Make Web3.0 Connected

Abstract

<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf Web3.0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> , often cited to drastically shape our lives, is ubiquitous. However, few literatures have discussed the crucial differentiators that separate <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf Web3.0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> from the era we are currently living in. Via a thorough analysis of the recent blockchain infrastructure evolution, we capture a key invariant featuring the evolution, based on which we provide the first academic definition for <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf Web3.0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> . Our definition is not the only way of understanding <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf Web3.0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> , yet, it captures the fundamental and defining trait of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf Web3.0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> , and meanwhile it is has two desirable properties. Under this definition, we articulate three key categories of infrastructural enablers for <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf Web3.0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> : individual smart-contract capable blockchains, federated or centralized platforms capable of publishing verifiable states, and an interoperability platform to hyperconnect those state publishers to provide a unified and connected computing platform for <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf Web3.0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> applications. While innovations in all categories are necessary to fully enable <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf Web3.0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> , in this article, we present a design for the third enabler, i.e., the first interoperability platform, namely <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf HyperService}$</tex-math></inline-formula> , that advances the state-of-the-art by simultaneously delivers <i>interoperability</i> and <i>programmability</i> across <i>heterogeneous</i> blockchains and state publishers. <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf HyperService}$</tex-math></inline-formula> is powered by two innovative designs: <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf (i)}$</tex-math></inline-formula> a developer-facing programming framework that allows developers to build cross-chain applications in a unified programming model; and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf (ii)}$</tex-math></inline-formula> a secure blockchain-facing cryptography protocol that provably realizes those applications on blockchains. We implement a prototype of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathsf HyperService}$</tex-math></inline-formula> in approximately 62,000 lines of code to demonstrate its practicality, usability and scalability.

Topics & Concepts