Thread by @haltakov

How decentralized is web3 really?

While there is a lot of hype around web3, NFTs, and decentralized apps (dApps), there is also a lot of criticism. Today, I'll focus on the critique that web3 is actually too centralized.

Let's try to have an honest discussion 👇

These are the main arguments I see regularly. Please add more in the comments.

1️⃣ The Internet is already decentralized
2️⃣ It is inefficient
3️⃣ Everything can be implemented better using a centralized approach
4️⃣ Important services are centralized

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I was inspired to write this in part after reading this great article by @moxie pointing some of the problems with the current state of web3. If you've been living under a rock in the last weeks, make sure you check it out:

moxie.org/2022/01/07/web…

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@moxie I started this as a single thread, but it became way too long. What I'll do now is create one thread for each of the topics and post one per day. I hope this will also allow for a more focused discussion.

But before we start, let's establish some basic terms.

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@moxie What are web3/decentralized apps?

When building a web3 app we are storing important data on the blockchain instead of a centralized database.

Additionally, all code that modified the data in the blockchain runs in smart contracts that are also deployed on the blockchain.

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@moxie The key features of the blockchain we are interested in here are:

▪️ All data is public
▪️ Transactions are permanent
▪️ Transactions need to be signed with the private key of the wallet that creates them
▪️ Data is modified by creating a transaction with a smart contract

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@moxie And smart contracts:

▪️ Smart contracts store data on-chain
▪️ Once deployed, the code of the smart contract cannot be changed
▪️ Smart contracts cannot be destructed
▪️ Reading data from a contract is free
▪️ Changing data in a contract requires a transaction and has a fee

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@moxie We are now ready to dive deep into the review of the common critiques.

I'll link the separate threads below as well. First one coming right away!

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@moxie The first thread is here!

https://twitter.com/haltakov/status/1483532408955752452