Abstract The class of technology variously referred to as Web3 or crypto has been heralded as a democratizing force for economics and governance. This chapter argues that, to the extent such hype is justified, it is only partly due to the affordances of the technology itself. Perhaps more important is the amnesia it has induced, as an innovative paradigm whose novelty inclines people to neglect once-stable norms. In both economics and governance, crypto offers opportunities for greater democracy, but following through on them is guaranteed by neither the technology nor the amnesia it invites.
Abstract This paper is an encounter between an artist creating characters for video games and an academic studying how people and things are being financialized. Exchanging about the appearance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies – technologies associated with Web3 in the video game industry, the academic, and the artist reflect on the place of playfulness, creation, and finance in our society. They observe that most North American and European players resisted NFTs and cryptocurrencies, while more Asian-Pacific ones embraced the latter. They conclude that those reactions were explained by the fact that gamers perceived cryptocurrencies and NFTs as institutional objects associated with a financial logic, whose presence threatened the gaming logic. As pragmatic friends, they nevertheless issued an NFT with this paper, a “Crow Queen.” Time will tell if the Web3 society will praise this new form of digital joint academic/art production.
Abstract This paper argues that the concept of “jouissance” can help us understand the popularity of blockchain protocols, meme-coins, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the world of Web3. These technologies act as mirrors to project reflections that allow people to imagine social and personal selves differently. Meme-coins use dark humor to oppose mainstream society, and the popularity of NFTs cannot be fully explained by artistic merit or return on investment. Instead, each collectible NFT allows the collector to explore various possible representations of the self. It is argued that blockchains must be seen as socio-informational-technical systems that participate in the formation of the symbolic social structures giving rise to social and personal identity. By recognizing the personal and social significance of jouissance, we can appreciate the darker, more primal aspects of these phenomena that other theories and approaches cannot fully explain.
Abstract Web3’s raison d’être is decentralization. Quite problematically, however, few industry analysts can articulate what “decentralization” really entails; whether it differs at all from the notion of “distribution,” and how either construct can be measured with observable data to enable a meaningful analysis of the industry’s core promise. Instead, Web3 is akin to a decentralization theater in which archetypical characters, who resonate with the likes of Hamlet and Godot, enact decentralization based on fictitious narratives. After critically reassessing these narratives about decentralization, this paper offers a fresh perspective to evaluate, less theatrically and hopefully more rigorously, future claims about “being decentralized.” I argue that the crucial issue lurking behind the decentralization narrative is the dispersion of authority within blockchain platforms, which consists of two fundamental dimensions, namely the dispersion of information and of decision-making. The value proposition of Web3 will not be taken seriously until the industry can provide reliable indicators of authority dispersion and demonstrate that the latter affects strategic outcomes for blockchain platforms, including innovation, growth, and value creation.
Abstract This paper introduces the concept of a “computable economy” and discusses how it relates to the emergence of Web3 or the new type of economy that has arisen from the integration of digital technologies such as blockchain, smart contracts, and digital identity. A “computable economy” is one where those computational rule systems are integrated into a connected graph, allowing for decentralized cooperation and distributed coordination. This paper traces the trajectory of innovation in the economy from the development of industrial production technologies to the rise of information and communication technology (ICT) and the digital economy. It argues that the shift to a “computable economy” is a consequence of the transformation of analog economic institutions into natively digital institutions. This results in a “full stack” digital economy where all economic actions can be digitally constructed and implemented. This paper concludes by discussing the potential of Web3 to create a new type of economy, that is, “techno-utopian” and characterized by human flourishing, as the incursion of machines and computation leads to a new era of economic growth and transformation.
