If you’ve heard of “crypto,” you’re probably also familiar with jargon like “Blockchain,” “NFT,” and “Web3,” as well as terms like “decentralization” and “decentralized finance.” However, these terms can often be confusing; you may even think that they are all quite interchangeable, meaning more or less the same thing. This is because they are often mentioned in context with whatever promising new cryptocurrency is making headlines at any given time.

But that’s really not the case. Crypto, blockchain, and Web3 are actually three very different and distinct things, and in order to understand exactly what they are, we must first start by defining what Web3 really is.

The very name “Web3” suggests that there was a Web1 and a Web2 that preceded it, and you wouldn’t be wrong in that assumption. Web1 can be considered the original Internet that first emerged in the 1990s, a time when people had to run their own servers to create what were read-only websites. It eventually gave way to what is known as Web2, which is the era of more dynamic websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, hosting user-generated content on centralized servers.

Web3 is thus a vision of a next-generation internet that will be decentralized and distributed using blockchain and other technologies. the name was first minted by Ethereum co-founder and Polkadot developer Dr. Gavin Wood in 2014, who described an Internet in which user data is not stored on centralized servers, but on decentralized blockchains hosted on nodes spread across the globe. world. No single server, person, or entity controls these blockchains. Wood also discussed the benefits of Web3, which include increased security, secure identities, and user control over data.

Blockchain, then, is the most important enabling technology of Web3. It is a decentralized ledger that allows users to store and share data and digital assets. Because it is distributed, the blockchain allows multiple parties to reach consensus on the status of those shared records, eliminating the need for a centralized authority to do so. Therefore, blockchains can house decentralized applications, or dApps that allow people to interact directly using smart contracts, or code that is programmed to run automatically when specific conditions are met.

Blockchain has proven to be highly secure and fully transparent, helping to increase accountability and trust.

As for cryptography, this is the easiest to define. Crypto is short for cryptocurrency and is basically a digital currency that can be spent on a blockchain platform. The original crypto was Bitcoin, although today there are hundreds of different tokens. Because crypto is tied to the blockchain that supports it, it can be used to interact with dApps hosted on the same blockchain.

Finally, we have NFTs, which are actually quite similar to cryptocurrencies, but with one big difference. NFTs stand for “non-fungible token”, which means that they are not divisible in the same way as cryptocurrencies. You can only have 1 NFT, while Bitcoin, for example, can be divided into numerous satoshis, i.e. 0.0000003 BTC. NFTs can be used to represent almost any type of asset, from digital art to video game props, metaverse land, physical event tickets, and more.

To illustrate the differences, it’s worth looking at a few different Web3 projects. Principal card is a play and win betting platform that aims to reinvent the online gaming industry. The game is based on its unique “Maincard NFTs”, which allow players to guess the results of matches and sporting events and earn rewards when they make correct predictions. The more correct guesses a player makes, the more valuable their NFT Maincard becomes and the higher the rewards could be.

Maincard is based on the Polygon network, which is not actually a blockchain but a scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain. However, Polygon still has its own cryptocurrency, known as MATIC, which is used to buy Maincard NFTs and reward players for correctly guessing game outcomes. Maincard, which is currently offering new users $100 worth of NFTs as a sign-up bonus, will launch later this year. It qualifies as a Web3 project because it is decentralized and users own the actual assets, the NFTs, and are free to sell them to the highest bidder if they wish.

mirror labs, meanwhile, is a Web3 company that specializes in building NFT architecture, immersive metaverse environments, earnable gaming tokens, and virtual asset royalty streams. Its main brand is the Web3 design studio Kibaa’s House, which has designed some of the most novel NFT use cases envisioned thus far. The most famous of his NFTs are the GenZeroes collection. GenZeroes is a multi-episode live-action NFT integrated digital series hosted in the metaverse in both video and comic formats. It has enjoyed a cult following since its release in early 2022. By having GenZeroes NFT, fans of the series can participate in story-making for future episodes, as well as early access to all new episodes.

A somewhat similar Web3 project is UNOPND, which is an incubator for blockchain-based metaverse projects and NFT games looking to support innovative new use cases. UNOPND is currently backing a number of NFT-focused projects, including the decentralized K-Pop startup. Modhauswhose fans choose which group members feature in their newest songs, and derby starsa horse racing metaverse where players can race, breed, breed and train their own NFT horses

UNOPND’s name refers to its goal of unlocking the “unopened” value of Web3, in which the “open” world will enable unlimited imagination and freedom through the power of blockchain, NFT and cryptography, its great enabling technologies.