Most people may not remember that websites once had icons that said, "This site has been optimized for Internet Explorer," but two decades ago it was not uncommon.
Much like the current battle between the Web 2.0 monopolies and the Web 3.0 communities, at the beginning of the initial consumer Internet, a similar battle was fought over who would own the portal: a global closed-source monopoly or an open source non-profit organization. .
A battle for the soul of the Internet
Long before Web 3.0, the browser wars defined the beginnings of the Internet. Netscape Navigator was the first consumer browser on the market and the browser of choice for early web users. For many, it was synonymous with the dawn of the Internet.
However, slowly but surely, Microsoft took advantage of its monopoly position in the operating system space to push its closed source alternative: Internet Explorer (IE). It was able to outperform Netscape and become the default choice for users simply by packaging the browser with Windows.
In 1998, Netscape opened its browser and helped create the Mozilla Foundation, which supported a free software community of its contributors. In 2002, the Mozilla Firefox browser, based on open source principles, was released with the initial codename "Phoenix," in reference to how it emerged from the ashes.
A battle for the soul of the Internet ensued. Internet Explorer was closed source; Firefox was open source. Internet Explorer was launched by a monopoly; Firefox was run by a foundation.
Firefox broke Microsoft's closed source dominance, paving the way for Chrome, which was built on top of the open source Chromium project. Along with the rise of the mobile web, it turned the gears of Internet Explorer upside down. If not, users might still see "This site is optimized for Internet Explorer" when they loaded this page.
Internet Explorer was also at the heart of Microsoft's monopoly case, which resulted in Microsoft's 10-year reinvention of itself as an open source software champion.
A new internet
Fast forward to today. Web 3.0-enabled wallets are the tools that millions of people are using to participate in the brave new world of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO), community-driven DeFi protocols, and the Metaverse. They are the portal to these applications, just as the browser was the portal to the websites of the first years of the Internet. Soon they will be the default interface for a new Internet, the land for which they will fight.
Related: The Three Traits of Web 3.0 That Fix What Went Wrong With Today's Internet
The most things change
Once again, we have a monopoly that gets in the way. It is not free and open source. Sites are being optimized for it. We have to fight for this again. Much like IE's role in shaping Web 2.0, many DApps and Web 3.0 applications have started optimizing for MetaMask, the current leader in the digital wallet market. While it is true that users will follow the path of least resistance, this could have the adverse effect of putting the entry point into the ecosystem in the hands of a conglomerate.
Like IE, MetaMask has started betting on monopolistic practices and a walled garden approach that dates back to Web 2.0 and its regressive business models. After shifting its code base to a tiered proprietary license, it went from around 500,000 to over 21 million monthly active users in just over a year as the mainstream flocked to Web 3.0. These same users paid out over $ 237 million in service fees on its wallet exchanges feature during this time period.
Based on these numbers, project raised $ 200 million in equity from a wide range of companies, including HSBC. This was all good for ConsenSys, MetaMask's proprietary codebase conglomerate. However, none of them had any benefit to their users. Additionally, former employees and shareholders are now sounding the alarm about ConsenSys' involvement with Wall Street firms like JPMorgan, a relationship that is at odds with their initial ideas about opening up and decentralizing finance.
Many have felt that this growing market penetration and MetaMask's Web 2.0 approach to digital wallet development betrays the potential of the Web 3.0 stack. Decentralized applications have opened opportunities for participatory business models that are perhaps lost on the very early advocates of a more open Internet. Business models that can redefine the relationship between tools and their users.
Related: The Three Traits of Web 3.0 That Fix What Went Wrong With Today's Internet
But they don't have to stay the same
History does not have to repeat itself. In this new context, we will see many historical echoes when it comes to Web 3.0 and digital wallets. There will continue to be closed source and monopoly managed software, and there will be new kinds of open source and community managed alternatives. However, unlike Web 2.0, users now have more voice in deciding where things will go. They now have the option to build, govern, and share in the benefits of open source software that they can truly own.
Web 3.0 is creating an environment in which the copyright-based, walled-garden, and for-profit business models of Web 2.0 will not work as well as in the past. The projects being developed on this stack are open source, composable, and community driven. When we talk about technologies that allow programmable money, these details make all the difference.
Related: Is a new decentralized Internet or Web 3.0 possible?
The nature of Web 3.0 has made it possible for any project to fork the code base of any other project and develop a better alternative, a situation that ultimately benefits users. At the same time, having decentralized access to community capital and incentives makes any project capable of penetrating the market.
This flips the centralized Web 2.0 model and makes the community the deciding factor in any Web 3.0 project. Some examples of this are seen in the current trend of DeFi 2.0 towards liquidity property of the protocol and the growing purchasing power of DAO. Unfortunately, the interface to which many users access these applications is still blocked in Web 2.0.
What to expect
A growing number of users are becoming more familiar with the capabilities of Web 3.0. In the future, they will hope that the interface they use to access these applications will provide them with the same benefits as the applications themselves. It may be too early to know which current project will share the Internet Explorer destination. It is not too early to know that Web 3.0 users will want to own some of the software that their digital assets trust.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every trade and investment move involves risk, and readers should do their own research when making a decision.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Matt luongo is the founder and CEO of Thesis, the production studio of crypto companies behind Fold, Keep, tBTC, and Saddle. Since its inception in 2014, Thesis portfolio has served millions of users and has more than $ 300 million in total locked value, partnering with brands like Visa to drive adoption of Bitcoin and other digital assets. Matt Luongo has been a serial entrepreneur for the past decade and held various technical executive positions before entering the cryptocurrency industry full time in 2014. Matt has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Georgia Tech, and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, where she is a husband and father of two.
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