What is Web4? The EU wants to explain

The European Commission announced on Tuesday a litany of projects it wants to pursue to advance Web4 adoption over the next several years

article-image

3DJustincase/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

The European Commission is looking to leapfrog Web3, favoring a so-called Web4 initiative released Tuesday — featuring little detail on how blockchain would come into play. 

The Web4 nomenclature, for the commission, hits as the public has been trying to wrap their minds around Web3. A June survey conducted by YouGov and Consensys found 8% of people consider themselves to be familiar with Web3 as a concept. 

The European Commission (EC) defines Web4 as a blend between artificial intelligence, the internet of things, blockchain, virtual worlds, and extended reality capabilities. 

In statements around the Web4 push, it mentioned no specifics as to what blockchain technology would be used. Or the extent to which it would be used at all. 

Details were extraordinarily limited in terms of how blockchain or crypto will be included throughout. An EC representative did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Though crypto’s role in Web4 remains murky, the EC was much more clear about how the initiative would use virtual technologies. 

XR, also known as extended reality, brings together augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR), according to Arm, a semiconductor company.

Web4, according to the EC, appears to be a mashup of anything and everything people associate with virtual experiences and the internet.

The EC wants to be the first to capitalize on this nascent form of the internet — it hinted at such in its March outlook on the economy beyond 2030.

To move Web4 along in the business world, the EC proposed a program called Partnership on Virtual Worlds under Horizon Europe. It has a potential start date of 2025 and would try to foster research and develop an “industrial and technological roadmap for virtual worlds.”

The EC plans to support EU-based creators, media companies, developers and industrial users. It also mentioned the need to work with EU member states to preemptively draw up a regulatory framework, a similar strategy employed with MiCA for crypto regulation

The EC also mentioned Web4’s potential to advance public policy initiatives. Also in the works: a project called CitiVerse, described as “an immersive urban environment that can be used for city planning and management.”

Another project, the European Virtual Human Twin, is designed to produce a replica of the human body to aid in medical endeavors and personal treatment for diseases. 

These Web4 guidelines were in part generated by a panel in April, where 150 randomly selected European citizens made recommendations about how to fairly and safely introduce the next phase of the internet.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (6).png

Research

In recent months, a number of highly accretive developments were implemented across the protocol to improve fee capture, expand product functionality, and ultimately drive value accrual to the RUNE token, with more upgrades on the immediate horizon. These developments include hiking the minimum swap fee parameter to increase revenue, adding a Burn System Income Lever to reduce the RUNE supply, the addition of COSM-WASM smart contracting and IBC to enable an application layer, new chain integrations, and more.

article-image

Former IRS agent and Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan will remain imprisoned in Nigeria’s Kuje prison

article-image

When Permissionless III wraps on Friday, there will be 26 days left until the 2024 presidential election

article-image

Plus, an update from the ground in Salt Lake City at Permissionless III

article-image

The US regulator accused the crypto market-making firm of acting as an unregistered dealer

article-image

Customers can pay merchants in USDC or USDP on Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, while US-based merchants are paid in dollars