Let's set the records straight.
Web3 is as much a social movement as it is a technological one.
Bitcoin was born as a result of the cumulation of people's hopelessness and disgust at the status quo.
Every day joes like you and I were appalled by the completely arbitrary (and unjust) exercise of power by the people in power in times of crisis.
During the 2008 economic crisis, people realised that their money wasn't really theirs. And, people were desperate for something that they can say was truly theirs.
Bitcoin was the answer for these people.
Fast forward to today, we talk about an enhanced version of Bitcoin called Web3, which was birthed by Ethereum.
Now, web3 means decentralised applications, where your accounts cannot be frozen simply because someone in a privileged position does not like you. It means, the flow of your money is extremely transparent and you can track your money to the last gwei and see where it is being spent.
Web3 means that you do not have to trust anyone with your money.
The code is the law and whatever the code says, will happen with your money. No one can take your money and take degen bets with it (unless you want them to).
But Rahul, things like these happen all the time. Look at Celcius, Vauld, 3AC, Bitfinex etc.
Yes, I know, and this is where I want to set the records straight.
Just because an application deals in crypto-currency or uses blockchain does not mean it is decentralised. If you have backend servers and databases (with an admin and passwords and all that circus) and you still use blockchain for a specific purpose, then yes, you can claim your website uses blockchain. But, saying your website is decentralised would be a flat-out lie.
As users, we must recognise the degree of centralisation in an application before we lend it our money.
Sure, exchanges like Vauld, Celcius etc are completely centralised and they can do whatever they feel like with your funds, but there are many other decentralised applications which are also not much decentralised simply because they use (token weighted) voting to take decisions and a minority of the users are majority token holders. For more context, read more about the Solend saga that went down just a few weeks back.
The bottom line here is that it is a choice. A very simple one.
If you do not want any hassle in regards to your money and want to rely on the goodwill of others, go ahead with your traditional banks and NBFCs. However, if you want a certain extent of control over your finances, start reading about how DeFi works.
Thank you & Godspeed.