Facing MASK Network: Is the title of "the little Tencent in the crypto world" justified?

Author: Haotian

How to view $MASK, which is regarded as the "small Tencent of the crypto world"? Calling it a "plugin," "ITO issuance platform," "middleware between web2 and web3," "investment fund," and so on seems to fit, but is that really the true face of @realMaskNetwork? Clearly, it's not entirely so.

Although the impression of being a "plugin" is too preconceived, if analyzed from a business perspective, MASK is still focused on the business of Web3 application traffic entry. Let's analyze it simply:

In the past few years, MASK has indeed been labeled with many tags: "social plugin," "ITO issuance platform," etc., which made it a leading target in SocialFi for a time.

As a plugin, MASK has created an aggregation application with social platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), Lens, Mirro, Farcaster, etc.: for example, users can directly use NFT Avatars as profile pictures on Twitter, and can also access their on-chain web3 pages directly from the Twitter page to view assets, activities, donations, NFTs, and all content.

In simple terms, it is equivalent to seamlessly embedding Debank into Twitter, allowing Twitter users to access the Web3 on-chain application environment without leaving their daily social application scenario.

In the process, MASK has made many compatibility optimizations, integrated the Transak fiat aggregation channel to solve the deposit issue; users can directly create wallets for asset management; it has also integrated DeFi and NFT trading platforms like Uniswap, Sushiswap, Opensea, Rarible, and innovatively launched the ITO first Twitter issuance asset fundraising platform, etc.

It should be said that what is most impressive about MASK is its web2-level "product strength," which is no different from Tencent's product positioning in internet companies.

While web3 excels at Tokenomics, the overall product and user experience remain significant weaknesses. Those so-called pixel punk designs, while trendy, cannot attract users from the mature web2 application environment. The threshold for managing private keys of digital wallets, the complex logic of on-chain asset interactions, coupled with the ever-present phishing traps, are enough to deter most Web2 users.

MASK's approach is entirely different from platforms like Lens that completely reconstruct social platforms. Platforms like Lens have undergone thorough decentralization transformations at the underlying server, communication protocol logic, and front-end application presentation levels; the story is appealing but difficult to implement.

MASK, on the other hand, is based on the usage habits and preferences of the Web2 user base, embedding customized various Web3 application components. The challenge lies in how to abstract various Infra infrastructures of the web3 environment and present them to users through a familiar web2 front-end interaction window. This inevitably involves complex technical frameworks supporting chain abstraction, account abstraction, and more.

From a broader perspective, MASK's ambition is not limited to being a SocialFi platform; its product "creativity" and dissemination are quite good, which is why it has been labeled as SocialFi.

In my view, the first step for MASK to become the small Tencent of the crypto world is to input web2 traffic + product strength into the web3 environment, using plugins as an entry point to become a leading SocialFi platform with a large user base.

The grand strategy for MASK to become the small Tencent of the crypto world in the second step: through capital power, integrate and expand its investment landscape to become a web3 application traffic distribution platform with a large user base.

Recently, MASK disclosed that its Bonfire Union fund has exceeded $100 million, and so far, 120 projects have joined the Mask Network ecosystem, including: Lens, Galaxy, CyberConnect, Ton, Scroll, Rss3, Altlayer, 0xScope, Orbiter, and other products and protocols, even covering Ai fields like CHirper, CharacterX, KEKKAI.

Upon closer inspection, the investment targets included in the MASK Portfolio all have traces of web2 product strength to varying degrees. For example, Galaxy has become a task tutorial and guidance entry for earning rewards, CyberConnect is also a super traffic integration interaction platform, and Altlayer attempts to become a hub in the layer2 track with a modular To B approach, etc. These products have played a certain role in attracting Web2 users (C-end users + B-end developers) to flow into Web3.

Moreover, MASK's expansion of its investment landscape is not without strategy. It positions itself as a resource integrator and traffic driver, continuously expanding its influence through investment or acquisition, using traffic entry strategies to leverage the integration of industry resources between web2 and web3, thus becoming a necessary path for web2 incremental users to enter web3, reaping the dividends of explosive market growth. Behind this lies MASK's profound capital operation capability and market insight; if this step is achieved, it will undoubtedly be the "small Tencent of the crypto world."

In summary, MASK maintains a large user stickiness through social plugins, and based on its resource integration and coverage across the entire Web3 field, aims to provide web2 user groups with a low technical participation threshold and a high usage experience application entry, completing a "migration" from Web2 to Web3, ultimately promoting the true arrival of Mass Adoption.

That's all.

Note: There has always been a mysterious force of web2 active in the web3 field. Their product strength is impressive, they can innovate, and they play Tokenomics very well, but they are betting on the uncertain prospect of a Mass Adoption that may come at an unknown time. To be honest, this web2 force is quietly promoting the increasing maturity of the web3 industry.