Future of the internet or a 'Ponzi scheme' — what exactly is Web3? - Fox News

Some telephone it the adjacent signifier of the internet. Some accidental it's a fast-money scam that'll autumn apart. But what precisely is Web3?

The operation "Web3" is utilized broadly to notation to a new-era internet that volition tally connected the record-keeping exertion blockchain, a decentralized nationalist accounting system. The existent iteration of the internet, Web2, by comparison, runs connected centralized, company-owned servers.

WHAT IS IT?

Web3 "offers a read/write/own mentation of the web, successful which users person a fiscal involvement successful and much power implicit the web communities they beryllium to" by enabling users to ain their data, according to the Harvard Business Review. 

Investors anticipation this mentation of the net volition pb to a democratization of data connected the web, wherever transactions and contracts tin beryllium double-checked by each users. However, consumers should beryllium skeptical, according to task capitalist Joe Lonsdale, arsenic mainstream products person yet to materialize contempt dense currency investments.

WATCH PALANTIR CO-FOUNDER JOE LONSDALE EXPLAIN WHY HE FEELS WEB3 IS A ‘PONZI SCHEME’:

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"A batch of what radical are calling Web3 was a Ponzi scheme, and it made nary consciousness whatsoever," the Palantir co-founder antecedently told Fox News. "That said, the protocols to person decentralized ownership are precise interesting."

Decentralization, a cardinal diagnostic of blockchain, distributes the responsibilities of cardinal net functions specified arsenic server control, transaction confirmation, and clip stamping to a web of users alternatively than traditional methods wherever each operations would beryllium handled by 1 institution oregon organization. Where thing similar Amazon Web Services' servers hosted astir 30% of the internet successful 2020, Web3 promises to administer that work among users, fundamentally changing online interactions. 

Decentralized integer infrastructure — specified arsenic cryptocurrency similar Bitcoin and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — are designed to beryllium cardinal components of Web3 and would beryllium indispensable for its function. 

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, believes crypto inactive has a beardown aboriginal contempt the manufacture facing a drawstring of institution collapses. (Fox News Digital/Jon Michael Raasch)

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

"Longer term, it does marque consciousness to person much decentralized powerfulness and for thing similar Bitcoin to exist," Lonsdale said successful a erstwhile interview. Bitcoin "allows much benignant of liberty for the fiscal strategy from truly bad-acting governments."

STUART VARNEY: SAM BANKMAN-FRIED'S 'APOLOGY TOUR' IS NOT STOPPING THE IMPLOSION OF CRYPTO INFRASTRUCTURE

Elon Musk, meanwhile, has expressed skepticism of Web3.

"I’m not suggesting web3 is existent – seems much selling buzzword than world close now," the Tesla main tweeted past year.

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Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey has besides questioned the new-era internet.

Users "don’t ain ‘web3,’" helium tweeted past December, throwing acold h2o connected the conception that users volition beryllium capable to monetize their information online.

Dorsey has been moving connected a competitor to Web3, which claims connected its website to beryllium "an other decentralized web platform." 

To ticker the afloat interrogation with Lonsdale connected Web3, click here.

Bradford Betz contributed to this report.