Tag: web3 foundation

Exclusive: Can Web3 Foundation Achieve a Truly Decentralized Web?

Exclusive interview with Jack Platts: Part 2

Following the technical underpinnings of Polkadot in Part 1, Jack Platts, Head of Collaborations Web3 Foundation reveals their effort towards the goal of the decentralized web! He also explained the governance and technical challenges in achieving a decentralized web!

How Web 3 Foundation can achieve a truly decentralized web?

Web3 Foundation convenes, coordinates, and funds the projects, teams, and individuals that are building the frameworks for a fully functional and user-friendly decentralized web.

All of our research, grants, and events we view through the lens of the Web3 Technology Stack. The development of this inclusive set of interoperable and extensible protocols is the primary measuring stick by which we evaluate our progress. The Web3 Tech Stack guides how we approach research, collaborations, and grants. We’re most interested in funding and providing a platform for the protocols and pieces of the stack that are less monetizable or appealing to companies to tackle. That is where we as a Foundation can step in and act, and if everyone does their piece we will over time build a fully decentralized web together. For example, decentralized and private messaging is a piece of the stack that many applications need because currently, we rely on centralized services to handle our encrypted messaging if it is encrypted at all. So we are working with other teams in the space to research this problem and implement a solution. This type of thing is more difficult to monetize, so it’s great for us as a Foundation to step in and jumpstart the development so that downstream teams can build their own applications using the protocol.

Source: Web3 Foundation

The Web 3 Foundation aims to construct an internet where users are in control of their own data, identity, and destiny. What are the governance challenges in doing so?

Web3 Foundation only provides grants for open-source software. Everything we do we try to do in an open, transparent way. We try to foster that type of culture internally, and we have some work to do to be totally transparent. Some groups in the space do an even better job than us, like Aragon. It is difficult from a governance perspective to push open-source across the industry because there is money involved with some of these protocols and companies. But that is what we stand for: open-source, autonomous software.

What are the technical challenges in achieving syntactic interoperability and semantic interoperability for the internet? How do you overcome these challenges?

From a technical perspective, it is difficult to have perfect interoperability when users need control and privacy. The blockchain is a great truth machine, but not always a great privacy machine. We employ and work with many cryptographers who are trying to solve these challenges so that use cases in health care and banking can also be interoperable. I like the analogy to the early Internet where Intranets ruled and private companies and systems dominated the industry. We’ve now come full circle and that is why Web 3.0 is so important. You have to trust that the private, closed systems are doing the right thing, and we’re building protocols that obviate the need for trust. We like the phrase “Less Trust, More Truth” for what we’re doing.

In the creation of a decentralized web, how do you compare the existing competitor, like Tron (TRX)?

As long as systems and applications are open and transparent about what they are and what they are doing I don’t think there is much competition in the space from one protocol to the next. There are probably too many smart contract platforms at this point, especially since they cannot talk to one another right now, but we mostly think about our competition as closed, proprietary systems that control and provide very little information about what they are doing with your information or how it is stored. Those types of applications are our competition. That is the status quo and we want to tear that down.

Web3 Foundation Claims DOT is a Piece of Software and Not a Security

Web3 Foundation, a non-governmental organization headquartered in Zug, Switzerland has released an announcement that they have come to the realization that Polkadot’s native token (DOT) is only software and not a security because it has morphed.

Their view is consistent with that of the U.S Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a recent press statement made by Web3 Foundation’s Chief Legal Officer, Daniel Schoenberger, the staff of the United States SEC Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) released a framework for Investment contracts to analyze digital assets. 

The framework suggested that almost all digital assets that are being sold for the purpose of fundraising were initially meant to be a security in the hands of the initial buyer. 

The framework, however, also suggested that there also exists factors that could result in complaints, for example, a complaint that exists when initial digital assets initially offered are sold as a security and to be re-evaluated at a later date. This security therefore no longer exists under federal security laws in the U.S because it has morphed.

Daniel also highlighted that it has been three years since the interaction between Web3 Foundation and SEC. He reiterated that their discussions have been positive and have brought about a deeper understanding of the issues raised by the SEC while seeking solutions to address their concerns.

