Re:Web3 architecture and how it compares to traditional web ...
by pornel on Sunday October 10, 2021 @06:12AM
(#28817230)
Blockchain-based identity revolves around a user having a private key, which doesn't even need the blockchain to work. We've had TLS client certs (with awful UX, but blockchain doesn't magically fix UX either).
We've decentralised transfers with BitTorrent pretty well, and it's actually reasonably fast and cheap to operate. Opera used to have it built-in, and there are some WebRTC versions.
The web has a decentralised database of domain ownership - Certificate Transparency. The same approach could have been done for NFTs if they were really about owning digital assets, and not gambling on a pump and dump scheme.
Basically there are lots of energy efficient and lower-latency ways to decentralise the web if we wanted to. But the web tends to clump around large services mostly due to economies of scale and user convenience (average user can't be told they've lost their private key and they're totally screwed).
We've decentralised transfers with BitTorrent pretty well, and it's actually reasonably fast and cheap to operate. Opera used to have it built-in, and there are some WebRTC versions.
The web has a decentralised database of domain ownership - Certificate Transparency. The same approach could have been done for NFTs if they were really about owning digital assets, and not gambling on a pump and dump scheme.
Basically there are lots of energy efficient and lower-latency ways to decentralise the web if we wanted to. But the web tends to clump around large services mostly due to economies of scale and user convenience (average user can't be told they've lost their private key and they're totally screwed).