Tech Talk: The 10 digital trends shaping our world

livemint.com:

here. In September 2022, I wrote that Web3 as a concept had many positives—at least in theory. DeFi, or decentralised finance, to begin with, is likely to be the first killer app of Web3, which could dramatically increase the level of control borrowers have on their data.

The Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture aims to give citizens and businesses control over their financial data, which currently still sits in bank platforms with a complicated account aggregator structure to release this to users of this information. The national blockchain roadmap proposed by the ministry of electronics and information technology in December 2021 recommends several use cases related to non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, including for land records, student certificates, and patient health records. NFTs, which represent ownership of digital assets in Web3, could also change the way we think about virtual property.

Already, digital art and music are successful use cases of NFTs. Unfortunately, though, Web3 itself seems to be getting very ‘centralised’ as a large part of the funding of successful Web3 companies is by large corporate-controlled VC firms. Even a blockchain-based Web3 metaverse will be an “open metaverse" only if built on open standards.

Further, it is not easy to get information and insights out of blockchain systems. Experts also rightly note that centralised identity databases such as Aadhaar and KYC regulations do not co-exist naturally with pseudonymous accounts on a blockchain. Moreover, Web3 cannot prevent cybercrimes.