1. What is a pure web3 project?
The biggest problem with current web3 projects is that the core content of all projects is built on web2 infrastructure. Imagine if the platform server was shut down, would the project disappear? What's the point of decentralization if it can be easily destroyed? If platforms are required to hand over data due to unforeseen circumstances, they have no choice but to comply, regardless of whether users have signed privacy agreements or not. If the platform's database has been compromised or hacked by external hackers, all data is at risk of being destroyed instantly. Just imagine if all your WeChat chat records or Instagram posts from the past 20 years were gone, it would feel like your life has been stolen. That's why we need to move to a pure web3 environment, where only those with access keys can access the data, making it inaccessible to others. Switching the infrastructure of web3 projects to a web3 architecture is a core trend.
2. So, who will succeed in building a pure web3 storage architecture? Arweave, Filecoin, or Greenfield?
There are many projects in this field that provide pure web3 architecture, such as Filecoin, and others. However, the winner will be Greenfield, backed by Binance, rather than Filecoin. The data stored in Filecoin is essentially invalid data. Currently, there are no projects that store valid data on Filecoin. It's a forced ecosystem. Projects won't redeploy on the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) just for the sake of decentralized storage. Even if they do, the cost of running multiple chains is very high and the risks are greater, as seen in the incidents caused by Steph's cross-chain issues with BSC and Solana. BSC projects can be bridged to Greenfield using native cross-chain bridges, without the need to redeploy a project, saving time and providing faster and cheaper storage, which attracts long-term project usage.
3. Then why is Filecoin still considered a leading storage project?
Firstly, it gained an advantage by popularizing the storage field and people bought into the concept. However, the complexity of the storage field limited Filecoin's success. Giants like Huawei and Google have thousands of people dedicated to developing and maintaining large-scale storage networks, which is not something a small company can sustain in the long run. Secondly, Filecoin appears to be an application, but the real money is made through the DeFi model. In the blockchain industry, no one makes money from applications, but rather through running nodes and increasing token prices. The value of a project in the blockchain industry is determined by its token price. However, any sudden market crash can lead to chaos.
To use an analogy, the current situation is similar to the time before BSC emerged, where there were many fake DeFi projects. Once BSC emerged, all projects, whether on Huobi Chain or OKEx Smart Chain, migrated to BSC.
Why don't new public chains succeed? It's because new public chains don't have a price for their mainnet, while BNB has a price, which motivates people to build applications on BNB Chain because they can make money. BNB will also be the only settlement currency for Greenfield. Stability is a concern for everyone, and other chains are not as stable as BNB Chain or Binance. Some chains even had major bugs before their launch. Additionally, data from projects on BSC needs to be stored on Greenfield, which is another selling point due to its existing large user base.
In the public chain war, only exchanges can win. Why? Because applications come first, followed by optimized technical architectures, not the other way around. Taking the example of web2 cloud services, there are Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Tencent Cloud, and other major players in the market. These big players have their own demands and won't share their resources with outsiders. Furthermore, due to different global data requirements, global nodes need to be deployed. Small companies can't handle these tasks. Only big players can. Therefore, Binance, as the world's largest exchange, has the advantage in the storage field.
4. Here's an aside: Why did all manufacturers shift towards IOE ten years ago?
IOE refers to IBM, Oracle, and EMC. IBM focuses on operating systems, computers, and mainframes, while Oracle specializes in databases. We can think of Greenfield as a database, and EMC deals with storage and file services.
In the past, small and medium-sized enterprises were built on the entire IOE system because IOE was a universal brand. However, as these small enterprises grew, IOE couldn't meet all their needs. They required industry-specific services. Additionally, IOE's services, including machines, were expensive. In the past, when my team was small, I could afford to pay 5,000 yuan for a small office space. But now that my team has grown to thousands of people, if they still charge 5,000 yuan per person, it's better to build our own building, which costs much less. So, these big companies stopped relying on IOE and started building their own infrastructure and developing cloud services.
Therefore, all cloud services today are the result of moving away from IOE. Strictly speaking, IOE hasn't been eliminated, but it has been transformed into a foundational layer. Cloud services use their own operating systems, databases, and storage systems. They still follow IOE standards, but no longer use the IOE brand. Another important reason for moving away from IOE is the need for privacy protection.
5. Since privacy is a core issue for web2 companies that use public services, how does web3 solve this core problem of web2?
