Dorsey, Musk, others lock horns over how decentralised web3 really is

Some of the world’s most prominent technology personalities appear to have fallen out over the concept of web3. Specifically, the popular executives have argued on how decentralised the web3 technology really is -- bringing to the fore a wide range of conflicting opinions on how the decentralised internet space is being thought as.  

Web3 or web 3.0 generally refers to the next generation of the worldwide web, where services will run on blockchain.

In a controversial tweet on December 20 over web3, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey wrote, “You don’t own ‘web3’. The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralised entity with a different label. Know what you’re getting into.”

Also read: Five Indian web3 firms to watch out for in 2022

Elon Musk, who heads SpaceX and Tesla among a host of other ventures, had also recently tweeted an illustration that seemingly hit out at venture capitalists and investors for allegedly strangling the web3 space.

Musk has been a vocal endorser of cryptocurrencies, and has been criticised in the past for influencing the market with his sudden and apparently erratic opinions -- something that many said showed the risky side of how crypto investments could be manipulated.

As part of the recent conflicts, Dorsey appears to have hit out at key figures in the web3 and crypto space -- including Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong, a16z founder Marc Andreessen and Gemini founder Tyler Winklevoss (previously famous for his fallout with Facebook mogul, Mark Zuckerberg).

Balaji Srinivasan, a former partner at a16z, seemingly hit out at Dorsey’s opinion by stating that web3 offers “a possibility of something better,” referring to the decentralised internet --”‘and not a guarantee.”

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The public fallout comes as investors continue to take increasing interest on decentralised internet projects. Startups showcasing metaverse projects are steadily on the rise, which rope in concepts of social media, AR/VR and the decentralised web -- bringing erstwhile niche technologies to the masses.