WEB3

Web3 is a broad vision for the next stage of the internet, built on public blockchains instead of the centralized servers that power most of today's platforms. Where the current web, often called Web2, routes data and control through large companies, Web3 aims to let users hold their own data, identity and digital assets directly, using a crypto wallet and a private key rather than a company account.

The term was coined in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, who described a decentralized online ecosystem built on blockchain rather than on trust in intermediaries. Wood later founded the nonprofit Web3 Foundation in Switzerland, which funds research teams and grants for projects building decentralized infrastructure, most notably the Polkadot network. That funding role is one reason the term shows up so often in crypto discussions, though Web3 itself describes the wider movement, not just that one foundation.

In practice, Web3 is built from a stack of interoperable pieces: smart contracts that execute rules automatically without a middleman, decentralized applications that replace traditional web apps, decentralized exchanges and lending markets under the DeFi umbrella, and DAOs that let token holders vote on decisions instead of a central management team.

Critics note that much of today's Web3 activity still relies on a small number of centralized node providers and exchanges, that transaction fees and wallet setup remain barriers for newcomers, and that the term is sometimes used as marketing shorthand rather than a precise technical standard. Even with those caveats, Web3 remains the most common label for the ecosystem of tokens, wallets and on-chain applications built around public blockchains.