Web3 Foundation has also developed a workable theory on how token morphing can be adopted for decentralized projects such as Polkadot and other digital assets because aside from being offered for fundraising purposes lacks security-like properties.

The Launch of Polkadot

Polkadot was developed in 2016. The Polkadot is a representation of the vision of the Web3 Foundation founder Dr Gavin Wood to develop a decentralized internet which is known as Web3.

Polkadot is a sharded blockchain, which means it connects multiple chains into a single network, allowing them to process and exchange data in parallel while maintaining strong security guarantees between chains. By parallelizing the workload, Polkadot addresses major issues that have previously tempered with decentralized application development.

In a bid to delve into the digital educational sector, Polkadot recently partnered with edX to promote educational courses. 

The course outline covers blockchain and Polkadot technology fundamentals, as well as the Substrate blockchain framework and the Rust programming language. Users are permitted to try the courses free of charge without prior knowledge or experience.

Web3 Hackathon on Astar sponsored by Toyota Motor Corporation

Tokyo, Japan, 1st February, 2023, Chainwire

Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan’s largest conglomerate with over 330,000 employees worldwide, is sponsoring its first ever global Web3 hackathon. It has chosen Astar Network, the smart contract platform for multichain, to make Web3 use cases for Toyota’s employees.

Toyota is looking to Web3 to support its vision of improving the company’s operations, and this online hackathon is an initial step in the process. Developers from around the world are invited to build an intra-company DAO support tool on the Astar Network that allows anyone to create teams, issue governance tokens, and vote without needing to understand the details of Web3.

Toyota could use the tools created during the hackathon to improve operational transparency and efficiency. Astar Network will provide the environment for developers and will also be responsible for product development support.

In recent years, managers in various companies have been burdened with workload due to an increase in business decision-making and team management. Both Astar Network and Toyota believe that we could manage projects as a DAO where the decision-making is distributed among participants. It will not only reduce the managers’ workload but also help team members have a greater impact on the company’s growth. That’s why the theme of this hackathon is developing a DAO support tool for companies.

Sota Watanabe, the Founder of Astar Network, said, “Needless to say, Toyota is the largest company in Japan and one of the world’s leading international companies. We are very excited to be hosting the Web3 Hackathon on Astar with Toyota. During the event, we aim to develop the first Proof-of-Concept DAO tool for Toyota’s employees. If a good tool is produced, Toyota employees will interact daily with Astar Network. Sometime in the future, I think we will  see blockchain integrations in cars. Today, we are still in the exploratory stage, but very excited about the various possibilities.”

Individuals as well as teams of up to four developers have until Tuesday, February 14th to sign up for the Web3 Hackathon by Toyota. They will attend a kick-off event on February 25th and then have until March 18th to build their products. The first round of judging will take place on March 23rd, and groups that pass the first round will be able to participate in the pitch event on March 25th.

The hackathon is set to take place in the COSMIZE Event Hall, the first metaverse on the Astar Network. While Toyota Motor Corporation is the main sponsor, Astar Network and Web3 Foundation will be Sub-sponsors. HAKUHODO KEY3, a joint venture co-founded by Sota Watanabe and Japan’s 2nd largest advertising company HAKUHODO, is also a sponsor. HAKUHODO KEY3 develops Web3 services with clients while planning and managing Web3 hackathons.

Takumi Sano, the Board member of HAKUHODO KEY3, said, “We are very excited to see what new web3 services will be built under the sponsorship of Toyota Motor Corporation. This could be an important hackathon that will change the course of history. We look forward to your participation.”

Astar Foundation will provide $75,000 in the form of ASTR token for this hackathon while Web3 Foundation will sponsor it with $25,000. The combined $100,000 will be used to reward the winning projects chosen by Toyota, Astar Foundation, Web3 Foundation, Alchemy, and HAKUHODO KEY3. 

Astar Network is the go-to Layer-1 blockchain for developers and companies building for the Japanese market. The government, enterprises, and Web3 solutions in Japan are actively working with Astar to bring together a global platform originating from Japan. 

