We talk a lot about Web3 and DeFi and many of our retail users find themselves often confused by these terms. So we wanted to break it down in easy terms for everyone.

Evolution into Web3

Web1 was the birth of the internet. Mostly paper moving online, and very limited interactivity and user-generated content.

Then eCommerce became the catalyst of Web2, opening the door for Applications, instead of read-only websites. People needed to interact with web apps to “add things to their shopping carts”, “connect with other people”, etc. Think of the days of the dot-com bubble, and the subsequent growth of companies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

The problems with Web1 and Web2 (that are not problems in Web3) are the centralization of power, knowledge, and control. All those companies are centrally managed and centrally controlled by large corporations with heavy government influence, and they monetize our attention and time to their convenience and sell it to the rest of the world.

Advertising has become one of the largest vectors for the concentration of wealth into the hands of very few, mostly the leaders and shareholders of these massive companies. But if you think about it, individuals like you and I are the ones giving away their time and attention so the OTHER people make money with it.

Web3 Banking = DeFi

This applies not only to Advertising but to Banking as well. We deposit OUR money into a bank account AND WE PAY THEM to keep it “safe”. Banks then take that money, risk it all in the financial markets, make tons of yield on OUR money, and share NOTHING with us. This is where DeFi comes in. This is where the Token economy comes in, this is where Web3 comes in. This is the why and how we are defining our future by super aligned economic incentive drivers by owning the direction and sharing the profits of protocols like MeanFi, and many others.

Here’s a handy comparison table that will pit them against each other:

This is not only the future of finance, this is the future of the world. Web3 and DeFi are the New World Order.

Get Involved!

We are the Mean DAO, a Decentralized Autonomous Organization working to bring financial freedom to people and businesses worldwide. We do this through the Mean Protocol and MeanFi.com, a self-custody, permissionless & trustless bank bringing crypto and DeFi to everyday banking workflows.

Stay in touch with our progress every week, and join the DeFi revolution by checking our website, joining the Mean DAO Discord, and following @MeanFinance on Twitter.