Aave Launches Alternative to Traditional Social Media

“Lens will be the infrastructure that will give rise to the golden age of Web3 apps,” Aave CEO Stani Kulechov told Blockworks

article-image

Source: Lens Protocol

share

key takeaways

  • The Web3 social platform built on the Polygon blockchain is powered by NFTs
  • Lens Protocol designed to allow users to fully own their data

Software development company Aave has launched its Web3 social platform powered by NFTs that aims to be an alternative to traditional social media platforms. 

Called Lens Protocol, the open-source tech stack allows developers to build Web3-powered social media apps, marketplaces and recommendation algorithms.

Social media has remained relatively unchanged over the last decade due in part to user content being owned by a company, Aave CEO Stani Kulechov said in a statement. Elon Musk’s bid to purchase Twitter shows people are ready for a better experience, he added.

“Lens will be the infrastructure that will give rise to the golden age of Web3 apps,” Kulechov told Blockworks. “For the first time since the internet has been born, people can finally own their accounts and all of their content without an intermediary.”

The protocol enables each user’s followers, community and content to be linked to their NFT (non-fungible token) profile — and can be ported into any app powered by Lens.

Signers of the Lens open letter will be able to mint their profile to begin interacting with the first protocol-powered apps on Polygon, Aave announced Wednesday. Roughly 50 applications have been built on Lens so far, including social apps and creator monetization tools.

Lens Protocol created its Twitter account in January, and Aave detailed the protocol’s features the following month. Kulechov had over the past year hinted at an offering that decentralizes social media.

In a Feb. 5 tweet, the CEO predicted that Web3-native social media will “kill” Twitter.

Dan Keeler contributed reporting.

This story was updated on May 18, 2022, at 10:00 am ET.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

morpho 2 graphic.png

Research

Utilizing a ‘DeFi Mullet’ approach, Coinbase’s Bitcoin-backed loans integration with Morpho demonstrates a powerful blueprint for CEXs to monetize dormant assets by expanding adoption of wrapped products (cbBTC, USDC) while also supporting native and/or preferred DeFi ecosystems (Base) which can further lead to downstream growth in onchain liquidity and increased utilization of the related assets.

article-image

The platform also rolled out 13 tokenized funds for institutions on the Connect platform

article-image

The company’s expanded lineup introduces new ETF products, as more and more issuers get into crypto funds

article-image

President Donald Trump announced a 10% levy on almost all goods and additional tariffs on so-called “worst offending” countries

article-image

Solana may be in “recomposition” mode, as new protocols put usefulness ahead of mere virality

article-image

The stablecoin issuer will have to contend with bigger players and the interest rates environment

article-image

The president reportedly was still working on his tariff policy plans late Tuesday evening