Identity management plays a critical role in Web3 applications. Decentralized Identity (DID) offers a privacy-preserving solution, giving users full control over their identity information. Existing research on DID primarily focuses on single-owner scenarios, where owners have complete privileges for owner management and credentials. However, in multi-owner cases, current coarse-grained identity management approaches lead to serious privacy and security problems, such as identity impersonation and high key recovery overhead. Little work has been done on identity management for multiple owners. In this paper, we propose MoDID, a fine-grained identity management scheme for multiple owners, which complies with the DID standard proposed by W3C. First, our solution allows multiple owners to control DID subjects flexibly and reliably through hierarchical owner management. Additionally, we design a secure key recovery scheme to reduce the risk of identity loss while introducing lower overhead. Finally, we implement MoDID on the Sepolia Ethereum Test Network to evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme. The result demonstrates that our system allows multiple owners to manage a single identity with lower gas consumption and time consumption than the state-of-the-art.
Warmayana I Gede Agus Krisna, Koki Hayashida, Hiroki Minegoshi, Nobuto Oka
To effectively utilize globally distributed materials data, we developed a prototype decentralized materials data management system. The secure, transparent, and efficient management of materials data was achieved using blockchain technology, smart contracts, non-fungible tokens (NFT), and interplanetary file system (IPFS) in Web3. The effectiveness of the prototype was also discussed in the case studies using performance data on materials used in environmental purification and rechargeable batteries.
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are relatively a newly emerging type of online entity related to governance or business models where all their members work together and participate in the decision-making processes affecting the DAO in a decentralized, collective, fair, and democratic manner. In a DAO, members interaction is mediated by software agents running on a blockchain that encode the governance of the specific entity in terms of rules that optimize their business and goals. In this context, most popular DAO software frameworks provide decision-making models aiming to facilitate digital governance and the collaboration among their members intertwining social and economic concerns. However, these models are complex, not interoperable among them and lack a common understanding and shared knowledge concerning DAOs, as well as the computational semantics needed to enable automated validation, simulation or execution. Thus, this paper presents an ontology (Web3-DAO), which can support machine-readable digital governance of DAOs adding semantics to their decision-making models. The proposed ontology captures the domain logic that allows the sharing of updated information and decisions for all the members that interact with a DAO by the interoperability of their own assessment and decision tools. Furthermore, the ontology detects semantic ambiguities, uncertainties and contradictions. The Web3-DAO ontology is available in open access at https://github.com/Grasia/semantic-web3-dao.
Eduardo Jorge Lira Antunes da Silva, Cristina Souza de Araújo, Jucimar Maia da Silva, Roberto Junio Rodrigues Gomes · 7 authors
The development of software aligned with Web3 innovations is essential to stimulate discussions on the application of these technologies in the scientific realm. This study presents the development of a 'cryptogame,' a game that integrates blockchain technology to incorporate Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) into its functionalities. The paper explores fundamental Web3 concepts, with references to relevant literature, and details the development process, including the methodologies and models adopted. As a result, a puzzle game was created that utilizes NFTs as playable characters, allowing for the transfer of these assets between digital wallets. Furthermore, the study investigates the application of these concepts in adapting a traditional mobile game for the use of NFTs, demonstrating the necessary changes in user interface and game mechanics to support the integration with digital assets.
Axill Ajay Dcunha, Jessica Allen Gonsalves, Lisban Robert Gonsalves, Jason Johnson Gonsalves · 5 authors
The recent development of blockchain technology has accelerated innovation across several areas, with far-reaching ramifications for the field of marketing. This disruptive platform marks a shift from traditional marketing paradigms, encouraging accountability and trust among key stakeholders such as advertisers, influencers, content suppliers, and consumers. This platform empowers consumers while providing marketers with more chances to efficiently exploit targeted audience engagement by emphasizing data protection through the sophisticated encryption mechanisms inherent in the blockchain. Furthermore, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) improves marketing techniques by allowing for the delivery of individualized experiences and increasing conversion rates. Positioned at the forefront of the Web3 era, this innovative Web3 Marketing Suite encompasses a vision for a more inclusive and simplified marketing environment, establishing the framework for a new era of digital marketing innovation.
