Web3: facing a dystopian nightmare

Two reports from the analyst firm Forrester Research have questioned everything that surrounds Web3. Of these, the one entitled “Web3 promises a better online future but contains the seeds of a dystopian nightmare” stands out above all.

Point by point, Forrester breaks down what Web3 supposedly offers and also, point by point, breaks down all of that goodness. Thus, he affirms that the alleged decentralization that accompanies Web3 it is impossible to achieve, as evidenced by the current crypto projects that focus on certain actors.

He also states that smart contracts developed by a community that encodes them and enforces their rules is not as ideal as it seems and wonders why users should trust developers they don’t know who they are. supervise. The firm ensures that these so-called decentralized autonomous organizations that exist as a collection of smart contracts have no legal basis and operate under the utopian assumption that all possibilities can be encrypted. Forrester is not shy and goes so far as to ensure that one of the mantras that is constantly heard is that Web3, being based on open source, is totally transparent. The analyst firm does not question the advantages and value offered by OpenSource, but it does state that its use does not stop the formation of monopolies and that, in the end, it depends on a small group of people who are in charge of evaluating the code.

money for a few

Foorester does not leave a puppet with a head and is going to slaughter another of the principles on which Web3 is based. One of them is the one that has to do with their cryptoeconomic principles designed so that the systems benefit all participants and not just a few. Forrester believes just the opposite is true: Web3 will favor the wealthiest and expand monopolies.

Forrester breaks down what Web3 supposedly offers and also, point by point, breaks down all of that goodness.

Of course, when it comes to the principles of privacy and control of data by the users themselves, the analyst firm also questions it since most of them either do not know or do not want to make security decisions. constantly on your data. They won’t even bother manage your own identity basically because they don’t know how to do it.

Do not go yet, there’s more. Another recurring goodness that is intrinsic to Web3 is the one that says that users control the applications and networks they use. Forrester practically laughs at this statement, assuring that only a few tech-savvy people are the ones who can control these applications. The rest don’t. He in fact he claims that they have already appeared discordant voices in the user community about the control that those few of the applications do. So Forrester asks: “If there are already people who distrust this, how can they trust the management of their money?” And it is here that he assures us that we are facing a dystopian scenario.

Web 3.0 and Web3 are not the same

In addition to knocking down the benefits of Web3, in another report entitled “Web3 and Web 3.0 are synonymous today, but this was not always true” Forrester Research gives a capon to all those who present it as something new and takes a tour of the evolution of the web in recent years.

The first thing Forrester does is indicate that, in general, the so-called Web 3.0 is confused with what Web3 is. The first one was a semantic web, while the second arises back in 2014 when the co-founder of ethereumGavin Wood begins to insist that the Ethereum blockchain should become the foundation for a decentralized web.

However, Wood’s insistence must not have been very successful until in 2021 it regained momentum with a mix of marketing and trends in which practically everything fits. As can be seen from the Forrester report, there are many people who are using the term Web3 as a catchall for everything related to blockchain, metaverse or NFT in such a way that in a short period of time all the blockchain projects or the initiatives that arise in the world of NFTs have been rebranded as rebranded Web3 projects.”

The analysis firm also loads here with some of the supposed benefits that Web3 provides, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) that seems like a good idea, but that leaves the consumer without protection, while risk management requires the code inspection that few can do. Forrester notes that Web3 is “dominated by speculators in cryptocurrencies and other digital assets like NFTs; it is an unregulated environment in which the actions of fraudsters make the best intentions that can be had, disappear.

As a sign that we are dealing with an overvalued product, Forrester indicates that only when venture capital firms let a mortar be invested in these projects, what is really hidden will not be discovered. Specifically, the report asserts that “until that cash spigot is turned off, the hype around Web3 will continue and get-rich-quick schemes will crowd out more valuable developments. Alarming trends of monopoly building and exploitation are being seen.”

In the end, the consultancy advises extreme caution when evaluating Web3 projects, advising executives to make sure they understand exactly who benefits from a project and in what currency, and to consider the governance issues and privacy created by sharing customer information on a blockchain.