Small and medium-sized enterprises create their files on other web2 cloud servers. If your files are taken by the platform, your ideas are stolen. The core problem of web2 is that all companies that claim to be secure and promise not to steal user privacy cannot actually fulfill these promises. Their code is not open to the public, and their company mechanisms are like black boxes.
Protecting the intellectual property and information of small enterprises in their early stages is a grand narrative. It's like when a company starts in a small room in an office building. Whether using Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS), once you use someone else's services, your content is monitored from the moment you click "new document." It's all transparent, even if they promise not to look at your data. Users don't know if these platforms are doing something wrong. Google's "Don't be evil" slogan was built on advertising fees. However, the nature of web2 companies means they can't fully disclose their code, and you can't know how their companies operate.
By protecting content metadata with smart contract standards, and using composite smart contract specifications for access, usage, and reference permissions, and making these smart contracts open source and auditable, we can truly achieve the concept of "code is law."
Now, with web3 smart contracts, everything can be transparent. There's a saying, "Don't do evil, cannot do evil." This is why there are so many controversies surrounding equity pledges, but ICOs have no issues. ICOs have smart contracts, and the rules are transparent and auditable. Once web3 brings smart contracts to the storage field, meaning the saas standard protocol for storage services is open source and public, users can see the internals of web3 applications and verify if the application's permissions for content are reasonable. This truly solves the problem of content being misused or abused by applications and protects user privacy.
Web3 storage services provide the possibility of successfully protecting the privacy of data for small enterprises. Because the protocols of web3 storage services are open and auditable, if someone wants to access my files, they can only do so with an access key. Without an access key, no one can access my files. However, if others want to access my files with the consensus of everyone involved, they can do so by paying a certain fee.
This truly protects user privacy and can activate the entire content creation industry. The content creation industry is most afraid of piracy. With web3 storage, access to others' files can only be granted by paying a fee, such as paying in BNB. This will activate the music industry, gaming industry, NFTs, and more.
Additionally, web3 storage services can solve issues such as stolen chat accounts and the misuse of chat content. If someone wants to use my chat content, they can do so by paying for an access key. They can even use it for advertising purposes. But they need to pay and obtain the access key from me.
Web3 storage is a grand narrative that can revolutionize not only the web3 industry but also the entire technology industry. It is the foundation of AI and content. Only with web3-level access control and economic models can we control how AI accesses content. AI controlled by humans is truly beneficial to humanity. This is a groundbreaking opportunity.
6. Once users regain control and ownership of their data and profits, will AI experience explosive development and better serve humanity?
AI consists of two main components: algorithms and content. Content plus algorithms equals AI. Essentially, everyone has the same algorithms, and there's nothing particularly special about current training methods. The key is data – whoever has the data has the advantage. Why is China strong in AI technology? Because China has a large population and a large amount of data.
What is the essence of AI? It's big models and training data. Big companies are competing for data to train their models. For example, user data is stored on Tencent, but it's my data, not Tencent's data.
So, investing in AI is a misconception. Why is the focus on AI by investment institutions wrong? Because the key to AI success lies in user permissions and incentivizing users to provide content, but without web3 storage services, this won't work. Without smart contracts to regulate data read and write services, it's just freeloading. Why would users provide content if platforms can use their photos without sharing the profits? Relying solely on user-generated content won't last long.
Now, with web3 storage architecture, all data sovereignty returns to users. If users upload photos, others need to pay to view them, pay to use them, pay for AI recognition, and pay to train their own models using the photos. The platform has its own value, so it takes a 10% share, while users get 90%. The platform can no longer freeload on user data. Even actions like violating image rights or police accessing surveillance footage require user access keys. In the future, permission management may become an industry, specifically managing various permissions on different platforms for users, such as helping users collect payments.
Looking back, our previous evaluation of Musk's purchase of Twitter was shallow. We thought Musk was being foolish, but now we realize that we were narrow-minded. Now, we can see everything on Twitter. It's a platform for information. It's said that humans are just AI's bootloaders. AI's content is based on our (web3 storage platform) controllable content production and profit-sharing language development. User-generated content (UGC) will truly become a breeding ground for AI-generated content (AIGC). With the support of smart contracts, humans can benefit in the long run.
Many companies have already realized this.
The opportunity to make money will always exist, but it depends on whether people can discover it.
Therefore, storage, web3 storage, is not just about changing the web3 industry, but also about changing the entire technology industry. It is the foundation of AI and content. Only by controlling AI's access to content can it truly be useful to humanity. This is a revolutionary opportunity.