This article was submitted and presented for the 2022 SECAC Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland, from 26 October to 29 October 2022. It inquires about and seeks to challenge several key questions. Provoking thoughtful discussion and delivering new insights into the brave new world of Web3. This article aspires to contribute meaningfully to the academic and professional discourse through analysis and investigation of these topics in the field and how colleagues and stakeholders’ behaviours adhere to or reject them. What is a system? How does the system benefit its participants? How do their actions help the system thrive? Throughout humanity, we have searched for newer and more efficient ways of improving our current systems by adopting new methods. Although the methods of approach change, the behaviour of the participants ultimately shapes the effectiveness of the system. In navigating our art world, understanding the systems of operation is crucial to the decision-making process. This behaviour allows for former systems to have new life through educated forms of physical code (humans) that regenerate those ideals into actions that ultimately reshape the new system into something familiar. That familiarity seems like comfort – but it is the quiet before the storm. Herd collecting will crush the confidence in collecting new artwork because of volatility in the art market. Because once the herd leaves, will the work have any demand?
Tesserart is a pioneering portal offering a tool-based web3 infrastructure designed to evolve with rapid technological advancements in the digital art space. Its goal is to simplify the processes of creation, curation, and collection of digital art and events, providing community-driven tools and innovations. Committed to enhancing accessibility and versatility, we aim to be the Swiss Army knife of the digital art ecosystem. Tesserart facilitates the digitalization and accessibility of digital artworks through blockchain technology, extending global reach and opening new revenue streams. It provides comprehensive tools for digital and physical event experiences, including live artwork minting and selling, ticketing, curation, and the use of community tokens for engagement and rewards. Our business model capitalizes on transaction fees and royalties from art sales, along with partnerships with digital art marketplaces and cultural organizations. Tesserart aims to redefine digital art engagement and collectability, making it more accessible, innovative, and experience-based
Xolminds is a web3 based self improvement platform that seeks to support people in reimagining their lives, recreating themselves and coping with mental health issues and challenges.
The emergence of Web3, underpinned by blockchain technology, has reshaped the digital realm, ushering in a decentralized and trustless internet paradigm. In this paper, we conduct an extensive analysis of the Web3 job market, leveraging data from 2000 job postings to delineate prevalent keywords, sought-after skills, prevalent job titles, and salary determinants. Our examination reveals compelling insights into the job landscape, showcasing the dominance of technical competencies such as Ethereum proficiency and software development expertise. Among the top skills sought by employers, Ethereum (371 occurrences), React (213 occurrences), NFT (213 occurrences), Java (205 occurrences), and Rust (102 occurrences) prominently feature. Moreover, our analysis uncovers the ascendancy of specialized roles in cybersecurity, technical leadership, and project management, which command premium compensation levels. Notably, security positions emerged as the highest paying roles (average salary: $153,295.86), followed by tech lead (average salary: $121,526.32) and operations (average salary: $120,396.55). These findings offer valuable insights for job seekers, employers, educators, and policymakers navigating the evolving Web3 job landscape. By delineating key trends and challenges, our study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the transformative potential of Web3 and its implications for the future of work.
As the field of Web3 continues its rapid expansion, the security of Web3 authentication, often the gateway to various Web3 applications, becomes increasingly crucial. Despite its widespread use as a login method by numerous Web3 applications, the security risks of Web3 authentication have not received much attention. This paper investigates the vulnerabilities in the Web3 authentication process and proposes a new type of attack, dubbed blind message attacks. In blind message attacks, attackers trick users into blindly signing messages from target applications by exploiting users' inability to verify the source of messages, thereby achieving unauthorized access to the target application. We have developed Web3AuthChecker, a dynamic detection tool that interacts with Web3 authentication-related APIs to identify vulnerabilities. Our evaluation of real-world Web3 applications shows that a staggering 75.8% (22/29) of Web3 authentication deployments are at risk of blind message attacks. In response to this alarming situation, we implemented Web3AuthGuard on the open-source wallet MetaMask to alert users of potential attacks. Our evaluation results show that Web3AuthGuard can successfully raise alerts in 80% of the tested Web3 authentications. We have responsibly reported our findings to vulnerable websites and have been assigned two CVE IDs.
