Crypto 101: What You Need to Know About Web3
The next generation of the Internet or just the latest marketing buzzword?
If you’re spending any time in the Twitter crypto sphere, you’ve probably seen the term Web3 thrown around. You might be thinking, “What are these people talking about?”, "Is this a new gold rush or pure marketing hype?".
We’ve got you covered. Read on to learn what Web3 is all about, how Web3 changes gaming, and a few Web3 projects launched on Polkastarter.
What is Web3, again?
If the development of the Internet is a movie trilogy, then Web3 is the last instalment of the saga. When people talk about Web3, they refer to the third generation of the Internet. To understand this new wave of the web, we have to go back to the 90s. Back then, the Internet was a collection of links and pages. All you could do was read and publish basic content on static webpages.
Then, Web2 came along in the early 00-10s. During this time, you can produce content as well as consume it. We saw the rise of centralized corporations like Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon. These tech giants are built around user-generated content to profit the shareholders. But what’s missing from Web2 is ownership. Individual users don’t have control over what gets published.
Enter Web3.
The third generation of the Internet is built around ownership. Still scratching your head? We will give you an example.
A web3 company would have its own digital token that gives users governance rights. If you have a certain amount of these tokens, you can vote on proposals and influence the company’s policy. The votes will be part of the public record. The company's tokens would make you an actual owner of the platform rather than just a user. And in this Web3 company, you’d own and store your data.
This is what Web3 is all about - ownership and decentralization.
How Web3 creates a new type of gaming?
Gaming is one of the most exciting parts of Web3. Right now, the vast majority of gamers spend thousands of dollars on in-game items without actual ownership of these items. You have them in your account, but your account can get banned by the company at any point, and you’ll lose everything.
This is where Web3 comes in. It introduces blockchain technology into gaming. Imagine if a game like League of Legends was built on the blockchain. The in-game items would be Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), making them easy to trade. You’d be able to mint, upgrade or trade these NFTs in exchange for the in-game currency.
This mechanism is called play-to-earn. It’s the cornerstone of Web3 gaming. Games like Axie Infinity showed that it’s possible to create a fun to play game that’s generating income for the players. And we are still in the early stages of crypto gaming. So imagine all the possibilities that will arise from Web3 based blockchain projects.
Web3 projects that launched on Polkastarter in 2021
1. Totem - an easy-to-use platform to manage your Web3 tools
Managing your crypto portfolio is hard. You have different wallets, seed phrases and tools, but they are not connected. It makes the whole process very messy and complicated. This is where Totem comes in.
Totem OS has created a dashboard that makes it easy for people to manage their digital portfolio. They are developing their own custom tools that will integrate with the metaverse.
2. Saito - a Layer 1 blockchain scaling solution
Saito is an open network that runs crypto apps in browsers without using any non-open infrastructure. The network uses a consensus mechanism, called Saito consensus. It’s a different version of proof of stake and proof of work.
Saito pays nodes in its network of peers instead of paying the miners or stakers. By utilizing its own consensus mechanism, Saito provides scalability that can power the next generation of Web3 companies.
3. Mytheria - the first play-to-earn game to integrate create-to-earn features
Let’s face it - most card games are boring. You start with a basic deck, and you have to hustle your way through better cards. And when you have better cards, you’re stuck with them because you can’t trade.
Mytheria is different. It’s a free-to-play card game in which you can earn cards and game tokens. Each card is a digital item. You can compete against other players in PvE and PvP, making good profits by collecting and trading cards.
About Polkastarter
Polkastarter is the fully decentralized launchpad to launch new ideas in the blockchain and digital assets space. With an industry-leading curation process and market access, we select the most innovative projects in the space and offer them long-term support after their IDOs.
With Polkastarter, crypto projects can increase their reach, grow their communities and receive support from crypto's most well-versed experts. IDO participants, on the other hand, are offered an opportunity to invest in a secure and compliant environment, as well as participate in IDOs not solely on Ethereum, but also on Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Celo and Avalanche.
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