A deep dive into CyberConnect — a web3 social network that enables developers to build social apps, users to own their digital identity, and creators to retain monetization over content.
CyberConnect is a web3 social network. With its decentralized and composable protocol, it enables developers to build social applications that empower users with ownership over their digital identity, content, connections and monetization.
This deep dive analyzes:
- The current Decentralized Social (DeSoc) landscape
- What CyberConnect is and how it works
- CyberConnect V1, V2 and V3
- The CyberConnect ecosystem
- CYBER token and future roadmap
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The Current Decentralized Social (DeSoc) Network Landscape
Decentralized social media is on the rise, thanks to improvements in blockchain scalability and the gradual adoption of web3 tech. A wide variety of decentralized social media protocols and applications have launched, covering different verticals such as front-ends, application infrastructure, social graph and base layers.
Source: Messari
Some of the value propositions that the DeSoc sector offer includes:
• Preventing Censorship: Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter make decisions based on optimizing profits rather than principles of free speech. Controversial voices or opinions that do not align with platforms’ moderation policies often get banned or "shadowbanned" with little transparency or recourse. With decentralized platforms, censorship resistance is built into the architecture. Content creation and moderation is distributed across the network rather than subject to centralized authority.
• Empowering Creators: On Twitter or Instagram, creators are compensated with only a tiny share of the revenue they generate. Decentralized social networks allow creators to monetize their content and community with greater flexibility. Value accrues directly to those producing compelling social experiences rather than mostly enriching centralized intermediaries.
• Preserving Social Capital: With decentralized identity and standardized data formats, users own and control their social connections. Open standards prevent vendor lock-in.
• Unleashing Innovation: Today's social media landscape is dominated by a few entrenched players, which stifles innovation. Decentralized protocols unlock social graph data so developers can freely build on it. This unlocks open competition based on innovation, and a flourishing market economy rather than monopolistic data control and better experiences for users.
• Reducing Platform Lock-In: Users lose their connections, content, and social status when they leave centralized platforms today. Decentralized identity fixes this by making users' online presence portable. A self-sovereign, universal ID lets you take your social capital anywhere, reducing reliance on any single platform.
Challenges for DeSoc
However, some of the challenges that players in the DeSoc space face include:
• The Anti-Network Effect: Decentralized social protocols have found it hard to reach a critical mass of users to grow a meaningful user base.
• Lacking Economies of Scale: DeSoc protocols are more censorship-resistance, which comes at the expense of better scalability.
• User Experience: DeSoc protocols have thus far not been able to challenge centralized social media in terms of user experience.
What Is CyberConnect?
CyberConnect’s Vision
CyberConnect aims to challenge the status quo by providing infrastructure for developers to build equitable and innovative social applications that are owned by their community. The project envisions a fairer social web where value flows directly between creators and audiences rather than being extracted by intermediary platforms. At its core, CyberConnect wants to prevent exploitative censorship and moderation by centralized authorities.
For creators, CyberConnect unlocks flexibility to monetize content and build communities on their own terms. Without relying on the flawed incentives of centralized platforms, influencers and artists can leverage features like digital collectibles to engage fans.
Users regain ownership over their social connections as portable profiles they can take anywhere, reducing friction and lock-in effects. Open standards free users from starting their online identities from scratch when switching platforms.
By placing users back at the center of social media, CyberConnect aims to solve the following problems:
• Data Exploitation: Today's social platforms maximize profits by exploiting user data. Without owning their information, individuals have little recourse against how corporations leverage it. CyberConnect returns data ownership to users.
• Stifled Innovation: Walled garden data access prevents talented developers outside Big Tech from introducing better social features and apps. Open and shared data unlocks innovation.
• Content Manipulation: Centralized platforms control reach and virality of content based on opaque, profit-driven incentives. Direct creator-audience connections resist outside manipulation.
• Lack of Portability: Users starting fresh when switching platforms lose their social connections and status. CyberConnect makes identities portable to reduce lock-in.
• Unfair Censorship: Centralized moderation leads to opaque censorship and banned accounts. By placing control into the hands of users and developers, CyberConnect restores the level playing field that powered the early social internet.
CyberConnect Key Metrics
CyberConnect already boasts impressive statistics, with over 1.25M user profiles since July 2022, indicating an early wave of adoption:
According to the CyberConnect Dune Dashboard, the monthly active users for the past 30 days is over 362K, which signals promising growth figures in terms of users and content creator adoption on the platform.
CyberConnect V1 and V2
CyberConnect was first launched in Q3 2021 as a decentralized social graph protocol. The V1 version enabled developers to build social apps that leveraged a shared data layer of user connections and content.
This solved major problems for developers like cold start issues in having to rebuild social graphs from scratch. Apps could tap into V1's open graph to kickstart network effects. For users, V1 introduced the idea of owning social connections as portable identities not locked into platforms. However, V1 was limited to the Ethereum Mainnet.
In August 2022, CyberConnect released V2 incorporating a hybrid scaling architecture using both EVM blockchains and off-chain storage via Arweave. This enabled supporting multiple chains like Ethereum, BNB Chain and Polygon.
