Web 3.0: A Survey on the Architectures, Enabling Technologies, Applications, and Challenges

Web 3.0 represents the next evolutionary stage of the Internet, characterized by a “read-write-own” paradigm that empowers users to control their own data. Driven by advancements in edge technologies and rising concerns about privacy and security, a growing number of Web 3.0 applications have emerged, sparking widespread concern and research in both the industrial and academic fields. To address the demands for secure identity management, trustworthy data circulation, and reliable network services, more emerging technologies beyond blockchain have been introduced to Web 3.0. However, this integration has also introduced increased complexity and ambiguity in Web 3.0’s implementation and future development. Therefore, this survey aims to provide a systematic review of Web 3.0, elucidating its definition, architecture, technologies, ecosystem, and future directions. The main contributions include identifying an adaptable Web 3.0 architecture that illustrates the correlation of each layer and functionalities, summarizing Web 3.0 workflow with three functions as identity management, data publication and retrieval, and network service. Besides that, this survey categorizes enabling technologies into five areas, highlighting the comparison of different technologies. As the Web 3.0 application ecosystem flourishes, this survey further explores use cases in finance, governance, and gaming, and introduces evaluation criteria tailored for Web 3.0 applications. Finally, we highlight some future research directions for the full realization of Web 3.0. This survey outlines the current landscape and advancements of Web 3.0, laying a solid foundation for future research and standardization, with the ultimate goal of realizing a decentralized and user-empowered digital infrastructure.