Web3: Blockchain, the New Economy, and the Self-Sovereign Internet

Web3 is a new frontier of internet architecture emphasizing decentralization and user control. This text for MBA students and industry professionals explores key Web3 concepts, starting from foundational principles and moving to advanced topics like blockchain, smart contracts, tokenomics, and DeFi. The book takes a clear, practical approach to demystify the tech behind NFTs and DAOs as well as the complex regulatory landscape. It confronts challenges of blockchain scalability, a barrier to mainstream adoption of this transformative technology, and examines smart contracts and the growing ecosystem leveraging their potential. The book also explains the nuances of tokenomics, a vital element underpinning Web3's new economic model. This book is ideal for readers seeking to stay on top of emerging trends in the digital economy.

Table of Contents:
1. Web3 concepts and general introduction; 2. The first principles of Web3; 3. Blockchains: the foundation; 4. The scalability of Web3; 5. The smart contract ecosystem; 6. The tokenomics for Web3; 7. DeFi and next generation of FinTech; 8. NFT and Its ecosystem; 9. Decentralized autonomous organizations and organization formation on Web3; 10. Regulatory aspects of Web3; 11. Web3 and the future of web.

About the Author :
Ken Huang is an influential leader in Web3, AI, and cybersecurity. As Chair of the CSA GCR Blockchain Security Working Group, he shapes best practices globally. He is co-author of the book Blockchain and Web3 (2022) recommended as a 'must-read' by TechTarget. With over twenty years of experience across fintech, government, and startups, he provides Web3 and AI consulting as CEO of DistributedApps. He was a judge for major AI and blockchain startup contests by Google, Softbank, and Stanford in 2018. He has presented globally at Davos, ACM, IEEE, the World Bank, and the 2023 CSA AI Summit. Youwei Yang is Chief Economist and Vice President of Mining at BIT Mining Limited (NYSE: BTCM). He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and specializes in financial economics, derivatives, and fintech, particularly crypto and blockchain. He has frequently appeared in Coindesk, CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, BlockWorks, The Block and KitCo. Before joining BTCM, he was Director of Financial Analytics at StoneX (Nasdaq: SNEX), a Fortune 100 company offering diverse financial services, where he managed commodity analysis, data modeling, crypto research, and institutional digital asset trading. He also teaches fintech courses to masters and MBA students at several top universities in China. Fan Zhang is Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Yale. His research interests include the security, privacy, and scalability of decentralized systems. His work has seen industry uptake and been featured in Forbes, MIT Tech Review, IEEE Spectrum, CoinDesk, and Bitcoin Magazine. He received an NSF SaTC Frontier grant (co-PI), three Ethereum Academic Grants, a Flashbots Research Grant, a Yale Roberts Innovation Award, and an IBM Ph.D. Fellowship. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell, advised by Professor Ari Juels. Additionally, he is a faculty advisor at Chainlink Labs. Xi Chen is a full professor and Andre Meyer Fellow at NYU's Stern School of Business. His research focuses on machine learning and its applications to digital advertising, operations management, quantitative finance, tokenomics, and decentralized finance. His groundbreaking work earned him recognition on Forbes 30 Under 30, Poets & Quants' Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors, and faculty awards from Google, Facebook, Adobe, JP Morgan, and Bloomberg. He has spent two years as a principal scientist at Amazon Ads. He earned his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon and completed postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley under Professor Michael I. Jordan. Feng Zhu is MBA Class of 1958 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he leads the Platform Lab within the Digital, Data, and Design Institute and co-chairs the Harvard Business Analytics Program. Professor Zhu is an expert on platform strategy, digital innovation and transformation, competitive strategy, and business model innovation. His research has appeared in leading academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Management Science, Marketing Science, Organization Science, the Strategic Management Journal, and Information Systems Research. It has been covered by the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Review :
'This book is a comprehensive yet remarkably accessible guide to the intricate world of Web3. Designed to be understood by readers at all levels, it provides clear and thorough explanations of complex topics. Whether you're a novice or an expert in the field, this book is a pivotal resource for navigating the decentralized future of the internet.' Christopher A. Smith, author of Privacy Pandemic and Founder of DFend 'This book is an excellent and comprehensive overview of Web3, its foundation, and potential. Very readable and non-technical, it provides students, policymakers, and the intellectually curious a solid basis for understanding Web3. It touches on use cases in risks and regulatory issues and is a very sound grounding for all who want to understand the next iteration of the Internet – Web3, the Internet of Value.' Jane Thomason, Founder and CEO of the Web3 Institute 'As an educator at the forefront of financial technological advances in Singapore, it is a pleasure to endorse the work of Ken Huang and his team of esteemed co-authors from Harvard, Yale, and New York University. In this comprehensive guide, the authors successfully strike a balance between in-depth technical insight and accessible explanation. The careful attention to key areas such as blockchain, decentralized finance, NFTs, DAOs, and the intersection of AI with Web3 showcases their expert grasp of these revolutionary concepts. The book's value for MBA students, university scholars, and anyone interested in this rapidly evolving field is undeniable. I highly recommend Web3: Blockchain, the New Economy, and the Self-Sovereign Internet to anyone looking to grasp the fundamental principles and transformative potential of Web3 and related technologies.' David Lee Kuo Chuen, Professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences and Vice President of the Economic Society of Singapore 'If you seek to understand the fascinating realm of Web3, blockchain technology, Tokenomics, NFT, and decentralized autonomous organizations, this book is a must-read. It deciphers complex concepts and provides a thorough understanding of the revolutionary Web3 architecture.' Jyoti Ponnapalli, SVP | Head of Innovation Strategy & Research of the Trust Bank and former Director of Blockchain/DLT Technology Strategy at DTCC 'I had the privilege of reading an early draft of this book and had the honor of performing the initial copyediting under a grant from Harvard University. I was impressed by the book's readability and the depth of its coverage of Web3's impact on the economy and the next generation of the internet. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.' Grace Huang, Project Manager at PIMCO Investment Management Company 'A comprehensive exploration of DAOs, NFTs, DeFi, and more that dives into the heart of the Web3 revolution. This book balances technical details with big-picture insights, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the future of the Internet and digital economics.' Henry Wang, Founder and CEO of SmartMesh and Founder and President of the International Blockchain Application Federation (IBAF) 'This book covers the complex underpinnings of the emerging new economy leveraging Web3, blockchain, and self-sovereignty. The authors offer a comprehensive overview of these complex technologies which would satisfy the most avid practitioners.' Yannis Kalfoglou, seasoned Web3 and AI expert, former BP, former Samsung AI strategist