V2 expanded the options for creator monetization by introducing EssenceNFT and SubscribeNFT smart contracts. These allowed new token-based models like content collectibles and subscriptions.
Despite limitations, V2 represented a major step forward in taking CyberConnect cross-chain and expanding monetization capabilities for over 1.6 million users.
CyberConnect V3
CyberConnect V3 represents a major upgrade to CyberConnect's decentralized social networking protocol.
V3 enables a unified social experience across different blockchains. The core innovation is CyberAccount, an ERC-4337 compatible identity system. CyberAccount is used to represent a user’s self-sovereign digital identity. By abstracting complexity, CyberAccount allows smooth compatibility across the CyberConnect ecosystem with the CyberID.
Another major V3 component is CyberGraph, a set of smart contracts for recording social data on-chain. It expands options for creators via collectible content and subscriptions. CyberGraph links users' identities to content and connections using customizable middleware. CyberConnect provides middleware for developers to build on top.
For scalability, CyberNetwork offers a low-cost settlement layer to reduce blockchain fees. This overcomes limitations around recording all social data on-chain.
How Does CyberConnect Work
The CyberConnect workflow centers around creating a decentralized, portable digital identity via CyberAccount. This is the identity layer that provides each user a self-sovereign web3 account. CyberAccount issues unique handles like username.cyber. Soon, CyberAccount will power web2-like user onboarding by allowing users to set up their web3 identity by signing up with their social logins or email.
The first step is registering a CyberAccount. Users can then mint an NFT representing their CyberID handle. Fees from minting fund onboarding incentives like gas credits. CyberID NFTs use a recurring fee model rather than permanent ownership.
With their identity set up, users can begin interacting within the CyberConnect social graph. They can post content which generates a link between their account and the content's storage location. Creators can make content collectible into NFTs using EssenceNFT smart contracts. This records engagement data on-chain. For social connections, SubscribeNFTs represent following other users and profiles. CyberAccounts can configure subscription rules like paid or gated.
CyberGraph records all this activity using on-chain smart contracts and off-chain storage. Middleware lets developers customize behaviors like access conditions.
The workflow ties together identity, content, connections, and activities into one portable social graph powered by a combination of blockchain and off-chain systems. CyberAccount is the core enabler of this user-controlled ecosystem.
With ERC-4337 account abstraction, CyberConnect can expand across multiple chains while still providing a unified experience. Users pay gas in one token which is used across chains behind the scenes.
This key innovation solves the identity fragmentation and high network switching costs faced when supporting multiple chains. This innovation also unlocks a key bottleneck faced by web3 developers in onboarding previously unexplored user bases who were resistant to try out decentralized applications because of the complex user experiences of crypto wallets.
Since recording all social data on-chain is expensive, CyberNetwork offers a low-cost settlement layer based on payment channels and sidechains. This retains user ownership while scaling transaction throughput.
The CyberConnect Ecosystem
CyberConnect already boasts a flourishing ecosystem consisting of different verticals:
Here are some of the most interesting applications on CyberConnect:
• Link3: A Web3 social network for building communities and discovering content, with over 2,500 organizations using it for profiles and events.
• Galxe: A credential data network that helps developers leverage achievements and credentials via NFTs.
• Atticc: A social app for NFT communities to connect, build profiles, and conduct commerce.
• QuestN: A quest and event platform that enables earn opportunities for users through tasks.
• Aspecta: An identity platform linking Web2 and Web3 accounts to showcase skills, achievements, and experiences.
• Mocaverse: An NFT collection released by Animoca Brands.
• Readon: A decentralized content distribution platform with read-to-earn incentives and topic-based NFTs.
• Phaver: A multi-chain super ecosystem for content creation, communication and more.
• CyberTune: A decentralized music streaming platform with social features.
• Oasis Origin: A privacy-first web3 profile system for identity, community and messaging.
Roadmap and Future Outlook for CyberConnect
CyberConnect's native utility token CYBER is available for farming for 30 days on Binance Launchpool from August 2, 2023. The Binance Launchpool allocation for CYBER is 3% of the total supply.
The CYBER token opened for trading on Binance on August 15, 2023. CYBER/BNB, CYBER/BTC, CYBER/FDUSD, CYBER/TRY and CYBER/USDT are available for trading.
CYBER will facilitate governance, payments for premium names and gas fees within CyberConnect's social applications. It aims to build a sustainable ecosystem driven by CyberDAO.
Upcoming roadmap plans for CyberConnect include continuing multi-chain expansion to Optimism, Arbitrum and BNB Chain. Into 2023 and 2024, further plans guided by the DAO involve shipping the CyberWallet mobile app, "Login with CyberConnect" SDK for developers, and grant programs to enrich the ecosystem.
On July 26, CyberConnect also announced the launch of CyberTrek, a 2-month voyage with 6 partner blockchains for users to experiment with the CyberConnect ecosystem. Users can earn rewards totalling $1.8 million.
On August 15, CyberConnect announced a strategic partnership with Animoca Brands to build a decentralized social layer for Mocaverse, Animoca’s flagship NFT collection. CyberConnect is announcing integrations with blockchain projects and platforms like XMTP, Livepeer and more.
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