Data

The data stored on web3 is mostly transactional data, which means that every time a user sends or receives something, an entry is added to the global ledger of the blockchain showing the inputs and outputs.

However, it is also possible to add a link inside this transaction to a decentralized database like IPFS, Arweave, Ceramic, etc. These links are unique on the decentralized databases and can contain arbitrary extra information.

Until now, the most popular use case for storing extra data on decentralized databases is that of the assets of a Non-Fungible Token (NFT).

All data stored on the blockchain or on the decentralized databases is open and publicly visible by default, unless special mechanisms are employed to preserve the privacy.

To learn more about preserving privacy, read more information on encrypted data streams.

In some cases, the data stored on blockchain can also be non-financial for example when a user does transactions on an application that's non-financial e.g. socialFi platforms or gaming platforms, but that is a very small percentage of activity of most crypto users.

Moreover, each of these platforms are deployed on different chains, which means that there is no way to link the different datasets created by the same person as there is no way to link different wallets of the same person. This leads to data and user fragmentation.