Web3, a group of technologies that is made up of digital assets, decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchains, smart contracts, tokens and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO), is the future of the internet. It has the ability to define many aspects of public life and help communities make better decisions.
Web3 is more than its financial origins. It represents a deep shift in the way individuals and communities use technology. Also known as a16z, Andreessen Horowitz wants immense possibilities for the technology to enable new forms of ownership and partnership. It highlighted that policymakers can tap into the potential of Web3 by laying down the policy groundwork to unlock innovation.
Andreessen Horowitz, in its report “How to Build a Better Internet: 10 Principles for World Leaders Shaping the Future of Web3”, said thoughtful regulation can establish a framework that enables innovation to benefit society. It noted that policy making around Web 2.0 was reactionary. The venture capital firm wants policy makers to acknowledge all the stakeholders in the modern-day internet and take their feedback for digital tools, open societies to better design and define success for the next generation of the internet.
A16z wants the Web3 to built around a clear set of objectives. It should be resilient, open and inclusive, accountable, secure, sustainable, participatory and well-governed, efficient, disintermediated, and designed to protect privacy. The firm envisions that Web3 will be the foundation of new financial and digital infrastructure. It stated that now is the time for a coalition on behalf of societies to lay the groundwork for Web3. This can be achieved if the civil society, political leaders and private sector work together.
Web3 infrastructure will bring about exciting improvements over the existing slate of vulnerable, centralized and exclusory systems. As such, Andreessen Horowitz calls for leaders to explore regulatory frameworks with inputs from multi-stakeholder organizations.
