off-chain service layer of the middleware stack. Now with the launch of various expansion solutions, we think that the expansion stack should be separated out. In fact, various EVM-compatible public chains, as well as public chains such as Solana, Near, and Dfinity, can also be attributed to the expansion stack, but we will plan them uniformly into the Layer1 stack below, and focus on the current L2 expansion of Ethereum.
ZK RollUp: zkSync, loopring. Optimistic rollups: Arbitrum, Optimism. Validium: Starkware, ImmutbaleX. Plasma: Boba Network (OMG).
「 Layer1 Stack
This level is actually quite familiar to end users. It is basically a collection of underlying public chains. Although there are many modules at this level, such as: state conversion layer, consensus layer, sharding layer, P2P layer, etc., the differences in these modules are essentially the trade-offs in the technical selection of the underlying public chains. For example, Ethereum, Solana, Near, Dfinity, Mina, Polkadot, etc., all have different choices in each module.
But on the journey towards Web3.0, which public chain will ultimately stand out? Will it be a winner-takes-all or a winner-takes-all situation? This is still a question worth pondering and studying! 「 Network Infrastructure Stack
This layer may be unfamiliar and far away to end users. It can be said that Layer 1 itself belongs to the underlying infrastructure, but this layer is even lower-level, it is the infrastructure of the infrastructure, serving the Layer 1 stack. Currently, it can be roughly divided into:
Block distribution network: dRoute, BloxRoute. Network Packet Hybrid Routing: NYM. Decentralized domain name services: ENS, HNS. Last-mile connectivity: Helium
「 Review Summary "
After having a global understanding of the Web3.0 technology application stack, we can think about a question:
As the grand vision of Web3.0 is gradually being realized, how do you choose your investment direction? Here we will first throw out some ideas: Web3.0 infrastructure: The industry has generally agreed on the "fat protocol" theory. Infrastructure such as the underlying protocol can capture value well. ETH itself is the best example. Therefore, looking for infrastructure in the Web3.0 stack that is not yet mature or more likely to break through in the future is one of our directions. Here, infrastructure can be divided into three types: Public chain: What kind of separatist situation do you think will occur in the future Web3.0 era? Which public chains will be able to break through the siege with the help of Web3.0? Tool service infrastructure: Web3.0 has not even been officially launched yet, and tool infrastructure such as The Graph and Biconomy still has huge market space. Specific business infrastructure: such as storage track.
Killer application: Yes, this familiar name has returned after several years. In fact, the industry seems to have reached a consensus before, that is, the killer application will be the Web3.0 reshaping of Internet applications. As for large-scale Internet applications, we naturally think of the two tracks of games and social networking. As for native in-circle applications, such as DeFi, it is actually unlikely to become an out-of-circle application. In the future, the mainstreaming of such applications will also be encapsulated into business logic and abstracted into the Internet applications we are familiar with. The Web3.0 stack is extensive and keeps pace with the times. It is not difficult to determine the general direction of investment. Selecting targets from many projects is a test of vision and patience. However, as early explorers of Web3.0, we should be prepared from now on to dig out the Killer DApps that are lurking in the Web3.0 era. |
