Your first steps to becoming a Web3 citizen
Set up your account
You need a wallet to use the web3. Choose a wallet that fits your needs
You need a wallet to create an account and use dApps
Use your wallet to create the account, and create a backup to keep it safe
You need some $NEAR tokens in your account for most dApps to work
Explore dApps built on NEAR
All these new paradigms are enabled and ensured by the core properties of the blockchain
Ref.Finance is a community-led, multi-purpose DeFi platform built on NEAR Protocol.
Skyward Finance is a fully permissionless open sourced launchpad that allows projects to launch their tokens without any liquidity with the best price discovery mechanism that’s resistant to bots and sybil attacks.
Decentralized Finance, of DeFi, lies at the core of the Web3 movement. This sector leverages how tokens are valued and exchanged without the barriers to access as with traditional finance. It illustrates the power of ownership by giving token holders complete control of their assets, and allowing them pseudo-anonymity in how they participate.
Non-Fungible Tokens are unique digital assets that are fundamental to the idea of ownership in Web3. The assets you own are recorded on the blockchain and are easily verifiable from anyone in the world at any time. More importantly, they are immutable–no authority can seize them. This powerful combination of transparency and permanence, make NFTs a remarkable tool for various use cases surrounding identity and ownership.
Seatlab is an NFT event ticketing marketplace helping artists foster closer connections with fans, eliminating fraud and reducing the impact of scalping.
Tamago offers a platform for decentralized audio streaming.
Community thrives in Web3, and the projects helping users freely interact and share information while maintaining ownership of their data give a glimpse of how connection will evolve in the open web.
Sweatcoin is a free app which rewards your daily steps with a new-generation currency you can spend on cool products, donate to charity or convert into SWEAT.
Blogchain App is a publishing platform created for independent writers, providing them with a decentralized, censorship-resistant, and user-friendly space to engage and grow their audience.
Why it matters
Our world is in urgent need of change
From climate change, to the increasing centralisation of power, the existential threat of a global collapse demands global action in every sector of society.
You can be part of this change. Become a Web3 citizen.
How Web3 on NEAR empowers you
The basis for an inclusive, fair and open world
Regain Ownership
Take control of your assets, data and identity
On web2 platforms like Facebook, you need to hand over control of your data and identity to these platforms. And they can harvest all this data any way they like. They manipulate you to maximize monetization. They control what content is on top of your feed and what content gets silenced/censored. You don’t really own assets on the platform, as they can arbitrarily decide to change the rules etc. – Whether it is a blue checkmark on a social network or a precious armor in an online game.
In web3, you can stay in full control of your assets while using dApps – nobody can suddenly take them away from you. Blockchain-based apps are completely transparent, you can see what happens with your data and how the assets you give control over will be used. Nobody has the power to suddenly change the rules, censor data or take assets away.
How you can regain Ownership…
…with dApps available today
Wallets (like MyNearWallet) give you (and only you) complete control over your tokens, NFTs and other assets you own on the NEAR network
Few and Far enables creators to launch and monetize NFTs and for buyers and sellers to securely custody assets and hold self-sovereign identities.
…once Web3 is fully built out
You will only need to reveal what is necessary about your information to use a certain service. You control all aspects of your identity and who gets access to which part of it when
Will enable the owner to exercise full control of their ownership. Selling a real estate for instance would not require a notary or any other legal process.
Interact freely
Exchange information and values without being manipulated or controlled
Our interactions and relationships are increasingly surveilled. Content can get censored and money transfers blocked. The big social media platforms have total control over your interactions. The result: Censorship of messages, nontransparent filtering/prioritization of content, lock-in (you cannot take your social graph with you). Current financial systems disenfranchise the poorest and most vulnerable in the world.
In Web3, all interactions and value transfers can happen permissionlessly and cannot be censored or manipulated. With the blockchain, we can create financial and social platforms that are open to everyone. This enables freedom of speech in social communities as well as providing financial sovereignty.
How you can interact freely…
…with dApps available today
Community-owned social platform delivering NFTs feeds to your mobile device, and rewards users who actively participate.
A social app like Instagram that leverages web3. Take a photo and mint it as NFT with one click, share and sell it however you like.
…once Web3 is fully built out
Imagine having your own universal social graph that you can use for identity verification, apps, loans, credit scoring, and more.
Rather than donating to the causes you champion, allow others to invest in your efforts. The better you do, the better they do.
Participate in fair economies
New models distribute value and incentivize positive behavior
Today, social media shows us content that “keeps us on the hook” to maximize their ad revenues. Many say this is a large contributor to the increased divide in our society. Web2 services are usually free for users – but real product on these platforms are the users’ data, behavior and attention that is sold, usually to advertising companies. The platform owner as middlemen is reaping large profits from this, users do not get a share of the value created besides the free service itself.
In Web3 economies, everyone gets their fair share, and incentives are fully transparent. Thereby, any collective can build its own functioning economy, and any person with internet access has the ability to participate. When the value creation and transfer within an economy is determined by rules on the blockchain, this cuts out the middleman that is controlling and monetizing today’s centralized platform. The result is an economic model (a.k.a. Tokenomics) that the community of users agree on.
Not all economic models are sustainable: Some Web3 projects misuse incentives to maximize growth of their platform, and this can lead to unstable systems that result in crashes like the Terra/Luna/Anker case. Be diligent and careful before putting your money into projects.
How you can participate in fair economies…
…with dApps available today
Anyone can suggest news articles on the blockchain, there is a voting process to select the articles to be published and the authors of the articles get compensated when published
The SweatCoin app rewards your daily steps with a new-generation currency you can spend on cool products, donate to charity or convert into SWEAT.
…once Web3 is fully built out
Web3 rideshare apps and the gig economy will give service providers the lion share of the revenue they created and more flexibility, while passengers pay less for those services.
Accredited education and the Learn2Earn economy will be available to everyone, giving educators more autonomy and better pay while providing students with high-quality education without a mountain of debt.
Start learning
Learn about Web3 and NEAR
Watch NEAR on YouTube
Dive deeper
Start building
Understand why to build on NEAR
Get an example running in minutes
Learn to code on NEAR