Will “Web3” revolutionise the web again?

In the beginning, Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web. It was basic by modern standards, composed of static pages and limited interaction. It was on this foundation that the modern tech giants – the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Google – created something new. “Web 2.0” is characterised by dynamic, mobile-first, digital services and social media, underpinned by large platforms, and is the web we’re all familiar with today.

Now a new generation may be imminent, and it has captured the imaginations of the Silicon Valley chattering class – a technological paradigm that has been termed “Web3” by Gavin Wood, a co-founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency.

But what exactly “Web3” is supposed to be is surprisingly hard to define.

“You always have the feeling you don’t really know what it is because even the people who claim