WEB 3.0: The Promise, the Hope, and the Future.

This article is proudly written in partnership with Zach Schullian, and edited by Abbey Heffer

In less than 15 years, the World Wide Web has embedded itself in the way the world works, changing lives and disrupting industries. And not always in a positive way. Centralized agencies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook collect data, which they use to target their users when they’re at their most vulnerable. With everyone’s data being exploited and capitalized on by these gargantuan, centralized tech corporations, trust in the system is at an all-time low. And that’s where Web 3.0 comes in.

The core principle of WEB 3.0 is to do more than just rebuild trust in these systems, Web 3.0 embeds trust into the systems themselves. Web 3.0 eliminates the need for corporate-individual trust, Web 3.0 systems are trust.

For those of us who advocate for, create, and invest in new Web 3.0 technologies, however, there seem to be some common misconceptions about what our industry stands for.

Whether we’re building new products, speaking at events, or informing others about Web 3.0, we are constantly asking questions that are not only directed towards innovation and growth, but which are, ultimately, about ethics: 

           If the internet is so intertwined with society, consisting of billions of users worldwide, who should control it?

Who has the right to access and track your personal information across different websites?

         Who benefits when individuals in certain parts of the world can take out loans, build     credit, and take out a mortgage, while others cannot? 

The decentralized principles of Web 3.0 are building blocks, with them we can work towards a more democratic, free and prosperous world — but only if we get the construction part right.

This article is all a brief history of  Web 3.0, Future disruption and industries that will be affected.  

The Internet: A Painfully Short History

Web 3.0 represents the third phase of the internet’s development and is seen by many as a fundamental challenge to the corporate-controlled hellscape that is Web 2.0.

In fact, Brian Brooks explains the evolution of the Web to Congress in easy simple to understand language

Though we didn’t know it then, the World Wide Web created in the early 1990s would later be known as Web 1.0. Year by year it grew, gaining new users from across the globe. However, there were vastly more consumers than creators of information online. This period is sometimes referred to as the “read-only Web”; websites lacked an interface that could support user interaction.

Eventually, a huge growth in front-end development took place, and Web 2.0 was born. User-focused interfaces like social media developed, allowing us to leave comments, share content with one another—the kind of user-to-user interactions that were not possible with Web 1.0. 

But, though this was a revolution in its own right and though the experience of using the internet has dramatically changed from the mid-1990s, as the video above explains, the underlying structure has remained unchanged. 

The evolution to Web 2.0 created some major problems related to data privacy, scalability, and privacy that did not exist in the Internet’s early days. Back then, we didn’t rely on algorithms, like TikTok’s or YouTube’s, to harvest our user data and expose us to content tailored to our individual and demographic preferences.

But, much like Web 1.0 was dominated by large corporations able to take advantage of their privileged position of ownership over the internet, today these same corporations own our data. They have taken advantage of outdated back-end systems, and are using their barely-regulated access to hoards of private user data to manipulate how we see the world.

 Web 3.0: Taking Back Control

The good news is, Web 3.0 puts us, the user, back in the driver's seat. Instead of one company owning everything, the decentralized nature of blockchain technology allows each computer within a network to be an owner.

Private data is made private and data from public transactions is made public (albeit encrypted). 

The Covid-19 pandemic proved to us just how much we want and need the internet to reflect our communities. When Web 3.0 reflects the patterns and relationships of real-world society. the internet can become a genuine community of individuals. 

We have endured—and many of us are still enduring—multiple lockdowns, the internet became the only place we could talk to friends and family. Considering how much we rely on this technology to function as a society, we should have systems in place that serve both the global community and us as individual users.

Web 3.0 is all about taking back control from a handful of corporations and redistributing it across the internet’s diverse and multi-talented user-base. Web 3.0 is all about us.

I’ve discussed the background behind Web 3.0 and the promises made when it comes to democratizing internet ownership, but what does this mean in terms of industry and governance? We’ve all seen what the internet (of things) can bring to—and take from—industrial production, but what about finance, real estate, elections, healthcare? What about democracy?

What has Web 3.0 done to the finance industry?

Web 3.0 has the potential to completely change industries that rely on the shared use of data. By digitizing physical items—money, private property, identity records—blockchain radically changes how companies and individuals interact with one another within a network. 

The financial industries were the first to feel the full weight of this disruption.

As I outlined in my previous article “From Fiat Money to Ethical DeFi”, the need for new financial systems can be traced back to U.S. President Nixon's decision to end the gold standard in 1971, putting an end to the Bretton Woods system. 

Since then, many have tried to construct a digital currency that could be attached to another store of value, but it wasn’t until Bitcoin gained international recognition that this truly revolutionary concept took root: Decentralized Finance. Bitcoin’s inception arguably triggered the rise of Decentralized Finance, later,  smart contracts disrupted scores of industries some of which we`ll talk about below.

DeFi is a darling of Financial disruption, it hands back control to individuals and depowers corporations, banks and other centralized, anti-transparency systems. It was this dynamic that convinced me to meet with and eventually join Naquib Mohammed, CEO of MRHB DeFi, on his journey to create an ethical and inclusive DeFi platform for all, that was just beginning.

What about real estate?

