Although centralization is at the core of technology development, it has also limited the practical benefits of the technology. For example, most of the existing Internet infrastructure, also known as Web 2.0, is dominated by a handful of large technology companies. They control entire data and online behavior of users which has led to series of problems like identity theft, advertisements without user’s consent and other unwanted behavior.

Other aspects related to centralization include availability, censorship, data security and privacy, and the ability to participate in the future development of the technology. On the other hand, decentralization ensures that there is no single point of failure or point of failure in the network. That is, even if one node goes down, the network remains active, making it more difficult for an attack to bring down the entire network.

Decentralization also means that users can own their data and control how it is shared with other people or organizations on the internet without anyone’s permission (like Google or Google, Facebook or Amazon). In this digital age, people are becoming more and more concerned about privacy. Therefore, the transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 was inevitable.

Blockchain-based projects play an important role in this movement. By providing a variety of decentralized products and services such as web hosting, data storage, identity management, finance, gaming and almost all other mainstream activities, decentralization is gradually developing strongly.

Listed below are four projects that are at the forefront of adopting decentralized technologies.

Minima – Decentralized network powered by smartphones

Although blockchain technology is fully decentralized, the increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies has attracted many large investors to enter the market. As tokens like BTC have become more popular (and valuable), the underlying ecosystem of the market has also centralized.

The third generation blockchain project, Minima, aims to solve this problem with a super lightweight blockchain protocol that can work seamlessly on any mobile device. This means that end users can operate the node on their mobile phones and tablets. The general idea is to allow all users to participate in the operation of the node, while allowing the underlying network to operate at a decentralized level, which is not possible with older blockchain networks.

By design, Minima is a base-layer protocol that can operate globally on existing infrastructure. It helps address growing concerns about energy consumption and the sustainability of large networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Minima is a blockchain designed to be portable, with the user at the center of the network. This gives the project a different color than many other networks. Users can start mining with no geographic restrictions and participate in minimum maintenance. The platform has attracted more than 5,000 participants to operate the node in over 94 countries.

Authtrail – Fully decentralized data integrity platform

Data plays a critical role in decision making and is the driving force behind global economies, large corporations and just about everything. Some Web 2.0 solutions help maintain data quality, integrity, and reliability, but are limited by their centralized nature.

Authtrail opens a new frontier by using blockchain technology, connecting existing data with Web 3.0, taking data management to a whole new level. The platform has positioned itself as a provider of on-chain data integrity services by supporting an end-to-end solution for trusted data and transaction traceability, while striking an effective balance between ease of use and cost.

Authtrail simplifies virtually unlimited data mapping with a single transaction on the blockchain, ensuring transaction data is stored quickly and at an affordable price. Enterprise-scale data anchoring and verification is provided via Authtrail’s SaaS service. The platform is backed by a consortium of angel investors and venture capital funds, who helped Authtrail raise $3.6 million in a recent funding round.

AdaSwap – Promising alternative to Ethereum

DeFi is the fastest growing blockchain-based ecosystem in recent years. While Ethereum still dominates most of the DeFi market, its entire ecosystem is fragmented, resulting in a lack of liquidity. At the same time, Ethereum’s rising gas fees and slow throughput have forced both users and service providers to look for other alternatives.

AdaSwap is taking this opportunity to build an extensive DeFi ecosystem on the Cardano blockchain. The project will serve as an end-to-end ecosystem builder for Cardano, enabling a variety of use cases. At its core, AdaSwap offers a trusted DEX along with a super-fast AMM. Through these features, AdaSwap will unlock more DeFi use cases like staking, farming, launchpad, marketplace… on Cardano, one of Ethereum’s most formidable competitors.

The platform already has a first-mover advantage as it is the first project on Cardano to go DeFi. The recent token sale on Cardstarter has been in full swing due to the market hype and heated discussions on leading channels like Banter Capital and VoskCoin. To further expand its offering, the AdaSwap development team is also exploring the possibilities of Djed, COTI Network’s Cardano algorithm-based stablecoin.

KILT protocol

As the number of online businesses continues to grow, so does the amount of data and personal information generated by users. Almost every other website or app requires users to provide many details when they first sign up. Since all data is stored on centralized servers, it becomes an easy target for cyber criminals.

The KILT protocol offers a promising alternative to this problem. Introduced in 2018, the KILT protocol is an open-source blockchain protocol that provides verifiable, revoked, anonymous, ownership-based credentials on Web 3.0. The KILT protocol serves both users and developers by providing a trusted, permissionless infrastructure for real business cases. Anyone can use this platform to declare their identity online without revealing any unnecessary or irrelevant details.

To continue the mission of making Web 3.0 the epitome of inclusivity, fairness and transparency, in November 2021 the KILT team transformed the entire network into a fully decentralized, transferrable blockchain, granting project control rights to its community members. The KILT protocol will now be governed by governance votes, where every KILT token holder will have their say. This is seen as an example of blockchain democracy in the current market.