12 Key Differences Between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0: Virtual Worlds, Play To Earn Games, Digital Tokens, NFTs And More

Growth of the metaverse continues to pick up steam, with companies placing monetary bets and filing for trademarks related to the new growth sector.

JPMorgan Chase JPM recently filed a report on the metaverse and a $1 trillion opportunity called “Opportunities in the metaverse: how businesses can explore the metaverse and navigate the hype vs. reality.”

The 18-page report coincides with JPMorgan opening a lounge in Decentraland, one of several virtual land companies that also has its own token called Decentraland MANA/USD.

JPMorgan sees a transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 happening over the next several years and lays out the key differences between the two as reported below.

Virtual Worlds
Web 2.0: Second Life, Roblox Corp RBLX, Fortnite
Web 3.0: Decentraland, The Sandbox SAND/USD, Crytpovoxes, Somnium Spaces
Organizational Structure
Web 2.0: Centrally owned, decision based on adding shareholder value
Web 3.0: Community governance such as DAOs and native tokens, decisions are based on community input
Data Storage
Web 2.0: Centralized
Web 3.0: Decentralized
Platform
Web 2.0: PC, consoles, virtual reality, augmented reality, mobile and apps
Web 3.0: PC, virtual reality, augmented reality, mobile and apps coming soon
Payments Infrastructure
Web 2.0: Traditional payments like credit cards and debit cards
Web 3.0: cryptocurrency wallets
Digital Asset Ownership
Web 2.0: Leased within platform where purchased
Web 3.0: Owned by users through non-fungible tokens
Digital Assets Portability
Web 2.0: Locked within platform
Web 3.0: Transferrable
Content Creators
Web 2.0: Game studios and developers
Web 3.0: Community, game studios and developers
Activities
Web 2.0: socialization, multi-player games, game streaming, competitive games (esports)
Web 3.0: play to earn games, experiences, socialization, multi-player games, game streaming competitive games (esports
Identity
Web 2.0: In platform avatar
Web 3.0: Interoperable identity, anonymous private key based identities
Payments
Web 2.0: In platform virtual currency like Robux for Roblox
Web 3.0: Cryptocurrencies and tokens
Content Revenues
Web 2.0: Platform or app store earns 30% of every game purchased, 70% of purchases goes to developers
Web 3.0: Peer to peer, developers earn direct revenue and royalties on secondary trades of NFTs, users can earn through play or participation in governance.

Related Link: What Is Web 3.0? 

Why It’s Important: JPMorgan sees several virtual worlds being created and extending the amount of digital social interactions.

Role-playing worlds have been around for years, with JPMorgan citing “Second Life” and “The Sims.” Other examples of popular digital worlds where people spend hours each week interacting with other users include “Minecraft” from Microsoft Corp MSFT and “World of Warcraft” from Activision Blizzard ATVI.

Virtual events by musicians and trademarks filed by companies related to the metaverse could have once been a headline only event. JPMorgan now sees these events as the vision of the metaverse.

“We are now at an inflection point,” JPMorgan said in the report.

A shift to play-to-earn games and NFTs could forever change the way video games are played and gives players a way to own the items they purchase and also share in the success of the game monetarily.

Tokens also give holders a vote and voice in decision-making.

The growth of Web 3.0 could expand the use cases for crypto wallets and cryptocurrencies.