Author name: @nobumei (https://twitter.com/nobu_mei)
<aside> đź’ˇ This page explains Fat Protocol, an important concept in Web 3.0.
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In the previous section, we described tokens and smart contracts, which are essential to talk about the future of the Internet.
In this issue, we will discuss the "Fat Protocol," an important concept in Web 3.0.
Fat Protocol is the theory that in Web 3.0, protocols are more valuable than applications such as GAFA. It is now accepted as the standard theory for Web 3.0 characteristics.
This may be a bit explanatory, but protocols are the rules and regulations for everyone's use.
In terms of the existing Internet, protocols include TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, TLS/SSL, and others that we interact with on a daily basis but are not aware of. With these protocols in place, the infrastructure for basic applications such as e-mail and file transfers is available.
To add to the image, the URL "www" is part of the World Wide Web, a protocol developed to allow people around the world to communicate using the same rules.
Hypothetically, it is easy to imagine how inconvenient it would be if each country had a separate communication standard, such as "xxx" in Japan, "yyyy" in the U.S., and "zzz" in China, for example. Therefore, "Let's unify the standards and rules for what everyone in the world uses!" This is what the protocol is all about.
Standards for these protocols have been developed by government agencies, non-profit organizations, private companies, academic institutions, and sometimes volunteer engineers, and have been developed as open source for anyone to use.
The protocols developed in this way were used by people all over the world, but those who contributed were never rewarded financially.
The reason is that the Web 2.0 protocol layer is not profitable. See the figure below.
“Fat Protocol Theory" showing that the value of protocols will be greater in Web 3.0
The vertical axis shows the size of the value, or how large the market is, with the left side representing the current Web 2.0 Internet and the right side representing the Web 3.0 Internet.
The previous generation of shared protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, WWW, etc.) came to be used worldwide and mediated immeasurable "value”. However, most of it is aggregated at the application layer, mostly as data, and most of the value is proprietary. Think of Tech giants like Google and Facebook.
In the Web 2.0 Internet, the protocol layer was highly public, but because it was developed as open source, the financial returns were low, and the best talent was attracted to applications created by companies that could pay high salaries.
This relationship between protocol and application is inverted in Web 3.0. Value is concentrated in the protocol layer, changing to a structure where some of that value is distributed to the application.
Two concepts that are important for understanding this structure are smart contracts and tokens, as explained in the previous section.