Top 7 SocialFi Platforms

SocialFi platforms represent the next evolution in social networking by merging traditional social interactions with decentralized finance (DeFi) opportunities. CP Media previously explained how these platforms operate and how content monetization works in the era of Web3 communication. Now, let’s dive into some of the most prominent SocialFi platforms and explore what each offers to its users.

All statistics are accurate as of September 11, 2024, based on data from DefiLlama, DappRadar, Dune Analytics, and CoinGecko.

Friend.tech

Friend.tech is a SocialFi platform that allows users to monetize their online presence through tokenization. Launched in August 2023, the platform’s total value locked (TVL) skyrocketed to $40 million within its first month. However, after a sharp surge, user activity quickly dropped, before rising again and stabilizing.

The hype around Friend.tech stems from its unique concept. The platform’s primary idea is to enable social media account holders to monetize their popularity and engagement by interacting with followers and fans.

Friend.tech allows users to buy and sell digital assets called “keys” (formerly known as “shares”). Owning these keys grants buyers access to exclusive content, personal interaction, and other perks linked to the user’s profile. The platform offers an innovative approach to monetizing social engagement, turning Web2 accounts into digital assets that can be traded.

CyberConnect

CyberConnect is a SocialFi platform that lets users control their social interactions, data, and digital identities. The core of CyberConnect is its decentralized social graph, a network of contacts and connections fully managed by the user. Unlike traditional social networks where platforms own the data, in CyberConnect, users have complete control over their data, including followers, interactions, and content.

CyberConnect leverages non-fungible tokens (NFT) to create and manage digital identities, allowing users to verify the uniqueness of their online interactions. The platform also enables content creators to monetize their audiences through Web3 applications using the native token CYBER.

Lens Protocol

Lens Protocol allows users to create, distribute, and monetize content without intermediaries. On this SocialFi platform, users have full control over their content and social connections, such as subscriptions, interactions, comments, and more. Additionally, the technology enables users to carry their contacts across different applications, maintaining access to their audience without any third-party interference.

Users can earn rewards for social interactions, content creation, and collecting NFTs, as well as by participating in platform governance as a DAO member, creating paid subscriptions, and other activities. Lens Protocol’s data is stored on the Polygon blockchain within the Ethereum ecosystem, and rewards are distributed in MATIC tokens.

DeSo

DeSo (Decentralized Social) is a blockchain platform specifically designed to support decentralized social networks and applications. DeSo provides developers with tools to create and launch SocialFi applications.

Users and content creators can monetize their activity on DeSo by issuing “creator coins,” tokens tied to individual creators that can be traded. DeSo also supports the minting and trading of art, exclusive content, and access to special services via NFTs.

The DeSo ecosystem includes a full-featured DAO builder, a metaverse, an NFT marketplace, and platforms for hosting podcasts and videos, along with a search engine. A separate platform connects DeSo with X (ex-Twitter) and other social networks.

Galxe

Galxe (formerly Project Galaxy) is one of the leading SocialFi platforms focused on rewarding users for engaging in social networks through various tasks. Galxe’s primary goal is to promote Web3 adoption by offering simple and accessible ways for unfamiliar users to earn through social activity.

Users can earn rewards in GAL tokens for activities like reposts, likes, comments, or participating in events such as livestreams. Additionally, the GAL token is used for governance participation on the platform.

Initially launched on Arbitrum Orbit’s L3 network within the Ethereum ecosystem, Galxe introduced a testnet for its L1 blockchain, Gravity, in late May 2024. This solution aims to provide a more secure, scalable, and efficient mechanism for managing complex cross-chain interactions via smart contracts. The mainnet, featuring staking and restaking functions, is expected to fully launch in Q2 2025.

Chingari

Chingari is an Indian short video platform similar to TikTok that transformed into a SocialFi platform in late 2022 by integrating blockchain and native tokens to reward users. The platform allows users to create and watch short videos while earning GARI tokens for content creation, social activity, and inviting new participants.

Moreover, GARI tokens can be used to purchase goods within the app, access exclusive content, and participate in contests and challenges. GARI also acts as a governance token, giving users a say in the platform’s development via a DAO. Despite GARI dropping over 99% in value since its release in early 2023, Chingari’s user activity remains strong as of mid-September 2024.

Open Campus

Open Campus isn’t a “typical” SocialFi project but rather an infrastructure protocol aimed at developing decentralized education applications (dApps). The protocol is based on the EDU Chain, an L3 network within the BNB Chain ecosystem, and uses the EDU token.

The core concept of Open Campus is “Learn-to-Earn” (L2E), linking learning experiences to earning opportunities, where every step of the learning process is tracked on the blockchain. The protocol introduces a new approach to interaction between students, teachers, and educational content creators.

Through the EDU token, ecosystem participants can monetize educational content, gain access to it, and engage with it via third-party platforms integrated with the protocol, such as TinyTap, GEMS, and Genesis. Open Campus is governed by a DAO, with EDU serving as the governance token.

In total, as of mid-September 2024, there are over 70 different SocialFi projects, with a combined market capitalization of about $2.2 billion. Despite the diversity in functionality and features, SocialFi projects share two key characteristics: they allow users to fully own their content and monetize their social activity without traditional intermediaries.