Move from a Web of Information to a Web of Value

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Explain how digital interaction differs under a Web3 model from previous models.
• Explain the new types of online interactions enabled by Web3.

Explore Web3 and Self-Custody with Ledger

In Web3: The Future of the Internet, you learn about the history of the internet and why it’s apt to name the internet’s latest stage, powered by blockchain and decentralized ledgers, “Web3”. In this module, Ledger explores the new ways people and businesses can interact online and the technology behind these interactions.

Why All the Change?

Big platforms exercise a great amount of control over interactions. Third-party platforms have given people multiple new ways to connect and interact. However, they also limit people to some extent, influencing how these interactions take place, the frequency, and so on—some of which we may not be conscious of. In some cases, it comes down to design with the platform in mind, as opposed to design with the person in mind.

Transfers of value require a go-between. On a day-to-day level, rideshare, commerce, delivery, and other widely used platforms take a considerable profit share to act as the go-between in service transactions. This can have the effect of leaving little for the human beings providing those goods and services (drivers, third-party retailers, entrepreneurs, and so on).

We put enormous trust in centralized institutions. Consider the way we typically use services and institutions. Just to create an online profile, we submit our personal information, financial information, and so on. We submit our assets to banks. We trust institutions to not only keep information secure, but to manage what’s valuable to us. That’s a huge amount of trust!

What Is Self-Custody?

Imagine acting as your own bank. Or being able to make online purchases directly from any vendor without an intermediary. This is the idea behind Web3. It’s enabled by blockchain, a decentralized digital ledger capable of tracking transfers of value or data, accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

You can learn more about blockchain in Blockchain Basics. For our purposes, it’s important to know that by enabling peer-to-peer digital transfers of value and data, blockchain technology helps people and businesses interact and exchange value without having to depend on a third party to manage their assets. Instead you can benefit from complete autonomy and ownership. 

Instead of having a bank account, you have self-custody of your assets—be your own bank—and you can interact with an entire ecosystem of Web3 applications built on this same decentralized infrastructure.

Explore a New Decentralized Business Models

A swathe of new decentralized apps (dApps) are already harnessing blockchain’s peer-to-peer capabilities to enable a new generation of goods and services. 

For example, as an alternative to popular rideshare apps, new blockchain-based companies enable drivers and passengers to connect directly, instead of through central servers. This removes the cost of the intermediary and the need to share any of your personal data.

Decentralized Finance
Blockchain is also democratizing access to financial services and enabling users to capture a significant portion of the margin. What if you could earn money on your savings by lending directly to someone? You can deposit into a liquidity pool governed by a smart contract. Borrowers then arrange loans from this pool, and you, the creditor, can track the loan, the repayments, and the interest you earn over time. And you can do it all anonymously.

Tokenized Digital Assets
Maybe art is your thing? With Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), unique digital assets run on blockchain platforms that enable artists and collectors to create, own, and monetize these assets in the digital ecosystem.

In short, blockchain’s decentralized digital ledger means the individuals or businesses making the transaction are in control of their assets and their own transactions, instead of a third-party platform or go-between.

Get Going with a Different Wallet

Managing your digital assets on the blockchain—and engaging with all of the new possibilities Ledger mentioned above—means having a crypto wallet. In the next unit, Ledger reviews crypto wallets and how they’re critical to helping you manage your assets as you navigate this new digital ecosystem.