Hive Is More Web3 Than Ethereum
It is always interesting to see how things unfold. Ethereum was one of the first blockchains to get major recognition. Vitalik became an overnight superstar. The idea of decentralization was before us with the future being laid out.
Unfortunately, things can go awry. The decisions regarding that chain have it to the point where it is teetering on Web3. In fact, it is easy to see how Hive actually fits the description better than that chain.
In this article, we will explore Web3 along with what it means. To do this, we will go right to the source. Then, we will cover how things are progressing in that area to see if there is any light at the end of this proverbial tunnel.
What Is Web3?
To get this answer, we will go right to the source.
It is best if we use proper terminology when discussing something. Since Ethereum introduced the world to this, we will go with their documentation.
For this reason, we will pull what is written on Ethereum.org. This is as close to the original source as we can get.
According to this article on that site, the credit for the name is given to one of the co-founders, Gavin Wood. He came up with the term shortly after the launch in 2014.
Here was the basic problem:
the Web required too much trust.
Few will deny the fact that the Internet is controlled by just a few companies. This is something that Web3 is designed to address.
Basically, Web3 has blockchain and cryptocurrency at its core. This will allow for the moving away from the centralized control that is commonplace today.
Web3 versus Web 3.0
Before going any further, we have to distinguish between Web3 and Web 3.0. In doing some research, it appears Gavin Wood focused upon Web3. By this, he was concentrating on blockchain and cryptocurrency alone.
Hence, if we are discussing a blockchain based system, that is Web3.
This does, however, operate against a larger backdrop. It is not only the transformation of the Internet but also the entire industrial economy.
Web 3.0 is forecast to contain:
- artificial intelligence
- robotics (and drones)
- spatial web
- genetics
- bio-tech
- nuclear fusion and other energy sources
- quantum computing
Naturally, many of these are still in the very early stages, with no guarantee of success. Therefore, Web 3.0 will be realized in hindsight. Some term this another industrial revolution.
Why Web3 Is Important
The idea of the Web3 is as follows:
Read-Write-Own
We know that, presently, we have read-write abilities but there is no ownership on the part of the individual user. It is all in the hands of these technology companies, especially those involved in social media.
Reverting back to the Ethereum site, we have this information which gets to the core of what we are discussing.
Web3 is decentralized: instead of large swathes of the internet controlled and owned by centralized entities, ownership gets distributed amongst its builders and users.
Web3 is permissionless: everyone has equal access to participate in Web3, and no one gets excluded.
Web3 has native payments: it uses cryptocurrency for spending and sending money online instead of relying on the outdated infrastructure of banks and payment processors.
Web3 is trustless: it operates using incentives and economic mechanisms instead of relying on trusted third-parties.
It goes on to explain that we have these vital features:
- ownership
- censorship resistance
- decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)
- identity
- native payments
All of this look pretty good. So how is Ethereum doing and let's contract that with Hive.
Ethereum Is Not Decentralized
Here is where things take an ironic turn.
When this was written, Etheruem was a Proof-of-Work (Pow) chain. Blocks were formed using miners, in the same way as Bitcoin. What separated Ethereum from that chain was the addition of smart contracts.
For the first half decade, we could apply the concept of Web3 to Ethereum. There is a problem: it switched to coin voting a couple years back.
When that was undertaken, suddenly stake became a major criteria. Operating under a mining system means coin distribution is not relevant. When it comes to the running of the network, if the coin is in the hands of 3 wallets or 1 million, it makes no difference.
This all changed when the switch was made. Suddenly, those who were involved in the founder's stake or pre-mine had enormous power. An individual like Joe Lubin who has a ton of ETH could exercise incredible control. The same was true of Vitalik.
Here is where decentralization falls short. We see discussion of things such as KYC being considered for the nodes on that chain. How is that even possible if we are dealing with decentralized system?
The answer quickly becomes clear.
Major node operators will have to KYC because they are vulnerable. When the largest two pools have more than 60% of the stake, this means their chance of getting the blocks is high. We are not dealing with entities that are going to get 3% or 4% of the block production.
Unfortunately, Ethereum falls short as a Web3 network based upon the definition and criteria it set up.
Hive Is Web3
Many claim that Hive is centralized. This is not the case.
When it comes to stake, we see nobody with more than 3%. This is not likely the case with Ethereum.
It is naturally impossible to know how much ETH any individual has. People like Joe Lubin accumulated a ton over the years. Not only was he involved in the early distribution but he went on a massive buying spree. He might be the largest individual ETH holder.
As long-time people on Hive know, large stake from a pre-mine is dangerous. This is true regardless of the system.
