The founder of JavaScript, Mozilla and the Brave web browser said he sees the NFT craze as a distraction from the long-term goals of Web 3.0.
In an exclusive interview with TechRadar Pro, Brendan Eich described NFTs as part of the "bullshit" that historically preceded the historic transformations of the Web.
“We are in the early stages of Web 3.0 and no one knows what that means,” he told us. "With NFTs in particular, there's a certain silliness...and there's always been a scam side as well."
"However, there were also a lot of dumb sites and scams in the early days of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. That's what frontier towns were like, before they paved the streets and put up the streetlights."
The birth of Web 3.0
The concept of Web 3.0 is based on the idea that the Internet has so far passed through two distinct eras, with a third looming on the horizon.
The term Web 1.0 is used to describe the oldest form of the Internet, which was populated primarily with textual information by a small number of players. Meanwhile, the web as we know it today is characterized by user involvement in the content creation process (via social media and platforms like YouTube) and the rise of surveillance capitalism.
With the advent of Web 3.0, the theory goes, the Internet will evolve into a system defined by decentralization, disintermediation, and increased user privacy. Most Web 3.0 advocates believe that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will play a critical role in this transition.
Brave is one company trying to speed up the transition to this new web, with its privacy-preserving browser and a new advertising model built around its Basic Attention Token (BAT), which rewards users for viewing ad content. optional.
Naturally, Brave has attracted a large number of crypto enthusiasts, whose ambitions for economic freedom align closely with the company's attempts to create a fairer network.
“We all want to provide options and trade routes for this new world of user sovereignty, served by privacy, cryptocurrencies and decentralization,” says Eich.
However, when asked if there are other elements of crypto culture that Brave would seek to distance itself from, Eich admitted that the trend towards tribalism can be problematic.
“When you talk about cryptoculture, there isn't just one community. Instead, there are multiple subcultures and an increasing amount of tribalism,” he said. “There are people who are very excited about their project and see it as the only true path. . I'm not here to condemn anyone in particular in the community, but I think this bigoted tribalism may be going too far.
“It is a really delicate space, it is quite conflictive. There are financial interests that support delegated warriors. It makes me hesitate to make blanket statements. , but it also makes me want to build. If you build something better, people will use it.
Our full interview with Brendan Eich will be published soon.
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