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description: A Decentralized Future
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# Understanding Web3

## What is Web3?

Web3 is being _touted as the future of the internet_. It is the name some technologists have given to the idea of a new kind of internet service that is built using decentralized blockchains. At its core, Web3 uses blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs to give power back to the users in the form of ownership

Although it's challenging to provide a rigid definition of what Web3 is, a few core principles guide its creation.

* **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* **Web3 has native payments:** it uses cryptocurrency for spending and sending money online instead of relying on the outdated infrastructure of banks and payment processors.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.

## Why is Web3 so important?

### **Ownership**

Web3 gives you ownership of your digital assets in an unprecedented way. For example, say you're playing a web2 game. If you purchase an in-game item, it is tied directly to your account. If the game creators delete your account, you will lose these items. Or, if you stop playing the game, you lose the value you invested into your in-game items.

Web3 allows for direct ownership through [non-fungible tokens (NFTs)](https://ethereum.org/en/nft/). No one, not even the game's creators, has the power to take away your ownership. And, if you stop playing, you can sell or trade your in-game items on open markets and recoup their value.

### Identity <a href="#identity" id="identity"></a>

Traditionally, you would create an account for every platform you use. For example, you might have a Twitter account, a YouTube account, and a Reddit account. Want to change your display name or profile picture? You have to do it across every account. You can use social sign-ins in some cases, but this presents a familiar problem—censorship. In a single click, these platforms can lock you out of your entire online life. Even worse, many platforms require you to trust them with personally identifiable information to create an account.

Web3 solves these problems by allowing you to control your digital identity with an Ethereum address and ENS profile. Using an Ethereum address provides a single login across platforms that is secure, censorship-resistant, and anonymous.

### Native payments <a href="#native-payments" id="native-payments"></a>

Web2's payment infrastructure relies on banks and payment processors, excluding people without bank accounts or those who happen to live within the borders of the wrong country. Web3 uses tokens like HBAR to send money directly in the browser and requires no trusted third party.





_source:_ [_https://ethereum.org/en/web3_](https://ethereum.org/en/web3)