Another factor to consider is who is producing the blocks. Hive operates on a rotating basis. The Top 20 witnesses, as long as they remain, will have the opportunity to produce the same number of blockchain. With 20, that means nobody has more than 5% of the block production.
Of course, this is actually reduced since there are back up witnesses who also create blocks. This means the rewards are spread over more than 100 nodes with the lower ones getting a few opportunities at block production.
Ethereum basically incentivizes people to stake with the largest pools. There is little reason to go with the ones ranked lower. With Hive's governance system, we see how voting is done based upon a number of votes. The vote weight is based upon stake that wallet holds but the voting mechanism is much different.
Look at the list again:
- Hive is decentralized: as we discussed, this is more than most chains out there because the major pre-mine was eliminated
- Hive is permission-less: as long as one has the key and enough resource credits to engage with the database, nothing else is required
- Hive has native payments: there are actually two coins that can be used for this purpose with one being an algorithmic stablecoin
- Hive is trustless: like most blockchains, the network is the counterparty
Ethereum hits on 3 of those. However, it is becoming evident that it fails on the decentralized end of the equation. As we hear more talk of KYC and see Wall Street sniffing around, we can predict this is just the beginning of the process.
It all comes down to distribution. With Hive, it is more Web3 than Ethereum right now.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Introducing KYC is also great for the blockchain, soon entherum will be on the rank with Bitcoin the way things are going
Why is KYC great for a blockchain? Are you a banker?
Binance has KYC and i find it very secure to keep scammers away and to keep trust of people transacting P2P.... I think the importance of KYC is to know if a person is real or fake. ..
Entire concept of KYC runs contrary to what "crypto" in "cryptocurrency" means.
Hmmm not sure if i understand but thanks ☺️☺️
I have been a hive user for quite a while now but I don't have half of the information you shared in your writing. Thank you so much for this, it's really educative...
That is why the knowledge is shared. Now you have a bit more than you did yesterday.
Absolutely my friend
Sometimes I usually wonder how hive will actually look like if kyc is introduced on the platforms
How would you introduce KYC on Hive?
Didn't know there was a difference between Web 3 and Web 3.0. But Web3 is very important nowadays because of the limitations of Web2 and lack of personal freedom for many people, it is very important for everyone. Thanks for sharing this nicely and highlighting the importance of Hive.
It is a technical point and might be nitpicking here but it is important to understand the terms. Within crypto, they are both used. However, the technology/futurist world assign a much broader scope for Web 3.0.
I didn't know there was a difference between Web 3 and Web 3.0 befo. But Web3 is very important nowadays because of the limitations of Web2 and lack of personal freedom for many people, it is very important for everyone. Thanks for sharing this nicely and highlighting the importance of Hive.
Feeless transactions on Hive make it even more compelling - the entire Hive Power mechanics also means that buy accumulating Hive you can significantly help others.
There are some unique dynamics in the current state of Hive that I don't believe are implemented or observable in any other chain.
The ruling principle in most DeFi based projects and probably 90%+ of crypto projects has been to get in early and get out early, and that principle and that is completely odds with creating lasting value.
That is an important component although a chain could have fees and still be web3. I dont think that negates it. However, we do have the ability to do some things on here that we cant do elsewhere because of the feeless state.
Ethereum has made too many poor decisions on the recent passed. It’s safe to say it’s a centralized platform. Developers need to spot this quickly and start building rival chains and learn from Ethers mistakes.
Well I dont know if they made poor decisions per se. It is still the 2nd most valuable chain. They are now appealing to a much different audience than the tenets of crypto.
I think the first mistake was trying to win favour of "Lambo before Christmas" crowd, which inevitably led to Ethereum becoming plaything for people and institutions with same agenda yet more patience, resources and power.
Banker chain in my opinion. It is being taken over by Wall Street.
Thanks for breaking down the differences between Web3 and Web 3.0. It's clear that Hive is making a strong case for being the more decentralized option and I'm happy to be a part of this system no matter how tiny drop I am in this ocean.
Decentralization is a process and a direction, never a destination.
Plenty of work still to be done on many different layers.
I couldn't agree more. Decentralization is a journey, not a destination.
Let's keep pushing for a more decentralized future.
Especially for platforms. It takes time to get things going in that direction. Piece-by-piece, that should be the focus.
Greater things are always harder to capture and should be.
Fully agree that the move from POW to POS made the Ethereum network too easily controlled by the players/nodes with the highest stake. While it does have the first-mover advantage for being a smart contract blockchain, so much of its traffic has now moved to Layer 2 solutions like Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism. Even exchange Coinbase has developed its own Layer 2 -- Base.
