Glossary
What is Web3?
In one sentence
Web3 is a proposed model of the internet built on blockchains, where users own their data and identity rather than platforms doing so.
The pitch contrasts three eras: a read-only early web, a read-and-write social web where platforms captured the value, and a “read-write-own” web where users hold their data, identity and assets through wallets rather than accounts.
Some concrete pieces exist. Wallet-based sign-in works. Blockchain naming services function. Decentralised storage networks run. Tokens can genuinely represent ownership in a way a platform cannot unilaterally revoke.
A good deal of the promise has not materialised, and honesty about that matters more than enthusiasm. Many “decentralised” applications depend on centralised infrastructure, front-ends and hosting. Governance tokens often concentrate voting power among early holders. And most users have shown little appetite for managing their own keys, which is the precondition for the whole model.
We cover Web3 with deliberate scepticism — not because the idea is worthless, but because the gap between what was promised and what shipped is large, and pretending otherwise would not serve you.
For example
"Decentralised" is a spectrum, and many Web3 applications sit closer to the centralised end than their marketing suggests.