Original Authors: Zhao Xuan, Mao Jiehao
Recently, the term "Web4" has been trending, especially with the emergence of multi-agent (AI Agent) frameworks like OpenClaw, where AI and Crypto are increasingly mentioned together. Over the past two weeks, I've discussed and shared insights at multiple online and offline events, and I want to say to those interested in Web4: forget the obscure code and technical jargon, let's return to the essence of Web4.
From Web1 to Web4, this has never been purely a technological iteration. It is a history of power evolution—about who owns the data, how wealth is distributed, and who controls productivity. Only by understanding the transfer of power can you see where future money and opportunities will flow.
Web1: The Read-Only Era and One-Way Power Broadcasting
The early internet was like a giant library moved onto screens. Sina, Sohu, and Yahoo were the kings of that era.
Characteristics of this era—
Power structure: One-dimensional. Platforms held the microphone. They wrote, we read. They decided what the headline was, and we could only discuss that.
Asset ownership: Nothing to do with you. In this stage, users had no digital assets.
We were just traffic, pairs of eyes in front of the screen.
In short, compared to the pre-internet era, Web1 broke down physical distances, allowing information to spread at zero cost. But it had a fatal flaw: ordinary people could not participate in value creation, let alone share the pie. Thus, the era moved forward.
Web2: Panoptic Surveillance and the Invisible Expropriation of Assets
This is the era we primarily live in today. WeChat, Douyin, Didi. We not only consume content, we create it. We post on Moments, hail rides, order takeout.
In this era,表面上, power seems decentralized; everyone has an account. But in reality, this is the largest invisible expropriation of assets in human history.
Characteristics of this era—
- Power structure: Panoptic dictatorship. Borrowing philosopher Foucault's concept, super-platforms are a "panopticon." The algorithm watches you from the central tower, recording every click. The platform is both the rule-maker and the referee. A single agreement can permanently erase your social life.
- Asset ownership: Labor and rewards are completely misaligned. You contribute all the data, feed the algorithm, but the trillions in market value generated from this data belong to the platform's shareholders, not you. Your account, followers, in-game items—you only have "usage rights," not "ownership."
This model inevitably leads to monopoly and backlash. Antitrust fines are increasing, user dissatisfaction is growing. The business world needs a "violent dismantling"—returning what rightfully belongs to each individual, to each individual.
Web3: What's Yours, Is Truly Yours
In my view, Web3 is not some crypto speculation game. It is a digital power movement—where every ordinary person takes back what rightfully belongs to them from internet giants. Its core weapon is cryptography. It doesn't trust big tech's "don't be evil," it only trusts mathematics's "you can't be evil."
What this era looks like—
- Power: No one is in charge
No need to trust banks or big companies anymore. Trust is handed over to distributed nodes and open code. The form of companies is changing, with the emergence of DAOs—organizations without bosses, where everyone votes to get things done.
- Assets: What's yours is yours, no one can take it away
For the first time in history, you can truly "own" a digital asset without any institution backing you. As long as you hold the private key (a password only you know), no platform can freeze your wallet. The rules are no longer set by the platform; they are hardcoded and unchangeable.
But reality isn't so rosy.
In disputes we've handled, we've seen countless collisions between "code is law" and real-world law—hacked coins, cross-border money laundering, contract vulnerabilities. Web3 is still wild, full of pitfalls.
But it must be admitted that Web3 has indeed built a financial settlement system that traditional rules can't handle. It has everything ready, except one thing—it lacks a tireless "workforce" to truly put it to use.
Web4: The Machine Economy and the Rise of Silicon-Based Labor (40%)
Now, the singularity has arrived. Web3, this sword in the stone, has finally found its master—AI.
The EU has given a grand definition of Web4, calling it the convergence of AI, IoT, blockchain, and XR. But stripped down, the core business logic is just one thing:
Web4 = AI Agent (AI that works) + Crypto (money machines can use)
Large language models are just tools for chatting, but AI Agents are different—they can work, trade, and earn money on their own.
1. Why must AI use Crypto for settlement?
Imagine: Your AI assistant discovers an investment opportunity and needs to buy a piece of data from another company's AI. The problem is—how do these two programs transact?
Banks won't open an account for a line of code. Alipay doesn't support two AIs trading a thousand times a second for fractions of a cent. Only Crypto can handle this game.
Crypto is essentially "money for machines." In Web4, AIs will have their own wallets. They will work, spend money, and sign contracts on their own. While you sleep, your AI might have worked all night and earned money for you.
2. Power: Humans start to lose say
In Web4, power "spills over" from human hands for the first time. AI is no longer a tool, but an independent "economic agent."
You can hire a team of AIs; they will automatically divide labor, negotiate prices, and even collaborate among themselves. You just need to issue commands; they handle the rest. Humans begin to shift from "doers" to "commanders."
3. Trouble: If an AI causes trouble, who is liable?
This is a real problem we are facing.
If an AI holding tens of millions in assets suddenly "goes haywire," manipulating the market or signing a contract that bankrupts you—who is responsible?
Arrest the programmer? Sue the LLM company? Or you, the "owner"?
Traditional corporate law, contract law—all become ineffective here. Before the machine economy explodes, we must first fill these legal gaps.
4. Future: Heaven or abyss?
The endpoint of Web4 could be two completely opposite directions—
- Ideal state: Complete liberation of productivity. AI handles all the hard and tedious work, Crypto eliminates middlemen. Humans no longer need to worry about making a living, can focus on creation and decision-making, no longer being cogs in the machine.
- Harsh reality: Intensified class division. If top AI models and computing power are monopolized by a few giants, they can command billions of "silicon-based slaves" at zero cost, earning all the money. By then, ordinary people won't even have "exploitation value" left,彻底沦为系统边缘的废人 (thoroughly reduced to useless people at the edge of the system).
Heaven or abyss depends on the choices we make now.
Epilogue: Our Survival Rules in the Web4 Era
Facing this reconstruction of power and assets, what should we do? Simply put, three sentences:
- Work: Be a allocator, not an executor. Specific intellectual labor will quickly depreciate. Learn to delegate specific "tasks" to AI, users only need to set direction, control ethics, and bear risks—understanding the rules is more important than understanding the technology. You don't need to code, but you must understand the system's logic. The boundaries you set for AI are the boundaries of your business empire.
- Investment: Be cautious, see through the fog. Avoid projects that force AI and Crypto together to issue worthless tokens. Things that truly serve AI or are AI-native and align with future development directions are more likely to be the future.
- Risk Management: Let innovation dance on the edge of compliance. The more cutting-edge the business, the more top-tier compliance design is needed. Don't wait until your AI assets become courtroom evidence to realize the importance of compliance.
Conclusion
The wheel of history is crushing old consensus. Power is shifting to algorithms, assets are moving on-chain. Standing at the threshold of Web4, fear is meaningless, blind following is a disaster. Understand the underlying logic, seek the legitimacy of innovation at the edge of rules. We look forward to accompanying reliable partners, walking side by side in the future world.
