Think back to the early days of the internet. Separate networks existed, but they couldn’t really talk to each other properly. Then came TCP/IP, a simple yet revolutionary standard that let data packets travel across any connection, anywhere in the world. Suddenly, everything clicked, and the web as we know it exploded into existence.
Now, fast forward to today with Web3. We’ve got incredible innovations—decentralized finance, NFTs, autonomous networks—but something feels off. Transactions still clog up during peak times, cross-chain communication is a headache, and scaling to billions of users or agents seems like a distant dream. I’ve often wondered: have we truly had our big infrastructure moment yet? Or are we still waiting for the equivalent of that game-changing protocol?
In my view, the answer is clear. Web3’s real foundational leap hasn’t arrived. We’re building amazing applications on top of networking layers that borrow too much from the old centralized world, or worse, reinvent the wheel in isolated silos.
Why Web3 Is Missing Its Universal Protocol
The original internet scaled because it had a neutral, universal way to move data. No matter the hardware or the provider, IP packets just worked. This created a reliable fabric that developers could build anything on top of—email, websites, streaming, you name it.
Web3, on the other hand, started with a different philosophy: trustlessness and resistance to censorship. That’s fantastic, but it came at the cost of networking unity. Each blockchain developed its own way of spreading information—gossip systems, specialized propagation tricks, sampling techniques. They’re clever in isolation, but none play nicely together at global scale.
It’s like having a bunch of high-speed trains, each with amazing engines, but running on completely different track gauges. You can go fast within one country, but crossing borders becomes slow and expensive. In blockchain terms, this shows up as congested bridges, slow finality across chains, and bottlenecks whenever real volume hits.
The Limits of Current Approaches
Everyone’s chasing faster execution—bigger blocks, parallel processing, specialized virtual machines. These help locally, no doubt. But they don’t solve the core issue: how data actually moves in a decentralized environment.
Traditional networking assumes reliable paths and trusted routers. In Web3, we can’t make those assumptions. Nodes come and go, attacks happen, bandwidth varies wildly. Yet most designs still rely on single-path delivery or rigid coordination, which breaks under stress.
Perhaps the most frustrating part is how we’re repeating history. Before IP standardized things, networks were fragmented too. Companies built proprietary systems, and interoperability suffered. Sound familiar?
- Local optimization works great until global coordination is needed
- Ad-hoc protocols create more silos over time
- Performance gains from hardware or execution fade when networking lags
- Congestion spreads because there’s no shared resilience layer
What a True Decentralized Protocol Would Look Like
Imagine a networking layer designed from the ground up for decentralization. It wouldn’t depend on central servers or fixed paths. Instead, it would use mathematical principles to make the network stronger the more distributed it becomes.
Key characteristics would include fault tolerance baked in at the lowest level, optimal use of every available connection, and performance that approaches centralized systems even without trusted parties. This isn’t just wishful thinking—research over the past decades has proven it’s possible.
Decentralized systems can achieve centralized-level performance, but only through fundamental redesign of data movement.
One promising direction comes from network coding theory. Rather than sending exact copies of data along predetermined routes, nodes mix information into coded fragments. Receivers can reconstruct the original from any sufficient combination, regardless of which packets arrive.
This approach turns weaknesses into strengths. Lost packets? No problem. Malicious nodes? Harder to disrupt. Variable bandwidth? The system adapts automatically. It’s elegant because reliability emerges from mathematics, not from controlling the infrastructure.
Breaking Down Blockchain Fragmentation
Today, we have hundreds of layer-1 and layer-2 networks. Each optimizes for its own environment, which makes sense individually. But the moment assets or state need to move between them, everything slows down.
A universal data layer would change that dramatically. Chains could share a common fabric for propagation and retrieval without sacrificing sovereignty. Block producers wouldn’t need to wait for specific nodes—data would flow through whatever paths are fastest and most reliable at the moment.
