Web5 Reshaping the Internet: From Sovereign Identity to Decentralized Vision

Web5 was initially misunderstood by many as a joke upon its release, but this serious proposal put forward by TBD under Block Inc. actually represents a fundamental reflection on the future of the internet. Web5 is not simply a technical upgrade but a bold attempt to redesign the internet from the infrastructure level, with the core goal of addressing the most urgent issues of the next-generation internet—identity and privacy.

The Core of Web5: Solving the Internet’s Identity Crisis

In the development of the internet, personal data has gradually become a competitive asset for big tech companies. Starting from the 2010s, the era of mobile internet and big data has driven wealth and information concentration in tech giants. Issues such as social media influencing elections, ad tracking, and filter bubbles have become increasingly prominent, amplifying the negative social impacts of the internet.

Web5 directly addresses the root cause of these problems—the handling of personal information assets. Through three pillars—DWN (Decentralized Web Nodes), DID (Decentralized Identifiers), and VC (Verifiable Credentials)—Web5 aims to return data control to users. Simplified, DID is the identity foundation (like a driver’s license), VC is the identity attribute (like a rental car record), and DWN is the infrastructure for information flow. This system allows users to authorize specific organizations to access certain data without ceding sovereignty over their data to any intermediary.

Dissecting Web5: The True Meaning of Decentralization

Unlike Web3, which overemphasizes token economies and smart contracts, Web5’s understanding of “decentralization” is more pure. Interestingly, although Web5 was proposed by an organization promoting Bitcoin, its design itself adopts a neutral stance toward blockchain—protocol standards are maintained by international organizations like W3C and DIF, not tied to any specific blockchain technology, and can even operate in environments without blockchain.

The architecture of Web5 follows the original spirit of the internet—loose coupling and high scalability. Each protocol independently handles a single responsibility and can be freely combined and extended. This design allows Web5 to seamlessly integrate with existing Web2 technologies (such as PWA), evolving into DWA (Decentralized Web Applications), truly realizing the vision of “Web2+Web3=Web5.”

More notably, Web5 explicitly states the principles of “no tokens, no smart contracts.” Identity infrastructure does not require token incentives and should not be governed by majority voting. This is a profound reflection on the current Web3 paradigm—decentralized identity should be built on cryptography and mathematical foundations, not economic incentives.

The Long-term Vision of Web5: Building an Internet Asset Layer

Web5’s grand goal can be understood as creating an “asset layer” between the internet and application layers. Bitcoin has successfully native-ized currency on the internet, and Web5 attempts to make identity a native asset of the internet. Currency is a financial asset; identity is an informational asset. Both can be abstracted as “assets”—controlled by individuals and used by application layers under authorization.

This vision will bring about multi-dimensional changes: advertising models, application distribution, and the relationship between users and platforms. Coupled with Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN), Web5 could break the oligopoly of app stores, democratizing application distribution and monetization methods. However, realizing this vision faces significant obstacles—differences in personal information laws across countries, fundamental changes to existing business models, and the complexity of technological implementation—all requiring years of global collaboration to gradually resolve.

Web5 in the Context of American Innovation Tradition

Tracing the history of the internet reveals that the ideas behind Web5 are deeply rooted in the American innovation tradition. From early ARPANET to hypertext concepts, and the invention of the mouse and graphical interfaces, these breakthroughs share a common trait: when technology becomes overly centralized, visionaries push for a new wave of decentralization. Douglas Engelbart’s “Mother of All Demonstrations” showcased this bold imagination—long before personal computers, he envisioned the future of computing. Core concepts like hypertext and the mouse were demonstrated there, later carried forward by multiple generations, ultimately popularizing and shaping today’s internet.

Web5 continues this spirit—dissatisfied with merely patching the superficial problems of existing systems, it re-examines the meaning of “decentralization” from the ground up. It refuses to accept the flaws of Web2 and Web3 as givens, instead starting from problem identification and seeking architectural solutions.

Will Web5 Be Realized? The Key Lies in Global Cooperation and Technological Implementation

Currently, Web5 remains in the framework stage, and the team admits there are many issues to solve. However, its rigorous design and ambition are already evident. From sovereignty over identity to rethinking network architecture, Web5 opens a path of discontinuous innovation for the future of the internet. Regardless of whether the name “Web5” is ultimately adopted, its core concept—making identity a native layer of the internet built on cryptography and rigorous computer science—will have a profound impact on future network design.

Yet, the gap between dreams and reality lies in execution. Web5 requires overcoming obstacles across legal, commercial, and technical dimensions, demanding collaboration from developers, institutions, and users worldwide. The ultimate success depends on whether it can maintain its original intent and uphold the core principles of “decentralization” and “self-sovereign identity” throughout this complex process. The story of Web5 is still being written, and how it will change the future of the internet can only be verified over time.