Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has just announced web 5.0 which seeks to bring decentralised applications to the bitcoin blockchain as an alternative to web 3.0 which is mainly based on the Ethereum blockchain. In this post, we are going to dive into the basics of web 5.0, How web 5.0 works? The comparison of web 3.0 vs web 5.0 and the future prospects of web 5.0 overtaking web 3.0.
Before we move on to understand web 5.0 we must know what actually is Web 3.0.
Table of Contents
What is Web 3.0?
Web 3.0 is the evolution of the internet from the actual internet web 1.0 which was created by www founder by Tim Berner lee in 1990. Web 1.0 entirely consists of static websites where users could only read information just like an encyclopedia or a company website.
Web 2.0 evolved from social media sites where users could now contribute as well so basically it provided both read and write capability. However, web 2.0 gave rise to content-driven advertisements. Big companies like Facebook and google utilized customer data to run big data analysts for targetted advertisements. Moreover, Web 2.0 also suffered from issues like:-
- Centralization
- Censorship
- No ownership
Web 3.0 aims to solve the issues faced by web 2.0 by building web technologies over blockchains which introduce the concept of decentralization, trustlessness, no censorship and ownership with applications like NFTs, crypto gaming and DAOs. Blockchains offer many advantages that aim to solve the issues of Web 2.0.
Web 3.0 is built mostly over Ethereum or EVM compatible Blockchains.
What is Web 5.0?
Web 5.0 in simple terms is essentially just web 3.0 built on top of bitcoin. There are some major differences between how Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains work. Bitcoin is considered as the gold standard for financial transactions but it is not turning complete. Ethereum and EVM compatible blockchains are turning complete meaning they support a variety of applications natively. Web 5.0 promises to offer the same web 3.0 features on top of a more robust Bitcoin blockchain.
Web 3.0 vs Web 5.0
In web 3.0, web applications talk directly to a blockchain like Ethereum. Ethereum is a blockchain that supports smart contracts. it has its own native cryptocurrency called ether that is used to pay the gas fees for the transaction cost and run smart contracts. In the web 3.0 ecosystem, the other EVM-compatible blockchains and smart contract platforms are based on the same concept.
In Web 5.0 instead of applications directly talking to the blockchain, they rely on a layer 2 service network called “Lightning Network” and then the lightning network talks to the bitcoin blockchain on behalf of the application. So, basically it’s the war “Bitcoin vs Ethereum” as the better platform for decentralized applications.
What is Lightning Network in Web 5.0?
The lighting network is essentially a layer two platform built on top of the bitcoin blockchain where you can do things that you can’t really do natively on top of bitcoin. Bitcoin has one major limitation that it was designed for only financial transactions and does not support smart contracts or other scripts to be run on top of the Bitcoin blockchain.
Bitcoin Blockchain is purpose-built as a peer-to-peer digital cash system and was not designed for decentralized applications which limits its capability to build sophisticated programs. The same issue gave rise to the idea of blockchains like Ethereum. The whole idea was to create a blockchain that had a native cryptocurrency of its own but also could do things like building actual Turing complete programs with smart contracts to create a decentralized world computer.
The lightning network aims to resolve the turning incomplete issues of blockchains and which can now be used as layer 2 networks on top of bitcoin to build web 3.0 applications on top of bitcoin.
Why Web 5.0 ?
Web 5.0 has been created by Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter who was also CEO of the square which is now called block which is also part of the organisations that have come together to create web 5.0. Jack believes that Bitcoin is a better blockchain and he hates Ethereum and related blockchains. So, he took the idea of Web 3.0 and created a layer 2 platform on top of Bitcoin to support all the functionality that Web 3.0 offers.
Bitcoin is considered as the most decentralized blockchain and with a robust currency. Jack believes that we should be creating applications on top of a better blockchain platform.
Future of Web 5.0 and Web 3.0
Web 3.0 has been around for around two to three years now. Many applications have been built on Ethereum and EVM based platforms. Web 5.0 has to cover a lot of ground if it wants to de throne Web 3.0.
We must remember that it is not always the best technology that wins. In the end, it’s always the adaptability that wins and till now Web 3.0 is the dominating technology in terms of adaptability. To gain some dominance in the market, Web 5.0 will have to attract developers that are already comfortable with Web 3.0 even though Web 3.0 has its own issues. Web 5.0 must support a variety of new applications including Crypto gaming, and NFTs to actually make a dent in the decentralized applications environment.
Web 5.0 for blockchain developers
Bitcoin is the most popular currency. Even though web 5.0 is new. There is potential for growth and there is a chance that early Bitcoin developers may benefit from the hype of Web 5.0. However, shifting from Web 3.0 to Web 5.0 may also be a risk as the wind is still in direction of Web 3.0 which itself is constantly evolving.
The investment in Web 3.0 has been substantive and is not going away any time soon. So, if you are learning Web3.0 development it is not a lost bet even though Web 5.0 has been announced.
Conclusion
Jack believes that Ethereum and other EVM-based blockchains do not offer true decentralization and are still owned by a few entities. Bitcoin may be the solution to achieve true decentralization and lightning network as layer 2 on Bitcoin may solve this issue. But in the end, it will be users and developers who will decide who will win between Web 3.0 and Web 5.0.
FAQ
What is the main difference between Web 3.0 and Web 5.0?
The main difference between Web 3.0 and Web 5.0 is that Web 5.0 is based on Bitcoin blockchain whereas Web 3.0 was based on Ethereum and EVM compatible virtual machines
What is the lightning Network in Web 5.0?
The lightning network is a layer 2 platform on top of the bitcoin blockchain that aims to make running smart contracts on top of Bitcoin to achieve decentralization and solve the issue of Bitcoin being turning incomplete.
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