Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey two of the world's best-known tech billionaires have been voicing their thoughts on a hypothetical new iteration of the internet this week: \"Web3\".<\/p>\n
While still a hazy concept, Web3, or Web 3.0, has been hailed by proponents as a decentralized version of the internet based on blockchain, the technology behind many major cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. A plethora of entrepreneurs around the world are trying to design and build the technologies and protocols that would support Web3. <\/p>\n
Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Musk answered a range of questions relating to SpaceX projects during his appearance at the conference.<\/p>\n
Win McNamee | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Advocates of Web3, which would follow Web1 and Web2, argue that today's online platforms are too centralized and controlled by a handful of large internet companies, likeAmazon,Apple,Alphabetand Facebook parent companyMeta. These companies have amassed vast quantities of data and content that's been shared on the internet.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Musk tweeted a TikTokof aninterview about the internet between Bill Gates and David Lettermanin 1995, asking: \"Given the almost unimaginable nature of the present, what will the future be?\"<\/p>\n
He followed up saying: \"I'm not suggesting web3 is real seems more like a marketing buzzword than reality right now just wondering what the future will be like in 10, 20 or 30 years. 2051 sounds crazy futuristic!\"<\/p>\n
A day later, Musk followed up saying: \"Has anyone seen web3? I can't find it.\"<\/p>\n
To the annoyance of Web3 fans, Dorsey hinted that it's already under the control of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, an early Facebook backer and a Web3 advocate.<\/p>\n
\"It's somewhere between a and z,\" said Dorsey, who stepped down as Twitter CEO last month to focus on his payments start-up, Block, formerly Square.<\/p>\n
Web3's army of supporters ultimately wants to see the power of the internet put in the hands of the people, not VCs. They believe it's too big and important for a small number of companies or investors to manage.<\/p>\n
Today the internet is vital to the global economy and plays a role in powering everything from nuclear facilities to hospitals.<\/p>\n
But Dorsey believes that VCs and their limited partners will be the ones who ultimately end up owning Web3. \"It will never escape their incentives,\" he tweeted, causing a backlash from fans of the concept. \"It's ultimately a centralized entity with a different label.\"<\/p>\n
His tweet received over 26,500 likes and 5,900 retweets in nine hours, with some saying he was \"dead wrong\" or that they highly disagreed.<\/p>\n
Beyond the internet, there's also a big push to decentralize finance (DeFi) that is being led by cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and fans of coins like bitcoin and ether.<\/p>\n
A similar movement is happening in the energy industry. All energy used to be generated by a select few companies and then sold to the masses. Now some people are taking control of their own energy needs and making it more decentralized.<\/p>\n
CNBC's Ryan Browne contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey are talking about 'Web3' heres what it is and why it matters - CNBC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey two of the world's best-known tech billionaires have been voicing their thoughts on a hypothetical new iteration of the internet this week: \"Web3\". While still a hazy concept, Web3, or Web 3.0, has been hailed by proponents as a decentralized version of the internet based on blockchain, the technology behind many major cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens, or NFTs Continue reading