Septovan Dwi Suputra Saian, Irwan Sembiring, Daniel Manongga
The Indonesian population reached 270,20 million in 2020. Each resident is equipped with various secret identities. The COVID-19 pandemic has made all activities use technology as a basis, causing residents' identities to be stored digitally. Some applications that keep these identities experience data leaks. However, with the advent of Web3 and its emphasis on decentralization through blockchain, a new era of secure data management is possible. Blockchain, with its inherent security features, ensures that data stored is secure, difficult to damage or lose due to mutual consensus. Every transaction is recorded, making it easy to carry out the audit process. Therefore, this research will design and implement prototype dApps for secure population management, leveraging the superior security of blockchain technology. The initial stage of research is to conduct a literature study. Furthermore, it is to create designs such as system, infrastructure, and activity diagrams. Then do the development of the dApps prototype. The last is testing using OWASP ZAP and cost analysis. A dApps prototype was implemented on a blockchain. Every transaction is recorded and publicly viewable through the Etherscan platform. Other data stored on a blockchain have gone through an AES-256 encryption process with the data owner's account key so that the owner can only see the data. The results of the tests performed show that there is no high-level warning. The cost analysis results show that the most used costs are when deploying smart contracts and making new data. For further development, it is implementing permissionless blockchain and multi-accounts.
Wenrui Zuo, Raúl J. Mondragón, Aravindh Raman, Gareth Tyson
There have been numerous recent attempts to “decentralize” social media platforms, loosely referred to as Web3. Such ideas, often underpinned by blockchain solutions, offer decentralized equivalents of well-known services (e.g., forums, social networks, video sharing sites, microblogs). One particularly challenging function to implement in such a design is content moderation, due to the lack of central control. Consequently, they often rely on user-controlled moderation, whereby each user must create their own personal block list to filter out content they do not wish to see. This paper presents a first study of user-controlled moderation on one exemplar Web3 social microblogging platform called memo.cash. Based on a dataset covering 391K posts, we study the factors that lead users to “mute” each other. We find that the most crucial factor is the platform action count, rather than the presence of things like hate speech. We also show that the followership network plays a pivotal role in determining their visibility on the platform, further influencing their muting behavior. This leads us to design tooling to automate the muting process on a per-user basis. We model this as a recommendation problem, and experiment with a number of state-of-the-art recommender engines. We show that our system can generate effective personalized mute lists for users.
Kaiho Fukuchi, Ken Naganuma, Takayuki Suzuki, Takatoshi Ohara
Bug bounties are a helpful system for identifying vulnerabilities in smart contracts. Many web3 applications use bug bounties today. However, hackers might worry about not getting paid or receiving a reduced bounty if the bounty is not exchanged atomically with a bug report. This concern could lead hackers to exploit the identified bug instead of reporting it. Furthermore, other efforts related to bug bounties require modification of existing smart contracts. To solve this, we propose a practical bug bounty platform for smart contracts, ContractSafeguard, that utilizes Intel SGX to ensure the existence of bugs and atomic exchange of bounty and bug reports. Bug hunters send transactions to smart contracts hosted within the Enclave and glitch them. Test code within the Enclave generates a bug report that includes proof of the bug’s existence and a method that triggers the bug. In other words, within the Enclave, our mechanism detects and proves that the smart contract under test has entered an abnormal state. Our on-chain bug bounty contract then verifies the proof within the bug report and pays the bounty to the bug hunter atomically. Since the proof is produced within the Enclave, generating false proofs is impossible, and the on-chain contract can trust the report. Additionally, the developer can use existing smart contracts without modification since we have a runtime of smart contracts in the Enclave. We design ContractSafeguard for Ethereum smart contracts.
