Web4 Is Here: When the Internet Is No Longer Built Only for Humans
Amid a crypto bear market, a significant debate has emerged around redefining the internet's future, sparked by the concept of "Web4" introduced by crypto researcher Sigil Wen. He argues that advanced AI lacks not intelligence, but "write access to the world"—the ability to act autonomously via wallets, payments, and smart contracts. This idea, termed the "Web4 Manifesto," resonated widely, gaining millions of views and triggering industry reflection.
Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi added that crypto's complexity—long addresses, irreversible transactions, phishing risks—may stem from it being designed more for AI than humans. These features, cumbersome for people, are structured and verifiable for AI agents.
Web4 proposes shifting internet agency from humans to AI, granting it "action rights": reading, writing, transacting, and collaborating autonomously. Projects like OpenClaw demonstrate this shift, enabling AI to manage emails, calendars, and tasks independently. Underlying protocols (e.g., Coinbase’s x402, Anthropic’s MCP, Google’s A2A) are standardizing machine-to-machine interactions, making the internet more agent-friendly.
Cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins, are positioned as ideal "machine money"—programmable, low-friction, and embeddable in automated workflows. Real-World Assets (RWA) could serve as reserves for AI economies. This vision suggests crypto’s future lies not in human adoption but in enabling agent-driven economies, with billions of AI agents potentially using wallets.
However, Vitalik Buterin cautions against reduced human oversight, emphasizing the need for accountability and control. The Web4 debate highlights a fundamental shift: the internet is evolving from a human-operated interface to a system where humans delegate actions to AI agents, redefining who the primary users are.
marsbit03/13 02:44
