SubQuery Blog What Is Web3 Technology? And Why It Needs Decentralised Indexing

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What Is Web3 Technology? And Why It Needs Decentralised Indexing

Published on Mon May 26 2025

Education

📑 Table of Contents

What Is Web3 Technology?
How Web3 Applications Work
Why Web3 Needs Decentralised Indexing
The Role of Indexers in the Web3 Ecosystem
Benefits of Decentralised Indexing
SubQuery vs The Graph: What’s the Difference?
Common Questions About Web3 Indexing
Final Thoughts: Powering the Future of Web3

What Is Web3 Technology?

Web3 technology refers to the next generation of the internet, one that’s decentralised, user-owned, and powered by blockchain. Unlike the Web2 model dominated by centralised platforms, Web3 shifts control back to users, allowing them to own their data, digital assets, and online identity.

This emerging Web3 ecosystem is built on blockchains and smart contracts, enabling applications that are trustless, transparent, and resistant to censorship. Whether you’re browsing a decentralised social network or trading NFTs on a marketplace, Web3 apps (also called dApps) are reshaping the internet experience as we know it.

Building a Web3 app? Discover how decentralised indexing with SubQuery gives you the speed, scalability, and edge you need in a fast-evolving ecosystem.

How Web3 Applications Work

Web3 applications are decentralised by design. Instead of running on central servers, they’re powered by smart contracts and supported by distributed networks. Key features include:

Token-based economics: Incentivising users and developers
Wallet-based access: No usernames or passwords, just cryptographic keys
Immutable data: Stored on-chain or on decentralised storage networks like IPFS
Composability: Apps can build on each other like open-source Lego blocks

This allows Web3 companies to build more secure, transparent, and open applications, but it also introduces a new challenge: accessing blockchain data efficiently.

Why Web3 Needs Decentralised Indexing

Blockchains are powerful but inherently inefficient for data querying. Without an indexer, even a simple query (like fetching a user’s transaction history) can require scanning thousands of blocks. That’s where decentralised indexing comes in.

Indexing provides a way to organise, structure, and retrieve blockchain data quickly, without relying on a centralised provider. This is crucial for the performance and reliability of modern Web3 apps, especially as data volumes continue to grow.

Imagine building a DeFi dashboard or NFT explorer. Without an indexer, your app would be slow, unresponsive, and expensive to run. With decentralised indexing, you get:

Real-time data across chains
Scalability for high-traffic applications
Reduced infrastructure costs
No vendor lock-in

The Role of Indexers in the Web3 Ecosystem

Indexers act like the backend librarians of the Web3 blockchain world. They read raw data from blockchains and turn it into structured, queryable information. Projects like SubQuery, The Graph, and others allow developers to:

Access data via GraphQL or REST APIs
Filter and query smart contract events
Sync data across multiple chains

In decentralised networks, indexers are incentivised to provide high-performance services via token-based rewards, making the entire system more robust, permissionless, and community-driven.

Caption: Indexers sit between the blockchain and dApps, acting as Web3’s backend librarians to organise and serve data efficiently.

Benefits of Decentralised Indexing

Decentralised indexing is a foundational component of truly resilient Web3 technology. For any project that claims to be decentralised, it’s not enough to decentralise just the blockchain layer — the entire tech stack, including the data indexer, must be free from single points of failure. Centralised indexing services can become critical vulnerabilities, leading to outages, censorship, or data manipulation. By adopting decentralised indexing, Web3 applications ensure their infrastructure is aligned with the core values of trustlessness, availability, and community ownership.

Curious how it all works? Explore SubQuery’s documentation to learn how to index any smart contract or blockchain.

SubQuery vs The Graph: What’s the Difference?

While both SubQuery and The Graph are leading indexing solutions in Web3 with decentralised infrastructure networks, they differ in approach and flexibility. The Graph Network uses a curation model that requires users to stake tokens to boost their subgraphs - a process that can be slow, expensive, and complex. In contrast, SubQuery Network offers a much more affordable and developer-friendly experience, with faster deployments, support for almost 300 networks, and no curation tax.

For Web3 apps looking to scale quickly across chains, SubQuery provides the speed, simplicity, and multichain support developers need, without the bottlenecks.

Caption: The Graph was the starter pack, but SubQuery Network is the fully loaded, multichain beast built for builders

Common Questions About Web3 Indexing

Is indexing only needed for DeFi apps?

No — any app that relies on on-chain data (NFTs, gaming, identity, DAO tooling) benefits from indexing.

Can I run my own indexer?

Yes. With tools like SubQuery Network, you can deploy your own indexer and even earn rewards for serving data.

Does indexing work cross-chain?

Leading protocols support multiple chains and are expanding to new ones like Solana, Cosmos, and L2s regularly.

Why not use centralised indexing services?

You lose decentralisation, trust minimisation, and control — key pillars of Web3.

Final Thoughts: Powering the Future of Web3

As Web3 technology evolves, decentralised indexing isn’t just a performance upgrade, it’s a core pillar of a truly open internet. From powering the next generation of Web3 apps to enabling trustless AI agents and cross-chain liquidity, the ability to access and query on-chain data will define the success of Web3 companies in the years ahead.

Whether you’re a developer, data analyst, or part of the Web3 community, now’s the time to embrace decentralised infrastructure and help shape a faster, fairer internet.

👉 Start building with SubQuery today and explore how our decentralised indexing services can power your dApp, scale your data layer, and future-proof your Web3 project.

About SubQuery

SubQuery Network is innovating in web3 infrastructure with tools that empower builders to decentralise without compromise. SubQuery’s infrastructure network offers everything from data indexers, RPCs and AI agents - all fully decentralised and production ready.

Our fast, flexible, and open data indexer supercharges thousands of dApps on nearly 300 networks. Our Sharded Data Node will provide breakthroughs in the RPC industry and our AI App framework makes building AI apps easier than ever before. We pioneer the web3 revolution for visionaries and forward-thinkers. We’re not just a company — we’re a movement driving an inclusive and decentralised web3 era, together.