Airdrop is expected to accelerate the growth of CyberConnect, and the ace product Link3 is facing a test

Original author: Grapefruit, ChainCatcher

Original author: Grapefruit, ChainCatcher

Recently, the surge of data on the chain of the centralized social graph protocol CyberConnect has attracted a lot of attention. This project, which was launched as early as 2021, why did the attention soar during March and April this year?

In fact, the data growth of CyberConnect is inseparable from its ace social product Link 3, among which the ccProfile (personal data) NFT representing user identity is the main contributor to this data growth.

For community users, in addition to the excellent data performance on the chain, they are more concerned about CyberConnect products and ecological progress. Link 3, as an official application scenario product built by CyberConnect, naturally becomes the main position for users to participate in interaction. However, with the increase of users, Link 3 is facing an unprecedented test, and there are more and more feedbacks about its user experience. Some users marvel at its innovation and high user participation, and some users complain that there are too many advertisements on the platform. , poor playability.

first level title

Participation threshold is lowered, and airdrop expectations stimulate the surge of data on the chain

According to data from Dune user @ryanli 27, the number of monthly active wallet addresses (UAW) of CyberConnect reached 730,000 in March, a record high. Among them, the ccProfile NFT launched in March had 594,000 mints, accounting for about 72% of the total mintage, which also hit a record high. As of April 20, the total number of ccProfile NFT minted is 874,000, and the number of holding addresses is 850,000.

Judging from the change trend of daily active user data, the data related to CyberConnect applications mainly began to accelerate growth on March 8, and reached a peak on March 18. The number of active addresses on that day was about 210,000, and the rapid growth continued until Around March 20. Today, the number of daily active addresses is around 40,000.

Why did CyberConnect data perform so well in March?

In fact, judging from the daily data changes, since February 7, the daily activity data on CyberConnect has begun to show an upward trend.

It was found retrospectively that during this period, CyberConnect lowered the threshold for casting ccProfile, not only opening the casting on BNB Chain, but also supporting users to register for free with user names of more than 12 characters during the hackathon period from February 7th to March 13th ( Handle), and canceled the registration invitation mode. Prior to this, CyberConnect only supported users to mint ccProfile on Ethereum, which required a payment of 0.1 ETH and an invitation code. From this point of view, CyberConnect not only simplifies the user registration process, but also reduces the cost of casting Gas.

At present, when users want to mint ccProfile NFT in CyberConnect, they only need to pay Gas on the BNB Chain if the user name is more than 12 characters, which is about $0.4.

In addition to lowering the minting threshold, another major reason to stimulate data growth is the potential airdrop expectation of CyberConnect. On March 16, Arbitrum announced the airdrop of ARB tokens. The value of the airdropped tokens per address account is about 1 W per person. The wealth effect it brings has completely ignited the enthusiasm of community users, and is actively looking for the next unissued token that may have an airdrop Project layout. And CyberConnect, which has not issued coins, is naturally selected by users.

Compared with Lens, CyberConnect has a lower threshold for participating. Users only need to pay Gas fees to own ccProfile NFT and participate in CyberConnect-related ecology. The cost is negligible, and it naturally becomes a high-quality project in the eyes of the hair-raising army, which stimulates the surge of data on the chain. This can also reasonably explain why CyberConnect's daily activity data peaked on March 18.

first level title

CyberConnect focuses on social data layer, builds real application scenarios and launches link 3

The surge of user data on the chain has also caused users to re-examine CyberConnect and its related ecological products.

CyberConnect is mainly used to build a decentralized social graph based on blockchain addresses, and was first created in September 2021. This product aims to return the ownership and usage rights of social data to users, making social graphs autonomous, portable, and composable; it also provides Web3 developers with an underlying infrastructure for building applications or integrating data. The social graph module can be integrated or plugged into their applications with simple code, or create new products based on it.

In today's social networks such as WeChat, Twitter, Douyin, Facebook and other platforms, the user's personal information, friend information, and published content and other data are stored in the centralized server owned by the operator and owned by the network operator. Among them, most of the content on these platforms is created by users, but the rules are formulated by operators. Creators’ content and accounts may violate the rules for some reasons, not only will they be punished, but they will also face the risk of account closure and loss. In addition, user data is independent and fragmented on these platforms and cannot be migrated. Just like fans and content on Douyin cannot be transferred to Bilibili.

