Katharine Wooller, Managing Director, Dacxi
Technology is the servant of disruption, and each evolution and iteration of technology disrupts more things more quickly. Mostly today these disruptions occur more or less out of sight, the changes they deliver apparent only as Apps that allow your printer to order its own ink cartridges or let you turn on your lights or heating from your mobile phone. Much of this is down to developments in M2M (or machine to machine) technology.
But the continuing development of technologies such as machine learning and AI relies heavily on decentralised protocols and the empowerment of individual users. It also implies enhanced levels of security. Pull it all together and you have a range of scenarios that demand the blockchain.
The words ‘blockchain’, ‘cryptocurrency’ and ‘decentralisation’ are already inextricably linked. The fact that Web 3.0, also known as the Semantic Web, is also built upon blockchains, opens up the possibility of beautiful symmetries and synergies. Web 3.0 will offer a next generation iteration of decentralised apps (or DApps) that will enable computers to analyse data in the same way that humans do. The difference is they will do it faster and, given the blockchain element, in a wholly secure fashion.
More practically Web 3.0 will be user-centric, offering the ability to generate content according to a user’s specific requirements. In economic terms this decentralised facility will mean that central authorities will cease to be able to interfere in financial transactions.
Whether Governments losing the ability to intervene during periods of economic constraint or high volatility is a good or bad thing is a matter of opinion. That said, democratising finance on the web is the raison d’etre of the origins of crypto and DeFi. This may turn out to be the most disruptive element of all.
Here we are at the essence of crypto and DeFi. Disruption for disruptions sake is simply anarchy. On the one hand we have the security of the blockchain. On the other, the possibility for a laissez-faire unregulated global economy.
As such it will be important to reframe the rule set for international transactions. The big question will be whether global financial society, and for that manner the man and woman in the street, trusts what is very much a ‘tech diaspora’, to put in place the protocols, checks and balance which international commerce demands.
Web 3.0 will be inextricably linked with cryptocurrencies, NFTs and other digital tokens. It will allow like-minded communities to spring up and transact worldwide in cryptocurrencies or token of their choice or making. Whatever ‘The Metaverse’ will become it will be powered by digital currencies. It will enable AR and VR gaming in a totally secure way.
In a user sense Web 3.0 will be ubiquitous – granting accessibility 24/7/365 on any device. People are already calling it ‘the web of everything, everywhere’. It will also be a more personal experience and, at the same time, a more secure and protected experience. Likewise, cryptocurrency enables more personal and more protected finance. The possibilities are, quite simply, mind-boggling.
