This is a subject closely related to Liberland’s effort to use blockchain technology as the backbone for everything related to its functioning. But it’s not just the implementation of blockchain technology that is sufficient for Liberland’s effort to become a transparent, just, and humane country. What we actually need on top of that is Web3. However, we have a problem there. In my opinion, Web3 is still a dream, and I’ll explain why.
What good is blockchain if the interface or frontend toward it is centralized, both in terms of hosting and development? A frontend that is not decentralized means anyone can actually serve whatever they want related to blockchain data. The goal of blockchain technology is to remove the possibility of manipulated history of records in a ledger, and that is definitely achieved in many cases. But still, there’s the frontend, which is, in 100% of cases when we talk about the web - specifically web browsers, which are mostly used - within their native capabilities (although there were some exceptions like native IPFS support for Brave browser, which I think doesn’t work anymore), loading content with help from centralized DNS systems and web servers.
So where are we currently? At best, we are almost there, but some protocols should be natively supported by the most common web browsers, which they are not. For example, a decentralized name-resolving system like ENS (Ethereum Name Service) on the Ethereum network, Handshake as a decentralized root DNS protocol, and decentralized file storage like IPFS or Arweave. There is also a third component, which is not less important: the ability for nodes running in web browsers to natively connect to each other over the internet, behind NATs and firewalls.
Another critical aspect for the future of Web3 is decentralized identity. Technologies such as DIDs (Decentralized Identifiers) and Verifiable Credentials enable users to own and control their digital identities and credentials, independent of centralized authorities. Native support for these standards would empower citizens and applications to verify identities and claims in a privacy-preserving, trustless manner - vital for transparent governance and digital citizenship.
When it comes to decentralized databases, protocols like Ceramic and OrbitDB provide ways to store and manage data in a peer-to-peer, censorship-resistant, and tamper-proof way. These are essential for dApps that require more flexible data than blockchains or file storage alone can offer.
For decentralized, secure, real-time communication - primarily for chat rooms and communities—Matrix is a leading protocol. It allows anyone to run their own server, federate with others, and maintain control over their data and conversations.
The first two problems can be “fixed” with additional extensions, like MetaMask for ENS domain name resolution to IPFS addresses, or IPFS Companion, which allows the browser to actually join the IPFS network as a node and load files in a decentralized manner from multiple peers—even partial data from one peer and other partial data from another. So it’s clear what we need here: native support for these protocols.
The third issue, connectivity, is yet an unsolved problem. Web browsers cannot act as web servers, nor can they ask routers to forward packets to them on the internal network your machine probably runs on. What is used is the WebRTC protocol, but it introduces a server between peers to help them connect to each other. So the real question is: why aren’t web browsers supporting such protocols yet? They say it’s for security reasons, but when you load a website, you choose to run code it serves, which is in no way essentially different from starting up an executable program (which, again, is able to communicate with routers using UPnP and act as an internet server located on an internal network). Cool story, bro. And I don’t believe it. It all comes down to corporate interests, which are hardly in line with the web really being decentralized. It’s even political a lot of control over the web, which is intrinsically featured, would be lost.
Yeah, there are other solutions for real uncensored P2P communication: the Tor network (with a not-so-great reputation when it comes to actually hiding your server), I2P network, which actually works but is very slow and not comfortable to use due to complications related to name resolving and data discovery. As a result, it has very few users and websites. So it’s either insecure or slow and empty, but implementing real frontend decentralization on the clear web would bring us speed and, more importantly, data resilience.
Then there’s the decentralization of development, with some notable efforts like Radicle is. But it’s still minuscule compared to centralized but widely used solutions like Git (and GitHub).
I’m saying all of these things because they just need to be implemented if we really want a country that enforces a citizen-first philosophy - a country that is resistant to manipulation in every possible sense, where government is really a service to the people, and where all citizens are able to influence government affairs.
Come on, Chromium, Firefox, and others - do the right thing. There are no technical hurdles; real, all-encompassing decentralization of the web is technically possible.
Actually, I’m in favor of a proposal that Liberland introduces a law requiring that services and apps running the government - not just the government itself - must be fully decentralized, opensourced and developed in decentralized manner. This is real disruption to centers of authoritative power, and imagine how many people worldwide would recognize this effort of absolute decentralization, making them want to become citizens of such a country. I’m talking about millions, if not billions. With that kind of backing, anything is possible. Liberland’s dream would get much closer to fruition. People are the actual power; when they organize well, nothing can stop them.
Bottom line here would be is that these mentioned technologies and protocols are far from optional to implement. It’s almost mission critical for Liberland to deal with such policies and implement them best way possible.
Hope I’ve given decent overview of the current state of affairs, or at least some food for thought. There’s certanly lot to be discussed here about the implementation, and not so much whether it is the right way to develop things further, it just is if we’re in sync with our ideals.
