In terms of changes Web3 will introduce for users, a distinction must be made between the frontend and backend. Initially, not much will change for users. The frontend of websites will be virtually unaffected by the new technologies. However, what happens in the background, i.e., in the backend, will be very different in Web3. Centralized servers are no longer responsible for providing websites and web apps. Instead, blockchain-based providers are at the center of provision.
It’s one reason why users will gain more control over their data than ever before. They will be able to decide which data they feed into the blockchain. Large data pools, such as those currently maintained by Meta (formerly Facebook Inc.) or Google, would no longer exist. This would shrink the power of the big tech corporations and allow for more flexibility for users. For example, they would no longer have to rely on external payment service providers as so-called trusted third parties, since transactions would be validated directly via the blockchain.
A revival of new markets is also conceivable. The market for NFTs only recently experienced a real boom. NFTs are non-fungible tokens which act as certificates of authenticity for unique virtual goods, e.g., digitally created art or unique items in computer games, which are stored in a blockchain.
As part of Web3, new types of domains are gaining importance, such as blockchain domains. A whole range of different Web3 domain endings exist, such as .bitcoin or .crypto. An extension especially for NFT domains exists, namely the .nft extension.
Blockchain-based domains offer several advantages over conventional domains. For one, registration is more anonymous. Administration of the domain is decentralized, as is common with blockchains. In this way, the risk of a “single point of failure” is minimized. In addition, it is possible to purchase domains permanently, so that no ongoing costs are incurred. Purchase prices for blockchain domains are between $40 and $80. However, one serious disadvantage is that conventional Web 2.0 browsers are not able to process Web3 domain extensions.