# What Is A Protocol And Why Does It Matter? - AVC

<https://avc.com/2023/04/what-is-a-protocol-and-why-does-it-matter/>

- Host: [avc.com](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/avc.com/)
- Saved: April 17, 2023 (2023-04-18T03:23:37Z)
- Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/e9793fd3f19a/
- JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/e9793fd3f19a.json

## What Jamie wrote

Wilson attempting to introduce what a protocol is, the functions it performs, and lends a particular bend on what Web3 focuses on with a protocol.

> Until recently protocols were mostly free and unmonetized. We all use the HTTP protocol every day to access web pages. We all use the SMTP protocol every day to send email. But these protocols are free to use and don’t make money for any company or project or individual.
> 
> With the arrival of Bitcoin back in January 2009, we got a protocol that had monetization built in.

I think it is still controversial to have direct financial costs in protocols as all crypto protocols do. But on the other hand, it forces a model that will insure a sustainable future instead of forcing people to fund free protocols with privacy stealing advertising.

Imagine what the world of spam would look like if SMTP had been built with a fee structure implicitly in it. I think it would be hugely better.

## Facts

- Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/)

## Appears in

- [WT251: Weekly Thing #251 / Moloch, Chess, Protocol](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/251/), Notable

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## Elsewhere

- Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://avc.com/2023/04/what-is-a-protocol-and-why-does-it-matter/