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:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

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.

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.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Maple Finance has successfully navigated significant market challenges through its strategic pivot to secured lending (Maple v2) and the launch of its Syrup product. Syrup has become a primary growth driver, delivering sustainable, outperforming stablecoin yields and rapidly increasing TVL. The upcoming custody-first Bitcoin staking product (istBTC) presents another significant avenue for expansion. Crucially, Maple has achieved operational profitability, a key inflection point that, combined with a fully vested token and active buyback mechanism, strengthens its investment case. While valuation metrics suggest potential undervaluation relative to peers and growth, the primary forward-looking risk identified is the long-term sustainability of its current high-take-rate collateral staking revenue model.

article-image

LBTC and sBTC integrations unlock new DeFi yields for BTC holders

article-image

The Breakdown becomes your central hub for insightful, daily crypto macro analysis

article-image

What was a cool $500,000 would now be worth more than $7 million

article-image

Mersinger’s final day at the CFTC will be May 30

article-image

Squads CEO Stepan Simkin explained why the firm launched Altitude and how he’s thinking about stablecoins

article-image

Sponsored

Instead of endless wallet popups, users could connect once, set clear rules, and delegate permission to an app or to an AI agent.