The impact of this decentralization has implications beyond financial transactions; it expands into the very tangible world of real-life assets. The real estate industry is a great example of this.

Buying property is a particularly bureaucratic process, made even more complicated for foreigners traveling to or living in another country. As it stands, if you want to buy property abroad, there is likely to be twice as much work involved. A potential buyer must be prepared to deal with multiple parties, agents, lawyers, and more. 

Web 3.0 could make it possible to buy or sell any property, anywhere in the world, in less than three clicks, with all parties agreeing on the terms and conditions. 

What are the implications of this? It goes beyond making real estate transactions faster and easier in thriving economies made up of tycoons, barons and those who make a living as landlords. It could make a huge difference in the developing world for people who have lived on a piece of land for a long time but lack physical proof of ownership. It offers new pathways into real estate ownership for those who would otherwise be unable to afford it. 

Buying real estate is often far too expensive for most people to get involved in from a personal investment perspective. Web 3.0 has an answer for that: We are now seeing blockchain platforms offer fractionalized ownership of properties, where you can still access the lucrative real estate market without needing to buy an entire property.  

We are even seeing applications like Decentraland and SandBox used to buy real estate in the metaverse—though discussing the metaverse, NFTs and more requires a separate, far lengthier article. 

Could Web 3.0 redefine the voting system?

Probably one of the most sensitive Web 3.0 issues for most is voting. It was an issue that many tech companies struggled with for years. How can we upgrade the competition for political power in an ethical, inclusive and efficient way? 

Thus far, the most viable potential solution is smart voting, based on smart contracts, which theoretically provide a secure environment, making the voting system less susceptible to manipulation. 

Each vote cast using a smart contract would be ledger-protected, which is extremely difficult to decode. Using blockchain-based voting applications doesn’t require the voter to be hyper-aware of internet connection issues, because in a decentralized system a hacker cannot affect other nodes within a network. 

Another huge problem with our current traditional voting systems or approach is low voter turnout and voter apathy—where disenfranchised voters feel their vote is insignificant and don’t bother turning up on election day. There are multiple reasons for this, but we know that having to go to a specific location and wait for hours in lines isn’t helping. Using our phones wouldn’t just save time, it could also increase voter turnout by encouraging people to vote when they wouldn’t otherwise due to other time constraints, disability or accessibility issues and safety concerns. 

 If Web 3.0 commits to ethical development, it could upgrade more than just industry, it could upgrade democracy, too. With political trust within established electoral democracies at an all-time-low, it seems this kind of upgrade is in high demand.

What could Web 3.0 offer to healthcare?

Managing personal healthcare internationally is hard enough with different countries using different systems, making the “translation” of your own medical history far more complicated than it needs to be. I don’t need a doctor to diagnose the headache caused by opaque medical bureaucracy, mismatched definitions, actual translation issues, and additional costs.

Blockchain can store the encoded health records of patients with a private key, granting only specific individuals access to the records. It’s a balm for privacy concerns. 

The opportunities for entrepreneurs who can find ways to incorporate web 3.0 principles into a successful business model are endless.

SINOFY’s Unique Perspective 

Since its inception, Sinofy has celebrated Web 3.0 startups and helped tech companies access the Chinese and APAC markets. This was our original mandate but, much like Web 3.0, we’ve evolved to fulfill new needs and markets. 

Specifically, we have started making investments in projects which contribute to the ethical development of Web 3.0. Some of our proudest investments include: MRHB DeFi, an ethical and Shariah-compliant DeFi Network set up by Naquib Mohammed; Attarius Network, the brainchild of Oleg Kotliyarov which bridges the gap between gamers, indie gaming studios and Web 3.0; PieMe, set up by Joshua Kainja, connecting communities and cultures through social impact; our great joined partnership with Cheeze, Simon Hudson’s visionary project creating a world where all stories matter, where everyone who holds a phone is a photographer.

More than anything else, however, Sinofy is proud to practice what we preach.

We are committed to diversity and equalizing the internet playing field. To that end, we have made sure that our leadership team is predominantly female-led: Catie-Romero Finger joined as a CEO and later cofounder (read her story here); Nastya Adamova was promoted to lead operations at BABs Labs, a project being incubated by Sinofy, check out the deck here,  Kema Bae, who joined our team as an intern and who, today, after multiple promotions, is our acting Head of East Asia, as well as the Founding Partner of Offchain Istanbul Chapter. 

Dubai March/April 2022

To Celebrate and become part of WEB 3.0, SINOFY was invited to take part in several events including World of Web 3.0, AIBC Asia  and other local meetups. 

The gathering of leaders from over 40+ countries discussing and keynoting  for 10+ days collectively about Metaverse, NFTs, compliance and regulations, investments, ecosystem and dozens of others.

Under Catie Romero`s leadership Nastya Adamova- Head of operations who has recently joined BABs Labs celebrating females in NFT, spoke about the importance and benefits of NFTverse, Kema Bae- Head of East Asia covered cultural gaps that are not well understood between east (emphasizing on Korea, Japan and China markets), myself I was humbled to be invited to cover investment trends and cultural differences in decision making in China. (I`ll share the story in one of my future articles)

To learn more about SINOFY click here, if you have infrastructure WEB 3.0 projects, tell us your story at hello@sinofy.group