Web3 is a proposed evolution of the internet defined by decentralization, user ownership of data and assets, and blockchain-based infrastructure, positioned as a return to the early internet's original open and borderless ethos. The term gained mainstream attention in 2021 amid a wave of venture capital investment in decentralized protocols, token-gated communities, and on-chain applications.
📝Alexis Ohanian has framed Web3 as "a return to the Internet's original mission, to deliver on the promise of a truly open and borderless community to share ideas and push creativity." 📝Scott Galloway has written skeptically about Web3, arguing that much of the term's promise relies on speculative tokenomics rather than improved utility for end users. Concrete Web3 applications include decentralized finance (DeFi), 📝Non-Fungible Token (NFT)s, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and identity systems based on cryptographic keys rather than email logins.