Web3: Charting the Internet's Next Economic and Cultural Frontier

by Alex Tapscott

Overview

A WALL STREET JOURNAL AND GLOBE AND MAIL BESTSELLER

An essential introduction and guide to navigating the next Internet revolution—everything from the metaverse and NFTs to DAOs, decentralized finance, and self-sovereign identity—from the co-author of the international bestseller Blockchain Revolution.

The Web, and with it the Internet, are entering a new age. We’ve moved from the “Read-only Web,” which had little functionality for interacting with content, to the “Read-Write Web,” which offered seemingly endless collaborative opportunities, from sharing with our favorite people to shopping at our favorite brands. But the profusion of cyberattacks, data hacks, and online profiling have left many of us to view digital life as a Faustian bargain in need of a major rethink.

That rethink is Web3, the “Read-Write-Own Web”—a decentralized Internet where individuals own their own identities and can securely trade assets like money, securities, intellectual property, and art peer to peer. Made possible by blockchains, the foundational technology of bitcoin, Web3 promises the biggest shake up of business since the invention of double-entry bookkeeping in the Middle Ages. It is the Internet’s new frontier.

In Web3, award-winning author and technology investor Alex Tapscott provides a cutting-edge guide to the Internet’s next era. Covering everything from the metaverse and non-fungible tokens to DAOs, decentralized finance, and self-sovereign identity, this indispensable, forward-thinking book describes the building blocks and often hidden technologies that will be foundational to our cultural and economic progress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063299955
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/19/2023
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	126,429
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Alex Tapscott is an entrepreneur, business author, and seasoned capital markets professional focused on the impact of emerging technologies such as Web3, AI, VR/AR and the Metaverse on business, government, and society. Alex also runs the Digital Assets Group at Ninepoint Partners, a leading investment firm with $8 billion in assets under management and institutional contract, where he recently launched the Ninepoint Web3 Innovators ETF(TKN-TSX). His writing has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, TIME, Fortune, and many other publications. Alex is the co-author of the critically acclaimed bestseller, Blockchain Revolution, translated into more than 19 languages. His other books, Financial Services Revolution and Digital Asset Revolution were published in 2020 and 2022 respectively. His latest book, Web3: Charting the Internet’s Next Economic and Cultural Frontier, will be published September 19^th, 2023. 

Editorial Reviews

07/31/2023

User ownership of digital assets is the future of the internet, according to this thought-provoking treatise. Tapscott (coauthor of Blockchain Revolution), a managing director at the Ninepoint Partners investment firm, explores the possibilities presented by Web3, a proposed vision for how the internet might evolve to become decentralized and grant users greater control over their data. According to Tapscott, tokens, or “digital assets,” are the heart of this new system because they can be programmed to serve a variety of purposes (tokens representing a digital dollar, he notes, can be designed to break down into smaller units, but tokens can also be designed to remain indivisible for, say, recording a vote in an election). Web3 offers new economic opportunities, Tapscott argues, discussing how non-fungible tokens, aka NFTs—“unique digital goods” that can be bought, sold, and owned—allow artists to earn royalties on resales. The author highlights companies at the forefront of Web3, such as Decentraland, “a decentralized 3D reality platform collectively owned by its users.” Tapscott excels at drawing out the wide-ranging potential of the burgeoning technology, and the straightforward explanations of how it works will be appreciated by those who don’t know bitcoin from blockchains (the latter of which, he explains, are “distributed ledgers of transactions that everyone can see but no single party can alter”). This will ignite readers’ curiosity. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Web3 will have a profound impact on the global economy and our society. Alex Tapscott has once again stepped up with timely and essential guidance to help us navigate the tremendous change underway —and the challenges and opportunities ahead." — Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal

"Web3 is a breathtaking innovation that holds great promise but also peril for those who dismiss the future. Tapscott has written a book we need as we enter a new epoch for computing and for society." — Larry Summers, Former United States Secretary of the Treasury

"With Web3, Tapscott has captured the zeitgeist. We are on the brink of an extraordinary new epoch where technology can reimagine everything. With clarity of thought and deep insights, this book explores Web3's immense potential." — Steve Wozniak, Co-Founder of Apple Inc.

"Tapscott has shown again why he is one of the leading thinkers in the world of blockchain. Web3 is an erudite, plugged-in tour of an emerging future world where Internet users will be free of the shackles of big tech. An insightful, engaging read."  — Jeff John Roberts, Crypto Editor at Fortune magazine

"An indispensable guide to the internet's next frontier." — Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Circle

“With the rise of generative AI, the metaverse and the next generation of blockchain, Web3 is now a breakthrough platform for innovators to rebuild the world of business and the global economy for a new era of prosperity. This extraordinary book shows how.” — Klaus Schwab, Chairperson of the World Economic Forum

“This book will surely become an indispensable tool for understanding Web3 at a time when the dream of a more decentralized, user-controlled internet is on the cusp of becoming a mainstream reality.”   — Camila Russo, Founder of The Defiant, Author of The Infinite Machine 

“Insightful, lively and fun to read. This book is a wonderful guide to Web3. Every person who is curious and cares about the future of commerce, culture and society should read this book.”  — Yat Siu, Co-Founder of Animoca Brands 

“Web3 has the potential to disrupt the experience economy by merging the digital and physical worlds, enabling fast-moving companies to WIN. Tapscott's vision for the future empowers leaders to put technology to work as Web3 matures in the years to come.”  — Bill McDermot, CEO of ServiceNow 

"Alex Tapscott does a brilliant job of dissecting the impact of Web3—how it will change power dynamics, its implications for the next generation, and where innovation must be understood rather than vilified. From one of the leading voices and thinkers in blockchain technology, this is a must-have in any library: digital or otherwise."  — Angie Lau, Editor in Chief, Co-CEO of Forkast Labs 

From the Publisher

Tapscott has once again stepped up with timely and essential guidance to help us navigate the tremendous change underway —and the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

CEO of PayPal Dan Schulman

With Web3, Tapscott has captured the zeitgeist. We are on the brink of an extraordinary new epoch where technology can reimagine everything. With clarity of thought and deep insights, this book explores Web3’s immense potential.”

co-founder of Apple Inc. Steve Wozniak