Web3 innovations are replacing middlemen with middleware protocols
Cryptocurrencies and the wider blockchain ecosystem are helping change the status quo of how we conduct our day-to-day lives. With these emerging technologies, Web3 is being ushered in as a permissionless and open innovation using middleware blockchain protocols. By doing so, they’re replacing middlemen software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies by capturing value at a greater level.
Middleware protocols are by no means new. After all, Web2 is supported by middleware applications, the main one being HTTP. Middleware is what enables users to interact with each other and with applications in a computing environment. And with Web3, there are a variety of protocols in the middle layer stack of this new internet to support applications. More vitally, though, are they really important?
With the arrival of blockchain technology, how we go about our daily activities is changing. Whether it’s through financial transactions, purchasing art, buying property or donating to a charity, the blockchain enables this by providing a secure and trusted peer-to-peer (P2P) network between users. Now, it’s no longer the case of companies extracting value from users, but developers extracting value from protocols.
But, how does this work? On a middleware protocol, developers can stake the native token once for the equivalent network bandwidth for the lifetime of that stake. The longer applications are staked and using the network, the closer the cost approaches zero. After several months, the service is basically free, and with staking-based tokenomics, there are no monthly costs such as with SaaS fees.
Developers can always unstake their initial investment and sell the middleware protocol’s native tokens they have purchased on a secondary market or to
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