Think of it like an electrical grid for information. Peaks in one area get balanced by spare capacity elsewhere. No single chain bears the full burden during viral activity. Congestion becomes a network-wide problem with network-wide solutions.
In practice, this could mean:
- Faster block propagation across ecosystems
- More reliable data availability for rollups
- Smoother cross-chain state access
- Reduced reliance on centralized relays or bridges
These aren’t minor improvements. They’re the difference between experimental technology and planetary-scale infrastructure.
Unlocking Trillion-Dollar Decentralized Finance
DeFi has grown impressively, but it’s still orders of magnitude away from traditional finance volumes. One major barrier is infrastructure fragility. When markets move fast, networks struggle to keep up—transactions delay, prices fragment, liquidity suffers.
A robust, coded data layer would absorb those spikes naturally. Instead of overwhelming individual chains, load distributes across the entire participant base. Settlement becomes more predictable, even during extreme volatility.
For institutional players watching from the sidelines, this kind of reliability matters hugely. Trillion-dollar markets require confidence that the system won’t buckle when it matters most. Current setups, frankly, still feel too experimental for that level of capital.
Moreover, tokenization of real-world assets demands seamless movement across jurisdictions and chains. Without efficient underlying networking, friction remains high. Reduce that friction, and suddenly bringing stocks, bonds, real estate on-chain becomes far more viable.
Enabling Global DePIN Networks
Decentralized physical infrastructure networks represent one of the most exciting directions. Imagine millions of devices—sensors, storage drives, compute nodes—working together as a cohesive alternative to centralized cloud providers.
But coordinating at that scale requires extraordinary data logistics. Devices can’t afford to wait on slow, unreliable paths. They need communication that behaves like a single organism, adapting instantly to changing conditions.
Coded networking fits perfectly here. Fragments can travel through multiple routes simultaneously, recombining wherever needed. Storage becomes distributed and resilient. Retrieval happens from the nearest or fastest sources, not fixed locations.
Energy grids offer a useful analogy. Modern smart grids balance load dynamically across vast areas. A decentralized protocol would do something similar for data, making global DePIN not just possible but efficient.
Powering the Future of Decentralized AI
AI agents are coming—billions of them, potentially, making decisions and transacting autonomously. Training models on decentralized data, coordinating inference across nodes, sharing encrypted fragments—all of this demands massive, reliable throughput.
Today’s decentralized storage solutions often feel clunky. Retrieval goes through gateways that can become bottlenecks. Training on private data requires complex coordination that current networking struggles to support efficiently.
With a proper data movement layer, everything changes. Data stays coded in motion and at rest. Any node can contribute bandwidth without complex setup. Reconstruction happens locally, preserving privacy while enabling collaboration.
This isn’t about replacing centralized AI. It’s about creating alternatives that don’t compromise on decentralization. For many use cases—sensitive data, censorship-resistant applications—this will prove essential.
Looking ahead, every major technological shift has rested on infrastructure breakthroughs. Broadband enabled streaming. Mobile networks birthed the app economy. GPUs ignited modern AI. Smart contracts opened programmable money.
Web3’s next phase will likely follow the same pattern. The applications we’re excited about—DeFi at global scale, autonomous physical networks, decentralized intelligence—aren’t blocked by lack of ideas. They’re waiting for the plumbing to catch up.
A universal, mathematically-optimized protocol could provide exactly that foundation. It wouldn’t replace existing chains or force convergence. Instead, it would empower them all, creating the conditions for innovations we haven’t imagined yet.
In many ways, we’re still in the pre-IP era of Web3. The networks exist, the vision is clear, but the universal fabric is missing. When it arrives—and I believe it will—the transformation could be profound.
The question isn’t whether Web3 needs this kind of breakthrough. It’s whether we’ll recognize it when it comes, and build on it quickly enough to matter. History suggests the winners will be those who do.
Until then, the real TCP/IP moment remains ahead of us. And honestly, that’s pretty exciting.