CyberConnect builds a publicly accessible and distributed decentralized social protocol. Data ownership and utility are owned by users. Users can truly own and control their social identities and relationships, content, monetization methods, etc. in social networks, and can also bring them to any DApp based on the CyberConnect protocol. Seamlessly migrate between different DApps. Developers can build the required Web3 application products based on the social data and component tools provided by CyberConnet to realize the interoperability of users' underlying data.

For example, there is a DeFi application based on CyberConnect. User A uses the application and posts a user experience post on a social platform based on the CyberConnect protocol, which has received many comments and likes from fans. Then access the CyberConnect database Other DeFi applications can obtain user A's social graph information, and recommend similar applications for these interactive users.

According to the RootData data platform, CyberConnect completed a US$10 million seed round of financing in the form of equity and future token agreements in November 2021, led by Multicoin Capital and Sky 9 Capital; in May 2022, Animoca Brands and Sky 9 Capital led the $15 million Series A round. There has been $25 million in public funding. CyberConnect was also one of the popular projects at the time. However, since the collapse of Terra in May 2022, the encryption market has begun to turn bearish, and the decentralized social track has become increasingly deserted, and the popularity of CyberConnect has gradually cooled.

But CyberConnect didn't stop there. In July 2022, CyberConnect announced the launch of Link 3, the first Web3 native social information product based on the protocol, to build real application scenarios for the protocol.

In terms of product form, Link 3 is more like an information and link aggregation service platform based on addresses on the chain, similar to Linktree in Web2 (a tool that can integrate multiple links such as Twitter, INS, and Facebook account links on one page ).

Link 3 brings together users' on-chain and off-chain data through the personal profile page (cc Profile) NFT. Users can mint a cc Profile NFT by linking the wallet address on the CyberConnect platform. By setting the cc Profile data, aggregate relevant data on the chain and off the chain, such as social platform identity links such as Twitter and WeChat under the chain, personal data and other data and proofs on the chain such as held NFT, POAP, etc. can be aggregated Go to a page to create your own account system on the chain. This Profile NFT is the user's on-chain identity proof, which can be used as the user's overall identity in the Web3 world, similar to LinkedIn's profile introduction.

In the early days, only whitelisted addresses or addresses with invitation codes could mint cc Profiles. Currently, users can mint a cc Profile with a username of more than 12 characters for free by paying the GAS fee on the BNB Chain; if the user wants a username shorter than 12 characters, they need to pay different fees according to the length of the characters. From 0.0333-33.3333 BNB, the shorter the character, the higher the fee.

In addition to cc Profile, the Link 3 platform also integrates Post (post), Event (event), FanClub and other functions. Post supports users to turn their content into NFT for users to collect and realize; Event aggregates various online and offline event information organized by the project party. FanClub community user loyalty club, users can earn points by completing simple tasks, etc. In addition, CyberConnect also launched the soul token SBT——W 3 ST (Web3 Status Token), which is used to record the user's interactive behavior and digital reputation on the chain. The project party can also use W 3 ST to set relevant tasks in Event activities to motivate users participate.

Currently, individual users can create content posts (Post) in Link 3. High-quality content can be NFTized, rewarded by users, subscribed, and monetized content, etc.; for project parties, Link 3 provides an Event Planner tool package, which can track the latest developments in Discord and Twitter communities, and can also help project parties simplify the process of organizing activities, such as providing project parties with sweepstakes tools, analyzing user data, etc.

In addition to the original Link 3, CyberConnect is also actively cooperating with external applications to build ecological development. Among them, Metaverse social platform Oasis, Web3 content aggregation platform ReadON and other platforms have integrated the CyberConnect protocol and will support users to bind cc Profile NFT.

first level title

CyberConnect VS Lens: Ecology and playability are still the core of social products

On the decentralized social graph track, Lens is often considered the leading product on the track, and CyberConnect often ranks second. Both have Profile NFTs representing user identities, which are often compared by users.

Lens is an open and composable decentralized social graph infrastructure construction platform, built on the Polygon public chain, mainly used to help developers build decentralized social applications. The concept of Profile NFT was first proposed by it, and it was modularized for developers to use.

Lens manages to modularize the main functions on the social platform and supports the addition of new sections or content. It also provides developers with a series of "Profile (personal data) NFT, Follow (follow) NFT, content NFT, Collect collection NFT” and other basic component tools, these components can be said to provide a complete chain from creators to content to consumers. Developers can use these tools to create social products of their own needs and simplify the development process.

From the perspective of product concept, Lens is committed to providing a convenient development fertile ground for developers and creators through a series of modular tools, encouraging Builders to build new applications based on Lens standards to achieve co-construction, co-creation, and common development Ecosystem; CyberConnect focuses on building a complete and real social graph of users for developers or project parties to access, and has created an application scenario Link 3 for it.

