Web3: Signing Actions Instead of Clicking Buttons
In Web3, actions are approved by signing transactions, not by clicking a button and letting the platform handle the rest. This is not an extra security step added for complexity. It reflects how authority and permission work in a system without a central operator.
How Actions Work in Web2
In Web2, actions are requests sent to a platform. You click a button, the platform checks permissions, and the platform executes the action on your behalf. If something goes wrong, the platform can reverse, block, or modify the outcome later. The decision-making power lives with the service.
How Actions Work in Web3
In Web3, actions are approved directly by the user. When you sign an action, you are not asking a platform to proceed. You are explicitly authorizing the action yourself. There is no intermediary reviewing it later. There is no separate approval step behind the scenes. The signature is the authorization.
An example would be signing in to your digital wallet. In addition to your credentials, you’re asked to authorize the transaction. This is an official onchain record of your authorization to access the digital wallet.
What Users Expect vs. What Actually Happens
A common expectation is that clicking a button performs the action immediately. In Web3, clicking a button often triggers a signing request instead, like the example above. The action does not exist until it is signed.
Another expectation is that signing is just a confirmation screen. In practice, signing is the action. Some users expect signed actions to be reversible if they change their mind. In Web3, once an action is signed and processed, there is no central party that can undo it. Nothing is malfunctioning. The system is behaving as designed.
An example would be sending BTC. Once the BTC is sent, you can not reverse the action. It is permanent and you cannot undo it.
Why This Design Exists
Web3 does not rely on platform-controlled permissions. There is no shared account system deciding what users can do. Authority is tied to the digital wallet. Signing is how intent is expressed and verified without intermediaries. This removes reliance on centralized control, but it also removes safety nets.
Remember that signing is not a button click. It is an explicit approval. If a digital wallet asks you to sign, it is because the system requires clear intent. Different applications may ask for signatures at different moments depending on what they need to verify.
