The following content is translated from Jan Xie, the Chief Architect of Nervos CKB's tweet. The original English text can be found at: https://x.com/busyforking/status/1825729748892528685
Peer-to-peer messaging and consensus are like the yin and yang of the encrypted economic network. However, it seems that the focus is mostly on the novel consensus layer protocol, while the P2P layer is being overlooked. Just a reminder, the term "peer-to-peer" appears in the title of the Bitcoin whitepaper (while the term "blockchain" does not appear at all in the entire whitepaper).
In terms of architecture, the main difference between Web5 and Web3 lies in the emphasis on the P2P network. In Web5, the blockchain or consensus layer is merely a means to achieve larger goals, a complement to the P2P network, like the yin (or yang) within the yin and yang. Do we really need to cram everything we can think of into the consensus layer and move the whole world onto the chain? The endless on-chain landscape in Web3 is not only incomplete but also monotonous. In contrast, the concept of Web5 is simple and clear: build a P2P network with the chain, allowing yin and yang to coexist. (Okay, I admit Web5 sounds like a lame joke, but trust me, it's more than just a joke.)
Why? Because in most cases, it's best for us to handle problems directly on our own, without involving any unnecessary intermediaries (such as consensus validators or block producers). If Alice wants to pay Bob 1000 satoshis/USDT/other currency, the ideal way is for Alice to directly give the money to Bob, rather than going through some validator, because it's not only faster but also naturally provides privacy protection. Even if direct transactions are not possible, it's still a better choice to complete the transaction through professional payment processors like Charlie, because: 1. Alice can choose Charlie or Daniel or someone else as the payment processor; 2. Alice can minimize the intermediate steps and better protect privacy compared to making the payment public to everyone; 3. Payment processors have flexibility, they can provide customized services to meet the preferences of different recipients. This is exactly the advantage of payment channel networks (such as the Bitcoin Lightning Network and CKB Fiber Network), and the reason why we favor them. Payment channel networks are essentially P2P networks.
This logic applies equally to other scenarios, such as when Alice wants to rent 10GB of storage space from Bob for 3 months, or when Bob wants to outsource a heavy computation task to Alice's computer cluster for 1 week. It's better to let people execute transactions (of any type) autonomously. The role of the blockchain or consensus layer here is to facilitate the formation and coordination of transactions, not to take over the execution of transactions. In this new architecture of Web5, the blockchain runs in parallel with the P2P network. The P2P network is a place for information exchange, a marketplace for consumers and producers, a place for inquiries and bids (possibly presented in the form of public/partially public transactions). Whenever a demand match is found in the P2P network, the blockchain intervenes, providing smart contracts and guarantees to ensure that the decentralized market operates like a real-world market. A decentralized economy built on a diverse P2P network and market-executing blockchain is closer to a free market than economies built on resource-consuming "blockchains that can do everything."
Web5 is a revival of the original spirit of the distributed P2P network, combined with a new type of consensus layer that can be achieved in today's era. It is the realization of an information + value network. Web2 + Web3 is not just a pun, Web5 is real.
📖 Recommended reading:
- Jan Xie: The Reasons and Ways of Bitcoin Renaissance
- Why Nostr is important: Freedom from being ruled by servers
- On Cryptonihilism