From this point of view, Lens is an underlying infrastructure that encourages ecological co-construction; Cyberconnect is more like a tool product, focusing more on application scenarios, and developers can integrate with it. For example, developers can use CyberConnect to connect all off-chain and On-chain credentials and assets are mapped to ccProfile, whether it is NFT, SBT, Twitter username or DID.

In terms of product design, Lens uses all data on the chain, which is sufficiently decentralized. But this also means that every interaction or interaction between the user and the application will involve on-chain behavior and need to interact with the smart contract, such as user attention, or posting content, leaving a message, commenting, etc., requires the wallet address to authorize the signature or pay the Gas fee. Not only does it increase the complexity of use, but it also requires payment; Cyberconnect uses valuable data to be uploaded to the chain. Common, high-frequency and non-rare data such as likes and comments do not need to interact with smart contracts and can be carried out without wallet authorization, which simplifies User operations can also save a lot of Gas.

From the perspective of ecological development strategy, Lens aims to allow developers to easily call the API to obtain data and build applications. Most of the ecological projects are native projects, and all DApps developed on this platform will share the resources of the Lens ecosystem. For example, the DApp developed based on Lens can realize application interaction and recombination similar to DeFi Lego, and the NFT assets built in the product can be interoperable and so on. CyberConnect adopts social data tools for other applications and encourages external DApps to access and build an ecosystem.

Therefore, from the perspective of ecological construction, Lens is building a garden, providing relevant tools and development soil. Developers build on this garden, and applications can be recombined and more open; in contrast, CyberConnect is more like looking for The same kind, do not emphasize the originality of the application, just allow any application with real demand scenarios to access.

It is reported that there are currently more than 140 native applications on Lens, covering content, social and music fields. The main representative product is the official LensFrens, which can recommend profiles based on user Web3 footprints; Lenster, which is similar to Twitter, supports users to post content updates And NFTize it and so on. There are more than 30 ecological applications connected to the CyberConnect protocol, such as Plato for restaurant reviews, and Phaver, a Share-to-Earn social application in the Lens ecosystem.

In terms of data performance, as of April 18, due to the suspension of Profile casting, Lens had 116,000 profiles, 3.39 million posts, 18,000 30-day active users, and 19.42 million transactions. A total of 869,000 ccProfiles were minted by CyberConnect, of which 36,700 paid for registration; 5.98 million content NFTs were issued, and 7.16 million interactions involved the payment of Gas fees. From the perspective of user participation data, CyberConnect data is currently better than Lens.

From the perspective of product, ecology, and user participation, the two seem to be on par.

However, in terms of user experience feedback, Lens seems to be more dominant. Many community users said that CyberConnect is not as playable as Lens.

This is mainly because the content of the ace Link 3 product promoted by CyberConnect is a bit complicated. It aggregates a variety of information such as content and event information, and users cannot grasp the key points when using it. Referring to previous social platforms, it is neither a pure content community platform nor an event participation platform. Some users even suggested that Link 3 is more like an advertising and marketing platform built for project parties. And many users complained that most of the mission activities released by the project party on Link 3 are complicated and tasteless, more like the "data mining" played by the currency circle in the past few years. Naked advertising, not to mention the so-called social connection at all, if it is not for airdrops or potential rewards, it will not participate at all.

The corresponding Lens ecology has Lenster, which is similar to the Twitter application. It is simple and pure, and it is built for social networking, and it is more in line with the social habits of users in the past. Social attributes, more playability. However, there are also opinions that Link 3 is still valuable for B-side project parties, at least it can create its own enthusiasm for activities.

But for users, whether it is Lens or CyberConnect, the threshold for using it is still too high. Not only do you need a wallet, but you also need to pay Gas fees, and even every action such as likes and posts will require Gas fees. For users who are accustomed to paying, it is a difficult gap to bridge. According to this process, the project party needs to spend a lot of time and energy to popularize users' Web3 education, wallet usage, etc.

In addition, as a social platform, product innovation is only one aspect. Whether there is high-quality content and social relationship accumulation is the key to attracting users. Although Web2 applications such as Twitter and Weibo are widely complained about, users cannot abandon them due to the existence of content and social relationships.

In contrast, although Web3 social networking has made innovations in both product concepts and functions, it often only becomes a short-lived product due to the lack of high-quality content to attract users and the lack of stickiness to user social relationships. Damus, the killer and smash hit Web3 social application, has maintained its popularity for less than a week.