Start by learning blockchain fundamentals. To work in web3, it’s important to understand some of the technical underpinnings that make this new paradigm possible.
Why is web3 important?
Web3 is the means by which ownership and power is returned to users of a platform. This can take the form of governance tokens, NFTs, or none of the above. More than anything, these vehicles are means, but not the end. The goal of web3 is to let users have a say in the way the platforms they contribute to work, and have a chance to start accruing value because of it.
How does web3 change the way platforms work?
In web2 (privately-owned data, closed-source software), companies competed on the basis of data moats and user information, which led to the creation of walled parks where consumers were locked into platforms because their data lived there.
In web3, data is openly available, software is open-source, and protocols/dapps are composable——this allows others to build on top of them and take advantage of the protocol’s existing user base.
A Non Comprehensive Glossary of Terms
(all examples provided are specific to Ethereum’s blockchain for ease of reference):
Wallets | Your gateway to interacting with smart contracts, which are the basis for all crypto-native applications or “dApps” | Metamask, Rainbow, Coinbase Wallet |
Block Explorers | An interface that lets you see what’s happening on the blockchain on a transaction-level (see what people are doing) | Etherscan |
Smart Contracts | Code written to govern the ways in which an application will behave under certain conditions | Written in Solidity |
NFTs | Digital ‘tokens’ that are non-fungible(1 of 1) and immutable (permanently unchanging). They can represent any media form that exists on the internet today. | Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cryptopunks, Crypto-covens |
Cryptocurrency | Digitally-native currency that is used to transact and operate on a blockchain | ETH, SOL, AVAX |
Gas fees | Fees used to help secure a blockchain and protect it from fraud. Also given to ‘validators’ who help secure the transactions on a network in return for their effort in validating these transactions. | denominated in a unit called gwei on Ethereum |
Blockchain | A digital ledger, secured by ‘validators’ who confirm the truth and ordering of the substance of blocks, which are called ‘transactions’. | Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche |
Steps
© 2022 Guide to Web3. All rights reserved.
This guide is for information purposes only and is not investment advice. Please do your own research.