ArkStream Capital: How Lens Breaks Through to Compete with FT and Telegram Ecosystem

Original Title: ArkStream Capital: The Established Social Native Ecosystem Breakthrough Against FT and Telegram Ecosystem - Lens's Ambition to Build a Layer 1 Social Chain
Original Author: Larissa, ArkStream Capital

After the Ethereum Community Conference (ETHCC), Lens Protocol made headlines with the announcement of its latest upgrade, Lens V2. This highly anticipated release includes two revolutionary upgrades. The first upgrade is "Open Actions," which introduces a groundbreaking feature that allows users and developers to seamlessly integrate external smart contract actions into Lens publications. The second enhancement is a significant integration with ERC6551, which allows users to bind all account activities within the Lens ecosystem by using NFTs as their unique identity, fundamentally changing the way identity management works. Now, multiple wallet addresses can be associated through a single NFT, simplifying the user experience.

-Lens and Its Competitors

Lens Protocol has established itself as a leading SocialFi platform on Ethereum. Compared to its competitors, Lens excels in growth and user engagement. A social contract with a similar social graph concept, Fracaster, currently has 17,286 active accounts, while Lens Protocol boasts an impressive 119,241 active accounts, significantly surpassing its competitors. Although another competitor, Cyberconnect, has over 296,342 accounts, Lens Protocol has implemented access control measures, making direct comparisons less meaningful. Despite Cyberconnect's larger user base, Lens Protocol performs excellently in total transaction volume, with a total of 21,931,943 transactions compared to Cyberconnect's 16,249,274 transactions. The Lens Protocol ecosystem not only attracts a larger user base but also demonstrates a more active level of user activity compared to other social contract platforms, reflecting Lens Protocol's effectiveness in creating a vibrant and thriving community within its decentralized ecosystem. However, Lens Protocol is not satisfied with the current state and continues to upgrade to the next stage.

-Lens's Ambitious Moves

1) Momoka: Lens's L3

In April, Lens launched MOMOKA, an innovative Optimistic L3 scaling solution designed to process Polygon transactions off-chain, achieving unparalleled scalability while reducing transaction costs. Unlike the traditional Rollup process where L2 sends transactions to L1, Momoka takes a different approach. It creates transactions and obtains signatures from wallets, but instead of broadcasting these transactions directly on the blockchain, it generates data availability (DA) metadata using transaction signatures and typed data, treating it as the transaction itself. This metadata transaction is then sent to a dedicated DA layer.

Additionally, Momoka provides indexing support, enabling node operators to seamlessly stream and index Lens data without relying on third-party infrastructure. The launch of Momoka allows users to selectively store data on Polygon and provides the option to not use EVM state for publications that do not require a robust trustless execution layer. Therefore, Momoka offers users the flexibility to customize their transaction methods based on their specific needs within the Lens ecosystem. The launch of Momoka provides users with the potential to reduce reliance on Polygon services to some extent, which may lead Lens to transition to a Layer 1 chain and become part of a modular blockchain approach.

2) Integration with ERC6551

ERC6551 allows NFTs to create Token Bound Accounts (TBA), meaning NFTs can serve as wallet addresses or on-chain accounts, truly realizing the wallet functionality of NFTs. Furthermore, ERC-6551 will support the creation of smart contract wallet accounts for current ERC-721 NFTs, using NFTs as on-chain identity wallets. Under this NFT account, multiple wallet addresses, held NFTs, and ERC-20 tokens can be included, making NFTs a true representation of on-chain identity accounts.

From Lens's perspective, integrating with ERC-6551 and establishing rules for NFTs used with Lens is a strategic move. Currently, Lens requires users to hold a Lens NFT to access its services, and trading Lens NFTs results in the loss of all associated account activities and transactions. By implementing ERC-6551, Lens simplifies the use of its NFTs and adds an element of identity, creating a sense of belonging for users.

Lens believes that the current integration with ERC-6551 not only simplifies the use of NFTs but also introduces the concept of identity, enhancing the overall user experience. This innovative approach of integrating identity into NFTs creates a deeper connection between users and the platform.

In Lens's closed beta, users have already created and accumulated over 3.4 million NFTs, which are not just simple profile pictures or digital assets. Now, these NFTs have the potential to generate new uses in the identity space, providing a fresh and exciting perspective that could spark interest in the market.

-Star Projects of the Lens Protocol

Currently, there are over 134 verified and showcased applications thriving within the Lens ecosystem. This diverse range of successful applications has garnered significant interest and support from various communities and developers, and there is great anticipation for the future of Lens Protocol.

1) Orb

Orb is a decentralized social media platform that supports both mobile and desktop. Among all applications, we believe in Orb. Orb is a decentralized social application that not only excels in UI/UX on Lens but also stands out in emphasizing community engagement. We believe that an engaging and unique community will be the most distinctive feature of Web3 social applications and will help attract Web2 users from platforms like Twitter. Orb not only focuses on attracting a diverse community from Web3 but also strives to create unique user experiences.

2) Lenster

Lenster, as an innovative and pioneering decentralized social media application, is firmly rooted in the principles of permissionless interaction. With the robust support of Lens Protocol, Lenster redefines the digital social space by introducing a brand new paradigm of user engagement. On this innovative platform, users possess unprecedented capabilities to create and reward posts that resonate deeply with the broader community.

3) Phaver

Phaver is a pioneer in the decentralized social media platform space, leveraging the cutting-edge capabilities of Lens technology. As an early adopter of this revolutionary paradigm, Phaver not only redefines how users interact with digital communities but also introduces an innovative incentive dimension through its unique reward token system.

-Limitations of the Lens Protocol

Submitters are responsible for verifying transaction data and constructing data submissions to Arweave, similar to L2 sequencers. However, it is not decentralized, and the decision-making power of submitters lies with the Lens official team.

Lens chooses not to follow traditional L2 solutions but instead rolls up and sends data to the DA layer. This decision is made because, as a large application, Lens data will continue to grow and become complex, unlike financial data that only requires final results. Sending data to the DA layer handled by Arweave is a temporary solution, not a long-term scaling solution.

Although Lens is considered one of the most mature protocols, with a thriving ecosystem and a dedicated team focused on building and improving user experience, it currently primarily attracts blockchain users. Lens struggles to attract new users. However, some non-blockchain social contracts have successfully attracted a large number of new users through low barriers to entry and smooth user experiences.

In summary, the Lens Protocol stands out in the competition due to its inherent technological advantages, rooted in a strong commitment to decentralization. While well-known social protocols like Nostr and Mastodon have amassed large user bases without relying on blockchain technology, the uniqueness of the Lens Protocol lies in its genuine support for decentralization. The case of Nostr emphasizes the importance of decentralized architecture, eliminating the need for users to grapple with complex blockchain concepts. Nostr's elegant system, including clients and relays, provides users with an easy environment to access private and public keys, creating conditions for scaling and developing diverse applications.

However, the recent wave of innovation created by visionaries like Vitalik and Elon on Twitter may realign the preferences of native Web3 users, prompting them to explore alternative promising social protocols. In this ever-changing landscape, the Lens Protocol faces the challenge of maintaining its relevance and appeal in a competitive environment.

We look forward to witnessing Lens stand out in the fiercely competitive social arena!