What is Web3?
Ownership: Possession, Transferability, Identity
by Timothy Coleman - 16/Nov/2022
The Internet
The Internet was built for communication. It is a way of exchanging words. When the Internet was first created, you could only fetch and read words (e.g. using your browser).
With words, you can now tell a computer that you want it to do something for you (this is Web2.0), like update a story on a social media platform; or you can send a message to a friend.
When you send a message, either to a computer, or to a friend, it is very hard to take it back. Have you ever said something to someone that you regret, and wished that you could take it back?
Ownership
So what if you wanted to send something to someone that you might need to get back at some point? What if you wanted to deposit something at a pawn shop, that you wanted back in the future? What if you paid too much tax and needed some back?
Well this is what this new layer of technology enables, and it is all being built alongside and on top of our current Internet system. Ledgers of data (which can’t be taken back), are created by global networks which facilitate one thing: Ownership.
Ownership requires 3 things to be legitimate: 1. an official record of Possession: i.e. a definitive list of who owns what, and 2. Transferability: i.e, the ability for one to pass on, something they own, to someone else; with the possibility for it to be passed back.
Crypto and NFTs
Crypto and NFTs are a big experiment built on top of this technology, a tech which provides a blueprint on which, anything to which Ownership can be applied, can be built digitally.
When you check in to a hotel, you are given a card to enter your room. When you tap the card on the door, a check is made that you are allowed to enter. When you check out, you are no longer able to enter the room. Transferability of Possession has taken place.
You might say, “But I already own things and can transfer money online, what is different about Web3?”, you might also want to read about why the SWIFT system is inefficient.
Identity (DID)
The final component of Ownership, is 3. Identity: for a record to exist of who owns what, and who is transferring what, who they are, needs to be known.
This is why paying for verified identity doesn’t work, as anyone can say they are someone else, as long as they are willing to put down some cash.
Digital Objects
When you own and transfer any digital object in the Web3 system, because you (or the entity you are trusting) have a set of digital keys, you have a Digital Identity. This identity may be tied to you as an individual through some form of recognised approvals process, or you are anonymous.
In both scenarios, Web3 ecosystems know that you are an actor is the system, and are able, through a process you don’t really need to understand (just as you probably don’t understand the Internet’s tcp/ip system), to let you Transfer and Own, Digital Objects. The opportunities this unlocks are only as big as our imaginations.
And The Metaverse..? Well, that is a topic for an article on Web4.