Web3 URLs – enabled by the launch of ERC-4804 – have entered Ethereum, allowing internet users to access Ethereum and NFT applications without worrying about centralized censorship.
The new Ethereum standard, titled “Web3 URL to EVM Call Message Translation,” was first proposed on February 14, 2022, and was co-authored by ETHStorage founder Qi Zhou, Ethereum researcher Sam Wilson and Chao Pi.
It describes the proposal as an “HTTP-style” URL to directly access on-chain Web3 content, such as front-end decentralized applications (DApps) and NFTs. More than a year later, ERC-4804 was approved and finalized on the mainnet on March 1st.
1/n, I am happy to announce that the first web access protocol for ETH ERC4804: Web3 URL was approved by EIP editors and finalized!
web3: // (https://t.co/uXpTGdXirF) decentralized http: //. It allows users to directly browse rich web content in EVM, pages/images/songs!
— Qi Zhou (@qc_qizhou) March 1, 2023
Anthurine Xiang, spokesperson for ETHStorage’s layer-2 storage protocol, explained that in many cases, ecosystems still rely on centralized web servers to provide access to “decentralized” applications.
“Now, all DApps are like Uniswap […] claiming to be a decentralized application,” explained Xiang, adding: “But how [do] we enter the web page? You need to bypass DNS. You need to bypass GoDaddy. […] Everything is a centralized server.
Today, most users access the internet via the “Hypertext Transfer Protocol,” known as HTTP.
When an internet user clicks on a link or enters a website address, a computer uses HTTP to request another computer to retrieve the information, such as a website or image.
In ERC-4804, internet users have the option to type web3:// (as opposed to http://) in their browser to directly open DApps such as Uniswap or on-chain NFTs. This is because the default allows users to directly run queries to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
All websites can also theoretically be accessed this way as long as their content is stored on the Ethereum blockchain or a compatible layer-2 protocol. However, the cost of doing this is still too high, according to ETHStorage founder Qi Zhou.
“The critical issue here is that storage costs on Ethereum are super, super expensive on the mainnet,” Zhou said in a recent presentation at ETH Denver.
“For example, 1 Gigabyte of on-chain data will cost approximately $10 million. […] This is unacceptable for many Web2 applications and even many NFTs,” added Zhou, noting that layer-2 storage solutions can help reduce some costs.
Xiang suggested that given the cost, the new URL standard would only be suitable for certain applications.
“Not everything needs to be decentralized. If you run a Web2 business that’s great and you don’t have to worry about centralized censorship. […] You can only do this.
On the other hand, the new standard will be useful for DApps or websites that are at risk of censorship, with Tornado Cash as an example.
“For example, for Tornado Cash, many people cannot get to people through the website because there is censorship,” Xiang explained.
“If you’re a DApp and you’re decentralized, why are you still using a centralized website for people to access you?”
Asked whether the new standards could be exploited by bad actors to engage in illegal activities, Xiang said:
“It’s really hard to say how Bitcoin was founded. I think Bitcoin was not born for evil, but still, in the beginning, people [were] doing shady things like Silk Road, they have been using Bitcoin.
However, Xiang believes that like Bitcoin, they only offer a decentralized option that may not exist.
The new Ethereum standard is a first for blockchain, Xiang said, although it is not the first solution for decentralized web hosting.
related: How to host a decentralized website
IPFS, or the InterPlanetary File System is an example of a network created to do what a centralized cloud server provides, only through a decentralized method. However, Xiang notes that IPFS URLs can only link to static content, which cannot be modified or changed.
I *use* IPFS to store my blog. It has serious UX issues (it took ~1h for the last update to propagate). Attaching the blog to the chain will be easier.
For blogs, it is unfortunately very expensive, but for short text notes, the logic applies.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 27, 2022
ERC-4804, however, will allow “dynamic data,” such as allowing people to leave likes and comments and interact with content on websites, explained Xiang. As Ethereum is native, the standard is also expected to interact with other blockchains more easily, Xiang added.