Web3 may be the latest craze in the technology world, but can it actually help the construction industry?

By now you may have heard a lot of talk of ‘Web3’. If you’re not familiar with the term, Web3 refers to a decentralized online ecosystem based on a newer technology called ‘blockchain’.

A blockchain is basically a digital ledger of transactions maintained by a network of computers in a way that makes it difficult to hack or alter. The technology offers a secure way for individuals to deal directly with each other, without an intermediary like a government, bank or other third party.

Applications built on the blockchain won’t be owned by a central gatekeeper, but rather by users, who will earn their ownership stake by helping to develop and maintain those services. In other words, instead of data being stored and processed on a central set of servers somewhere, it is handled by a network of computers/contributors aka ‘nodes’.

Web3 is what a lot of people believe to be the next evolution of the internet. This evolution is essentially a shift away from a centralized internet to a decentralized one. One of the first and most popular applications that has enabled the use of blockchain technology is cryptocurrency.

But it’s important to note that cryptocurrency is not the same thing as blockchain. Cryptocurrency is just one application of blockchain technology, whereas blockchain is the actual underlying technology driving this shift. For simplification purposes, you can compare cryptocurrency to a video calling application (like FaceTime or Zoom), whereas blockchain is the network it uses in order to carry out the video calls.

But before we all start becoming ‘believers’ in the technology, let’s take a step back and ponder some realistic questions about this craze (these questions will likely anger any crypto diehards who read this, so apologies in advance):

Is there a lot of hype behind this technology? Absolutely.

Have there been any scams hidden behind the hype of this technology? Definitely.

Is there a bubble forming around this technology wave? Likely.

So is it all just hype then? Absolutely not. If any one piece of really useful technology advancement were to come out of this craze and last long term, it’s blockchain technology.

While cryptocurrency is still facing its struggle toward mainstream adoption (as in, to the point where it’s actually useful in the real world and not just a way to make money), other industries have started to explore how this technology can help solve long-lasting problems.

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