Jack Dorsey builds ‘Web5’ powered by Bitcoin

by · July 5, 2022

The block subsidiary TBD has announced plans to build a new decentralized web centered around Bitcoin (BTC), which underscores founder Jack Dorsey’s belief that the largest blockchain network will play an important role in internet development.

The new project, called “Web5”, represents the latest Bitcoin-centric endeavor that Dorsey has followed since resigning as CEO of Twitter in November 2021.

While Web3 incorporates blockchain technology and tokenization to decentralize the Internet, Web5 is envisioned as an identity-based system that uses only one blockchain: Bitcoin. Twitter user Namcios broke down the Web5 concept into a series of tweets describing several software components that work together to enhance the user experience and enable decentralized identity management.

Block has a high vision of “developing the web” by prioritizing identity management. Source: Block

According to Namcios, Web5 uses ION, which they describe as an “open, public and unauthorized DID network running at the top of the Bitcoin blockchain.”

The Web3 Foundation describes DIDs as decentralized identifiers that enable “verifiable, decentralized digital identity.”

Web5 is essentially a decentralized web platform, or DWP, that allows developers to create decentralized web apps via DIDs and decentralized nodes, according to TBD’s prototype documents. Web5 will also have a monetary network centered around BTC, which reflects Dorsey’s belief that the digital asset will one day become the Internet’s original currency.

Related: Jack Dorsey’s Block Profits $ 1.3 Billion in First Quarter, $ 43 Million in BTC Trading Revenue

Dorsey’s motivation to pursue a new web development model may stem from his belief that Web3 will never achieve true decentralization. The Block CEO has publicly criticized Web3 and the venture capital community for supporting the development. In December 2021, Dorsey tweeted that individuals do not own Web3 VCs and their limited partners do. “It will never escape their incentives,” he said. “It’s ultimately a centralized entity with a different brand.”