What all this means to me is that ETH's days are numbered as the go-to blockchain for smart contract transactions. If people want speed/price, they will go somewhere else. If people want decentralization, they will go somewhere else. It is purely legacy at this point, and like many of the articles you write, its Layer 1 system is simply something to be built on but rarely used outright on its own. It is evident that the ETH whales see this writing on the wall, as tons of large accounts have moved huge chunks of ETH back onto exchanges to be sold off.
Also, Gavin Wood eventually left Ethereum to found his own blockchain -- Polkadot. I'm not exactly sure how much different that network is from ETH, but I do know that it uses an interesting bidding system to get approved to run nodes (or something like that). I think the bidding system makes it slightly less prone to centralization issues, but still, people can pool funds to win the auction in a somewhat centralized way.
I very much like the way Hive is structured and the way the witnesses are sharing the block rewards as they cycle through the user base.
Hoskinson always started Cardano. So they are all over the place.
Ethereum is still strong and I believe will hold great appeal to the bankers and Wall Street. As for the other EVMs, none of them are really setting the world on fire.
Huge fan of Polygon and Binance Smart Chain. I lean on the BSC a ton to do DeFi swaps to get my DEC/SPS tokens into the Hive Blockchain to play Splinterlands.
Right now they are the entry and exit points for Hive. They do serve a very useful purpose. We will see what buildout occurs in the future in terms of outreach for Hive. Ultimately, we will have to go through something.
$WINE
100% agree with this. I think everyone is hell bent on deflationary chains though rather than inflation. I often wonder if it's time to reassess the DFH system and possibly bringing in small fees that burn tokens.
Although Hive is still profitable, how much more traffic and investment would we get if people knew there was a deflationary aspect to it as that is what seems to have got Ethereum pumped a fair bit.
I was at one Shill amd Grill X Space a few weeks ago, where web3 project ambassadors came to shill their products and the the panel of judges would grill them by probing them about the projects. It was there that I realised that not many have true understanding of what Web3 really is.
When Eric talked about InLeo and its prospects in that X Space, they disagreed with the nature of InLeo. They wondered just how one could simply come on to the platform, like on a Threadcast, and find the comments and activities of people on it. Apparently, they expected it to be encrypted and that only logged in users can view anything at all. What is true decentralisation without transparency, with certain aspects of the blockchain hidden? Eric wondered, and tried to buttress his point, only to no avail because they were more interested in running their microwave to fulfill the "grill" part of their show.
All that and many more that was discussed on that show made me realise that a lot of people just think that if something has blockchain technology and uses cryptocurrencies, then it is web3 and decentralised. Such a case that is vaguely understood is that of Ethereum. And you have provided a profound dichotomy between Ethereum and the true decentralized system like Hive.
What I do not understand exactly is how KYC affects the node operators and how it would be a problem, and in relation to Hive also. I couldn't quite understand it here.
The fact that Hive gives that ownership vibes, with your identity intact, which means no one can take it from you, it is pretty cool.
On the Kyc subject, introducing it will be nice on Hive. It will help the blockchain grow as we would be able to know if this or that person are truly who they say they are.
If I were to introduce it, I'll include it in the registration form of opening an account. For those who have 2 or 3 accounts in the blockchain, they'll have to link them together.
I am sure there are some people really gaming the system. They'll have 2 accounts with different introductory post and use the same accounts to write in a community and earn from it.
Never detected any difference between web3 and web3.0, this piece is more than educative, I've actually learnt stuffs I never knew. Well, I agree that Hive is strictly web3.0, as it's user I've experienced it's stage of decentralization, not entitled to any central authority and many other features, I guess something more than Etherum is here
The fact that the pre-mining stage was eliminated gives me great joy. I never knew of this. so this means that everyone that has high amount of hive and HP got it on their own which having it from the start.
Now this is what decentralized means.
Imagine one has bought millions of hive from the very first beginning, the system wont be very trusted and people wont want to put in much work as they are doing now.
on hive, you can know how much anyone has on the hive blockchain, nothing is hidden
Let me start by saying I enjoy reading everything in this article, firstly I do not know anything about web3.0 all I have knowledge about is just web 2 and web 3, but after reading your article it enlighten me more about what i do not know , by the way i can see that there is a very big difference between web3 and 3.0. to what I read here people will love to enjoy web3 to 3.0 because firstly it is crypto based and the benefits is top-notch, thanks for sharing.
As learnt Web3.0 base on my perspective when get running fully it will not be supporting much Android devices. That due to it listed an integrated functionalities .
So , for me Web3 now and ever would be the best web. Here am thankful that Hive is on Web3 .
Your post write up is quite informative and educative and thank for sharing.
Well, I don't know much about other blockchains, but for hive we are going higher in Web3