Over 70 decentralized applications have been built on Astar’s reliable blockchain since its mainnet launch in January 2022. Astar’s native token, ASTR, is already listed on Bitbank, one of the largest Japanese exchanges. This accessibility makes it easy for Japanese enterprises and startups to grow a Web3 business by developing applications and use cases on Astar Network.

About Astar Network

Astar Network supports the building of dApps with EVM and WASM smart contracts and offers developers true interoperability with cross-consensus messaging (XCM) and a cross-virtual machine (XVM). Astar’s unique Build2Earn model empowers developers to get paid through a dApp staking mechanism for their code and the dApps they build.

One of the first parachains to come to the Polkadot ecosystem, Astar is a vibrant network that is supported by all major exchanges and tier 1 VCs. Astar offers the flexibility of all Ethereum and WASM toolings for developers to start building their dApps. To accelerate growth on Polkadot and Kusama Networks, Astar SpaceLabs offers an Incubation Hub for top TVL dApps.For more information, visit: Website | Twitter | Discord | Telegram | GitHub | Reddit

Contact

Maarten Henskenspress@astar.network

Web3 Foundation Announces Over $1.1M in Grants Under Wave 19 Program

The Web3 Foundation has recently concluded its 19th wave of grants, dedicating over $1.1 million towards 33 different projects under the Web3 Foundation Grants Program. This wave witnessed a submission of 100 applications, marking the highest in over two years. The foundation highlighted its 600th grant and the processing of the 1000th milestone within this period. The burgeoning Polkadot developer community, now ranked second globally after Ethereum, accentuates the innovation and zeal of teams within this ecosystem. The Grants Program remains a pivotal part in fostering these teams and enticing new developers, enhancing Polkadot’s reputation as one of the most vibrant communities in the Web 3.0 domain. This initiative is aimed at facilitating the upcoming array of innovations through an accessible, transparent, and open grants program.

A noteworthy trend in this wave was the emphasis on tooling grants aimed at augmenting smart contract capabilities, specifically on Polkadot’s ink! smart contracts. The intent is to bolster developer tools for swifter and more secure contract development, focusing on testing, analysis, and enhancing developer interaction with ink! smart contracts. Additionally, projects centered around data analysis emerged, as illustrated by the Data Analysis Tools and Analytics Platform Request for Proposals (RFPs), currently being handled by three distinct teams.

The foundation also approved several grants pertinent to the core infrastructure of Polkadot including wallets, chains, and pallets, which are deemed crucial for the holistic benefit of the ecosystem.

Similar to the preceding wave, a substantial number of grant proposals were in response to RFPs, indicating a dynamic and evolving RFP list open to new proposals. Current topics of interest encompass formal verification, anti-collusion mechanisms, cross-chain messaging, and account security.

The recipients of Wave 19 grants span across various domains including User Interface, Chains and Pallets, Smart Contracts, Tools, APIs, Languages, Research, and Wallets. Some notable recipients include:

User Interface: DOTLY by justmert, Polkadot Analytics Platform by MOBR Systems, and Hyperdot by Infra3.

Chains and Pallets: Melodot by ZeroDAO, On-Chain Automated Treasury Management by Centrifuge, and Storage solution on Polkadot by Eiger.

Smart Contracts: Contract Wizard by Protofire, Roloi — XCM Payment Automation by NeoPower Digital, and DAOsign.

Tools, APIs, and Languages: Ocelloids XCM Transfer Monitoring Service by SO/DA zone, DelightfulDOT by Coong Crafts, and Polkadot Snap Maintenance by ChainSafe.

Research: StorageHub by Moonsong Labs.

Wallets: Research and development MPC ECDSA by Orochi Network, Distributed Cryptography for Polkadot Wallets by PolyCrypt GmbH, and dApps/Wallet integration native mobile libraries by Tesseract.

The Web3 Foundation continues to welcome new proposals as the Web 3.0 ecosystem unfolds and matures. The application process is streamlined, involving a simple submission of a pull request to the grants program repository. The foundation advises potential applicants to meticulously outline a comprehensive roadmap to enhance the likelihood of approval. They also provide resources and guidelines to aid in the application process, alongside a platform for obtaining more information or tips for crafting an exceptional application.

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