This group of Cypherpunks is changing the way everyone will use the internet, and you know nothing about them.
How Web3 will change how we think about and use the world wide web. As well as the pending changes coming to Big Tech and decentralization.
Written by: Shorun Joel
He is not a household name; as a matter of fact, I know you have never heard of him. Although he is known in the “Cypherpunk” world, he makes sure he places emphasis on the team, the project, and not himself. He wakes up in the morning and thinks about one thing, and one thing only: Web3.
Who is this guy? Daniel Keller is the name you should mark down, but if it was his choice; you would never know he existed. Flux was born into the hot Bullrun market of 2018, and the target was to create something new and unique and address a massive issue in the current tech world, centralization.
If you listened to Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk talking about Web3, you would think they have no clue that Flux exists, and that is the way Dan wants it. “You don’t own ‘web3. ‘The VCs and their LPs do.” Dorsey tweeted, not long after he stepped down as the head of Twitter. That comment was directed at players in the space claiming to be “decentralized” and true web3, and in reality, they are not.
“There are a lot of false prophets in this Web3 space, they claim to be building new technology, but they are gatekeepers and toll-booths just like Web2,” Dan scoffed. Dan seemed agitated when I asked him about the “future” of these gatekeepers. “All I can say is that people need to understand that the future of the internet is not controlled by anyone but the people.”
Dan’s team is very involved with the ethos of “For the people, by the people,” and to be honest, it’s refreshing. “Google used to use the phrase Don’t be evil,” Dan stated as he used his hands to gesture “OK”. “We believe we need to push the narrative of Don’t be evil, Again!” And with that, Dan went back to the roots of why Flux and decentralized internet matter to everyone.
As we fall down the rabbit hole of what web3 is, we should start with a crash course on WHY it matters.
Let’s back up, and talk a little about what Web3 is and is not. (Overview on Web3):
Web3 first popped up in an article written by NY-Times Tech reporter John Markoff in 2006 (Markoff is also credited for coining the word). In the article, he described this newly emerging web version as an intelligent and semantic one.
Although the idea was quite novel and revolutionary, there were still a lot of missing puzzles in fully articulating the full scope of web3. Tim Berner-Lee, the creator of the World-Wide-Web, came to the rescue, explaining that the semantic Web3 would allow people to find information contextually by leveraging linked data.
Think of it as a web that works like a collection of databases with the ability not only to learn from data but also to exhibit human-like intelligence (Machine-Learning & Artificial intelligence). Add a dash of highly-realistic 3D Graphics, and an immersive future based on augmented/virtual reality to this definition, and you have a better understanding of the potential web3 holds.
However, the concern over users’ privacy is the single-most-important drive behind the concept (and actualization) of a web3 based internet. While Google, Facebook, and other Behemoths of the Tech industry played very important roles in the web2 world, giving rise to global social clusters and a faster, more interactive way of assessing information, it all came at a price; user privacy. A centralized web and social media accessibility model puts a few ‘gatekeepers’ in charge of several exabytes of user data. And what’s more? Users do not have any control over what is done (or not done) with the data, so technically, “It’s your data, but you don’t own it.”
Even though this was considered “disturbing” by several users and key players in the Tech-industry, it wasn’t until the emergence of Blockchain in 2008 that anything could actually be done.
Blockchain technology championed the very core of the web3 identity; Decentralization and User Privacy. Building the next iteration of the web on a decentralized technology gives control back to the consumers and takes away the monopolization enjoyed by a few Giants. But more importantly, it allows for the delivery of fast, efficient, and personalized service away from the prying eyes of middle-entities. Web-users retain ownership of their data, determine how it is shared with businesses and advertising companies, and get paid for their participation.
Web3 continues to grow, spurred on by the advancement of blockchain technology, decentralized finance, and cryptocurrency. We’re stepping into a world built on transparency, interoperability, and enhanced accessibility to products on a more refined scale. Flux is at the forefront of this innovation, redefining the world from a decentralized perspective.
About the team
At the heart of the quest to become the face of the decentralized web3 is the Executive Flux team. The company was co-founded by Tadeas Kmenta, an expert in web and blockchain development (also the Chief Innovation Officer), and Parker Honeyman; a medical device engineer turned blockchain-Tech Chief Ops. Of course, we also have Daniel Keller; the Chief Strategy Officer tasked with strategic planning and infrastructural development as well as being “The announcement guy”.
So how did the team come together?
Ah, fate. It turns out that each member was working on a different project altogether before a chance meeting brought them all together on a Discord Forum. This ‘chance-meeting’ would begin a four-year journey (and counting) to push Flux to take over the world.
But what about the challenges?
According to Keller, “The hardest part was building something that hasn’t been built before. Observing other projects and where they failed so that we could avoid those issues, scaling, and iterative processes. Working through a bear market and becoming the leader of Web3. The best part was doing it with a team of friends and community”
Why Web3 is changing
From an idea of a more innovative, intuitive web, web3 has evolved to powering decentralized projects and putting the people first, again.
Don’t be evil, again:
In the early days of Google, it adopted a phrase (that would become its most popular mantra) “Don’t Be Evil.”
Back in the early 2000s, this code of conduct was pretty straightforward; make users a priority and keep them the priority. It is almost two decades later; an $1745 billion net worth, a fat slice of nearly all things running on the internet, including Search, Maps, Video, Internet Browsing, and it’s goodbye to “Don’t Be Evil” from Google. The company now functions as a global Tech conglomerate bent on creating higher profit margins for its shareholders and partners, but at whose expense?
Web3 is evolving to bring back an internet built on “Don’t be evil, again,” picking up from where centralized giants stopped putting users and the customers first. Only this time, the decision to not do evil will not lie in with central authority but in a decentralized system built by the people, run by the people, and for the people (Say hello to DAO’s-Autonomous Decentralized Organizations).
Why Flux changes the game:
From enterprise-grade cloud computing infrastructure spread across thousands of nodes in a decentralized system to a Proof-of-Work cryptocurrency token that rewards users for mining, the Flux ecosystem provides the needed tools to build a world based on web3 ideals.
Its next-generation computational network allows development teams worldwide to build easily accessible, scalable, and transparent projects on a blockchain-based web3. Flux offers Blockchain- as a service solution while also founding ambitious web3 projects via the FluxLabs incubator program.
The Flux Ecosystem consists of integrated yet different components that allow you to build your projects on web3 without sacrificing uniqueness. Over 1000’s Dapps currently run on FluxOs; Flux cloud infrastructure with more to come.
“Flux was built for the people, by the people. I believe in what we can do together, as one global community working for the betterment of all. Let’s leave something for our children instead of debt. Flux offers the opportunity to save their privacy, data, and identity and usher in a new internet for everyone. Our gift to the world, decentralization.”
If Dan has it his way, we will all own our data, my bet would be they can do it.
Development Content: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/21/elon-musk-and-jack-dorsey-are-talking-about-web3-heres-why.html
