Web3 Concepts Dictionary

Explore key concepts at four levels of understanding, from simple explanations to deep technical insights.

Understanding Levels

🧒
ELI5
Simple explanation
🔨
Curious Builder
Practical overview
⚙️
Practicing Engineer
Technical details
🚀
Full-Stack Web3 Developer
Deep dive
❓
Discussion Questions
Reflection prompts

Data Sovereignty

Decentralized Databases

Full Stack Web3 Apps & the "Walkaway Test"

Using Arkiv Instead of Traditional App Servers

Trustlessness: Verification Over Blind Trust

Protocol → Platform Drift (The "Convenience Trap")

The Six Requirements of a Trustless System

The "Three Laws" of Trustless Design

"Ethereum as a Shared Hard Drive" (The Cypherpunk Stack Idea)

IPFS, Swarm, and Other "Walkaway-Friendly" Storage Options

Incentives Aren't Enough (You Need a "Social Layer")

"Serverless" Next.js on Vercel: not "no server," "no server you manage"

Truly Fully Serverless Apps

Real-World Examples of Serverless Systems

The Big Picture (Compression Layer)

Traditional stack:

App owns users → server owns data → company owns reality

This stack:

Users own keys → data owns history → apps are replaceable views

The technical shift is real.
The philosophical shift is bigger.

The reward is not decentralization for its own sake.
It's systems that survive their creators.

Sources