On April 4, Lens Chain, an innovative high-performance blockchain stack for SocialFi applications, officially launched on the mainnet. This advancement promises to deliver remarkable speed, scalability, and cost efficiency, setting a new standard for social and financial applications.
“Lens Chain empowers web builders to launch intuitive applications swiftly, regardless of their blockchain expertise,'' stated Lens Founder Stani Kulechov. “By leveraging future-proof technology and insights from the community, Lens facilitates development with low-cost, rapid speed, and virtually limitless scalability, enabling developers to offer exceptional user experiences alongside swift monetization.”
Lens Chain addresses adoption obstacles by demystifying blockchain intricacies, reducing expenses, and enhancing user-friendliness. With distribution embedded through the Lens social graph and a vibrant DeFi ecosystem partnering with names like Uniswap, Across Protocol, Chainlink, and Balancer, Lens Chain propels the growth of SocialFi. It launches with 650,000 migrated accounts and 45,000 weekly active users.
Innovations and Features
Lens Chain is purpose-built from the ground up as a comprehensive SocialFi ecosystem. It integrates high-performing scalable infrastructure, smart contract social primitives, a robust developer dashboard, and on-chain permissioned storage into one cohesive platform. Developers and creators benefit from streamlined tools that expedite development, simplify monetization, and ensure a user-friendly experience, empowering them to launch and grow SocialFi applications on-chain efficiently.
- High-Performance Infrastructure: Built on Ethereum’s decentralized foundation to ensure security and true user ownership, Lens Chain’s modular open-source architecture supports instantaneous transactions and a seamless on-chain experience. It employs ZKsync validiums and Avail for data availability, resulting in rapid transactions, and unmatched scalability essential for SocialFi microtransactions.
- Lens V3 Modular Protocol: This provides a flexible toolkit of smart contracts known as 'social primitives'—like Accounts, Usernames, Graphs, Feeds, Groups, Rules, and Actions—allowing creators to design composable social graphs, custom feeds, and token-gated communities. Its modularity ensures seamless feature integration and speedy development without extensive coding.
- Lens Developer Dashboard: This comprehensive toolset makes SocialFi app development effortless through:
- No-code Modules: Deploy ready-made Social Primitives with minimal coding
- Developer Sponsorships: Cover on-chain costs with developer credits
- SDKs & Libraries: Simplify integration
- Comprehensive Documentation: Offers detailed guidance for effortless development on Lens Chain
- Grove Storage Solution: Provides free on-chain permissioned storage, empowering users and creators with full control over their content. It ensures data integrity, offers flexible access control, and upholds the principle of "not your keys, not your data."
- Family Onboarding Tools: Simplifies the user onboarding process with a self-custodial toolkit, employing email/SMS verification, advanced encryption, and passkey technology, available through the Family iOS app or web browsers.
- Stable Costs with GHO Stablecoin: Aave’s GHO stablecoin is used as Lens Chain’s native gas token, offering stable transaction costs and predictable budgeting while shielding from market volatility.
A Robust Ecosystem
Lens Chain has partnered with premier DeFi and infrastructure providers—such as Alchemy, Circle, Chainlink, and Consensys—to foster a thriving ecosystem, easing the scalability and liquidity provision for developers. Partnerships with Uniswap, Balancer, and others are part of its strategic approach, supporting a dynamic social and financial network from launch.
A Thriving Developer and User Base
Already, 650,000 user accounts have migrated to Lens Chain, featuring industry-leading partners and a dynamic dApp portfolio, including both established and new SocialFi applications. As part of the Elastic Network, Lens Chain allows developers to fully customize their chains and apps while benefiting from the network effects of over 20 chains powered by ZKsync.
Future Growth and Funding
Following a $31 million funding round led by Lightspeed Faction, Lens Chain is poised for continued growth and innovation within the SocialFi space. The total funding of $45 million to date, with backing from investors like General Catalyst and Blockchain Capital, sets the stage for ongoing development.