The BlockSupply project is a pioneering initiative that seeks to redefine supply chain management by leveraging blockchain technology to ensure real-time monitoring of product movements and enhance transparency, security, and traceability. The software offers key functionalities such as creating a private blockchain network, integrating tracking sensors for real-time data collection, secure recording of product data, user authentication, authorization management, and alerts for abnormal events. It is developed using technologies like Web3.js, React.js, Solidity, Ganache, and GitHub, which are integrated into the project’s architecture to create an efficient and secure blockchain-based supply chain solution. Furthermore, the project’s impact is expected to be significant, contributing to scientific advancements in secure and efficient supply chain operations and reshaping the landscape of logistics traceability. As the software gains traction in real-world scenarios, its transformative influence on data reliability, security, and operational efficiency in supply chain research is poised to be showcased in publications. • Blockchain boosts real-time supply monitoring and security. • Utilizes Web3.js, React.js, and Solidity for robust system. • Mitigates fraud and errors in supply chain management. • Streamlines inventory via advanced tracking and sensors. • Open-source, enhances operational efficiency significantly.
The technological progress of miniaturized sensors has led to the invasion of IoT in our lives through multiple applications, specifically in the healthcare domain where security and privacy are paramount concerns. This evolution has given rise to the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Despite the promising role of Blockchain technology in ensuring traceability and privacy for IoT systems, integrating it into IoMT poses challenges due to the IoMT devices resource shortage that cannot bear the blockchain heavy tasks. To bridge this integration gap, numerous Blockchain-based solutions have been proposed, either by modifying core Blockchain properties which reduces its efficiency and security level or by relying on intermediary parties. This paper introduces a novel lightweight solution, allowing IoMT devices to directly interact with the Blockchain network. Specifically, we advocate for the development of a lightweight Web3 interface embedded within IoMT devices. This interface facilitates secure authentication, efficient resource utilization, and efficient interaction with decentralized applications powered by blockchain technology. We provide all technical choices and implementation details of the proposed solution, leveraging the ESP32 microcontroller platform. Furthermore, we provide rigorous security and performance evaluations to demonstrate the credibility and efficiency of our solution.
With the evolution of Web3.0 and decentralized applications (Dapps), increasing business logic is running on the blockchain. Blockchain storage, as the core infrastructure supporting the increasing volume of data, plays a crucial role. However, the performance and cost of blockchain storages are suffering seriously, which inspires us to re-examine the design of blockchain storage based on the blockchain data characteristics. We propose LETUS, a Log-structured Efficient Trusted Universal Storage for blockchain, providing cryptographic tamper evidence with excellent performance and resource efficiency. (1) LETUS breaks the traditional two-layered architecture and pushes down the Authenticated Data Structure (ADS) into the storage engine to enable fine-grained I/O optimizations. (2) LETUS proposes DMM-Tree which is a novel ADS combining the functionalities of Merkle tree and delta-encoding, significantly reducing storage consumption. (3) LETUS adopts a version-based indexing schema and manages the large volume of pages generated by ADS in a page store indexed by a B-tree variant. (4) LETUS provides a universal solution for different blockchains, such as public blockchains like Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain and AntChain as a representation of consortium blockchains. LETUS has been deployed in AntChain commercial applications, such as NFT and digital torch ignition for 2023 Asian Games. Experimental results also show that with LETUS, AntChain can achieve up to 15.8× improvement in throughput and 80.3% storage cost saving, Ethereum can achieve up to 10.1× improvement in throughput and 75.0% storage cost saving.
Abstract: The advancement of Web3 and blockchain is happening rapidly in various fields, including healthcare, social services, and electronic voting. Blockchain technology is being used by crowdfunding platforms to combine its benefits of speed and low fees with traditional finance, creating a new way of raising money. By integrating Reacts user-friendly interface, Solidity smart contracts, Meta-Mask wallet integration and Hardhat development and testing capabilities, it forms a versatile and secure platform. This project aims to find out how much money is missing in the current crowdfunding market and offer them smart contracts and tools that use Ethereum to create their own application businesses. Hybrid Model Platform is a ThirdWeb tool that allows for easy and flexible scaling and visibility. this new crowdfunding app is a major leap in fundraising, fulfilling numerous customer requirements and poised to revolutionize crowdfunding with its fresh and inventive strategy.