Token
Genesis Block
Gas
Fork
Fiat Currency
Ethereum
ERC-20
Dapps
Consensus
Centralized vs Decentralized
Blockchain
Bitcoin vs Altcoin
API
51 Attack

Knowledge base on web3 / blockchain / DLT

Welcome to our Knowledge Base.

We have structured the materials in a way that someone who doesn’t have much idea about web3 (a.k.a. DLT, blockchain, or dApps) can start from the very beginning (FOUNDATION) and then make your way in a logical order to learn the aspects of IMPLEMENTATION of your own project and expand your understanding of possible applications in the USE CASES section.

Alternatively, if you already know the basics or are short of time, feel free to dive into specifics relevant to your vertical or use case under the USE CASES section and then peek into FOUNDATION and IMPLEMENTATION materials as required.

FOUNDATION

This section explains what is the deal with Web3 / blockchain / DLT and how it is relevant to you. In most cases it is relevant even if you don’t know it yet. Web3 is a an important evolution across the internet and economy so chances are your business, your industry and your life will be affected sooner or later.

As with many new industries and developments, the “settlers” take all the land – i.e. there is an early mover advantage. The “pioneers” have already established the path and got their “arrows” but for the early “settlers” the time is still ripe. It is actually still pretty early, despite feeling like many years have passed for those who are inside the web3 / blockchain technology bubble. You can benefit from being one of the first in your sector to properly embrace blockchain technology and build your own self-propelling web3 based ecosystem. You can even become an expert in this area because there is still a huge gap in understanding of the technology with most people only being able to grasp the superficial and popular aspects such as cryptocurrencies and NFT digital art. Web3 is much more and it is relevant for your industry. This gap of understanding is especially huge in vertical specific applications where corporates and even new and innovative startups simply cannot realize how readily available web3 technologies and tools are capable of propelling a new kind of growth and meaningfulness for their projects.

Even if you are not going to use web3 and DLT in your work, it would still be beneficial to read through the foundation section and learn the important fundamentals so that you can make informed choices going forward. In the end, not every technology is for everyone and as Steve Jobs and many other successful entrepreneurs have said, it is even more important to know when to say ‘no’ and decide what NOT to do. Learning what web3 tech actually is and what it does in similar use cases as yours will put you in a stronger position capable to make informed choices and defend them with your knowledge.

Our motivation in preparing these educational materials and carrying out the educational work is also driven by our understanding of this chasm between web3 tech / techies bubble and the real world economy sector. We have entered this market to offer our expertise and tools to bridge this gap; what we find too often however is this gap is too wide for many individuals and corporations making it very difficult for the two worlds to speak the same language and collaborate to create the added value for everybody’s good. To conclude our intro, market needs much more education in web3 concepts and you will do yourself and others a great service by spending at least a few hours learning the fundamentals as well as diving into some vertical-specific and product/technology-specific implementation notes. Our Web3 Knowledge Base hereby is prepared for you to consume for exactly that purpose. Enjoy!

Intro: What is Web3 and why should our business care about it?

Why web3 / blockchain? Isn’t this some sort of fancy database?
How is this relevant to my work and personal life?

Mastering the core concepts of blockchain and web3

Blockchain networks 101 

Why distributed ledger and what that is. Answers to all the questions you thought are stupid. Only they are not.

Learning about cryptocurrencies

Why cryptocurrencies? What are cryptocurrencies anyway and how are they relevant to my business that has nothing to do with Bitcoin? 

Learning about smart contracts (dApps)

What is tokenization and smart contracts. What is DeFi. 

Learning about decentralized governance and DAO

Note: this is an advanced section.

A little bit about decentralized governance and DAO.

IMPLEMENTATION

Intro: Implementing your own web3 solutions

Things you were afraid to ask. How much does it cost and how long?
Which blockchain to choose?
Do we need smart contract developers?
Do we have to open the data to the public? Can we host it in our data center?

The anatomy of a Web3 application

How is this different from a Web2 application? Do you simply add a smart contract?
Why (and whether) you need Frontend and Backend in your Web3 applications. Can it connect with your legacy systems such as users database, CRM, or ERP?

Developers

I need something build therefore you need developers, right? Yes and no; read this section to learn about your options.

A) Find suitable web3 / blockchain developers in your area.

Shall you go for a local or global, large or small, specialized web3, or an all-encompassing integrator / digital agency? Who are “blockchain developers” anyway? How many are there in my area? How do they differentiate? What if I pick the ones with a ‘wrong’ blockchain or tech stack? 

B) Learning web3 development for yourself / your team.

This route saves you some money and gains in-house web3 expertise. Potentially, if you do it right. And you need a significant time investment in addition to motivation and suitable human resources to get this going. This might be a great choice for some organizations, however.

C) Using nocode / lowcode web3 solutions

Can I avoid building my own web3 application and use some no-code or blockchain-as-a-service platforms instead? In short YES, this is possible. This section will teach you about nuances so you can make an informed decision.

You may also want to refer to “The anatomy of a Web3” application section above and decide which parts of the solution you want to “build” vs which ones you want to “buy” (where the latter one might also include using open-source or free tier saas / no-code products).

YOUR SELF-PROPELLING WEB3 ENGINE

Intro: Token Economy, Governance, and Gamification. Why are these important, how are they connected, and how it’s relevant to your project?

How to develop your web3 token economy

How (and whether) to implement DAO decentralized governance for your project 

Web3 social (chats, user-generated content and social economy)

Communication and user-generated content has worked great for Web2 and there is absolutely not reason your Web3 project can’t use it. Learn how.

Gamification and Retention

What are the mechanisms to improve the stickiness of your web3 ecosystem beyond the token economy? We’ll talk about things such as referral bonuses, join and activity bonuses, automated giveaways, Push Notifications, and a bit of game theory.

EXAMPLES (USE CASES) OF SUCCESSFUL WEB3 PROJECTS

Anonymized case studies – all from our real practice.
You’ll be surprised how Web3 actually makes a lot of sense in so many industries.
And this is just the beginning – you are here to learn what is possible and then go and build even better things!

DICTIONARY

Our dictionary of important Web3 terms and concepts.

 

B

BAT (Basic Attention Token)

Blockchain Developer

C

Crypto wallet

Crypto wallets Hot and Cold, difference

D

Decentralized Finance or DeFi

Documents (storing and tracking provenance on-chain)

E

Ethereum node

F

Facebook Libra Reserve

I

Immutable ledger

IPFS

N

NFT

S

Smart contract

T

Token distribution