SocialFi or AIGC, which will ignite 2023?
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SocialFi or AIGC, which will ignite 2023?
The future is already here, and a new paradigm shift has begun, driven by Web3.0 social platforms and AICG.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsHave you recently been flooded with this string of code?
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On February 1, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted that Damus and Amethyst—social applications based on the decentralized social protocol Nostr—had launched on Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store respectively. Shortly after, Damus announced it would distribute small amounts of Bitcoin randomly to users via the Bitcoin Lightning Network and introduce a Bitcoin tipping feature for posts in its next version.
Suddenly, public key addresses flooded WeChat Moments and Twitter feeds alike, bringing decentralized social (DeSoc) back into the spotlight.
Alongside these public keys came countless screenshots of conversations with ChatGPT. Questions like “Where will Bitcoin price go in 2023?” and “When is the next bull market in crypto?” were thrown at AI.
At the start of 2023, Web3.0 social represented by Nostr and AIGC led by ChatGPT are going head-to-head, each vying for dominance.
DeSoc,Web3.0's Gateway
Social networks are one of the core pillars of Web2.0 and also a hot area within the cryptocurrency industry.
In the internet era, platforms such as Meta (formerly Facebook), Twitter, WeChat, YouTube, and TikTok have amassed vast user data, growing into tech giants. The primary monetization logic of Web2.0 is "traffic monetization"—converting social capital through products, advertising, and services. However, users who generate the data rarely retain ownership or control over their own information.
As social networking evolves from Web2.0 to Web3.0, blockchain technology has become the foundational technical module of Web3.0. Social interactions must now integrate with blockchain so that participants can truly own their data and benefit from it. Decentralized social (DeSoc) has thus emerged as a gateway to the Web3.0 world.
Around 2017, numerous blockchain-based social projects appeared in the crypto market, including high-profile names like Steemit, Voice, ONO, QunQun, GSC, Huoxin, and TTC Protocol. However, due to early-stage market immaturity, limited user engagement, and constrained ecosystem models, many of these projects have since faded away.
Therefore, when Damus reignited interest in decentralized social platforms, Justin Sun, founder of TRON and global advisor at Huobi, noted on social media that while discussing the potential of new decentralized social platforms, we should not forget the pioneering efforts of past entrepreneurs who established new social paradigms. Decentralized architecture ensures users maintain control over their data. Contributors are rewarded for creating and curating content, incentivizing high-quality output and community engagement. This model successfully fostered vibrant and active communities encompassing individuals, businesses, and organizations alike.
As Justin Sun pointed out, the defining characteristic of Web3.0—"ownership"—marks its fundamental difference from Web2.0: a complete shift in value distribution logic and mechanisms. In other words, Web3.0 empowers users to own their data and profit from it.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey once outlined three principles social media should follow:
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Social media must be resilient against control by corporations and governments;
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Only original authors should be able to delete their own content;
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Content moderation should ideally be algorithmically determined.
These views align closely with Justin Sun's philosophy and aptly describe the essential traits of decentralized social networks.
Capital Influx, Rise of New DeSoc Forces
In 2022, topics like "decentralized social," "Web3.0 social networks," and "Web3.0 music" gained significant traction, introducing popular new concepts such as soulbound tokens. Elon Musk’s high-profile acquisition of Twitter sparked widespread speculation about TwitterFi and Web3.0 social, pushing discussions around decentralized social to new heights.
After the successes of DeFi Summer and GameFi, Web3.0 entrepreneurs naturally turned their attention to SocialFi, exemplified by decentralized social platforms. Capital, too, sensed the social potential within Web3.0 and began placing increasing bets in this space.
Ryan Selkis, founder of blockchain analytics firm Messari, recently stated that decentralized social is his top investment theme for 2023.
According to RootData statistics, in 2022, both the number and total amount of funding rounds in the Web3.0 social and entertainment sector saw substantial increases. There were 56 funding events, mostly at the seed stage. A notable example was Farcaster, a decentralized social protocol, raising $30 million in a round led by a16z.
Farcaster was founded by Dan Romero, former executive at Coinbase. It is a fully decentralized protocol that enables developers to build decentralized social network applications. Built on Ethereum’s infrastructure, creating a profile on Farcaster generates a recovery phrase and an identity on the Ethereum Goerli testnet.
Besides Nostr and Farcaster, the most prominent DeSoc protocol is Lens Protocol—an open social graph protocol developed by the Aave team, built on Polygon. At its core, Lens Protocol leverages the full potential of NFTs to construct social graphs, enabling users to fully own their on-chain activity data. It has already surpassed 100,000 users.
Additionally, decentralized social platforms such as Mirror, Mastodon, and FaceDAO have gained recognition among the crypto community and broader user base.
ChatGPT Fuels AIGC Boom—A Market Worth Billions Awaits
While SocialFi gains momentum, ChatGPT continues to dominate headlines, igniting global market interest in AIGC (AI-generated content).
Launched by OpenAI in November 2022, ChatGPT became an instant sensation due to its human-like language simulation and natural interaction. Within just two months of launch, it reached 100 million users, capturing intense attention from both the industry and capital markets.
Despite access difficulties, as OpenAI rapidly advanced product development and commercial deployment in AIGC, the tech and investment communities quickly took notice. Today, major tech giants worldwide have begun establishing their presence in AIGC. Domestic companies including BAT, ByteDance, and NetEase, along with international players like Google, Meta, and Microsoft, have all released AIGC-powered applications.
Crypto entrepreneurs are also actively exploring integrations with ChatGPT and AI, hoping to capture a share of this emerging market.
On February 4, Justin Sun, founder of TRON and member of Huobi Global Advisory Board, tweeted that TRON will provide a decentralized payment framework for the AI system ChatGPT, covering on-chain smart contract systems, payment layer protocols, underlying SDKs, and an AI payment gateway.
In practice, Justin Sun explained, BitTorrent will address storage needs; the payment layer protocol will support stable on-chain settlements; the interaction layer will offer standardized settlement and APIs for AI services; WinkLink will integrate AI oracle services focused on decision-making for on-chain smart contracts; combining JUST and SUN applications from DeFi with AI’s powerful computational analysis capabilities, AI-driven investment will create asset management services on-chain, intelligently allocating assets for more efficient and stable returns; APENFT Market will deeply support AI-generated content, offering one-click decentralized storage, NFT tokenization, listing, and trading services for AI-created works.
Justin Sun also revealed that TRON will establish an AI research team and pursue collaborations within the AI industry to expand its AI strategy.
Moreover, the Seer social protocol team disclosed that their platform has integrated a ChatGPT bot, allowing users to join the Seer platform and engage in AI Q&A with community members.
The Future Is Here: Building a Diverse, Innovative Web3.0 Ecosystem Together
DeSoc will undoubtedly be a sharp tool for breaking through the user front-end in the Web3.0 era. As we’ve seen, many native Web3.0 projects are actively exploring ways to reshape social networking models, building entirely new Web3.0 social networks based on open social graphs, NFTs, or token economic models.
Meanwhile, the crypto industry continuously seeks new narratives and trends. With Jack Dorsey’s endorsement and growing capital inflow, SocialFi could evolve into a storytelling phenomenon akin to NFTs in 2021, triggering fierce competition among platforms. Huobi stands out as particularly aggressive, being the first to publicly announce support for Nostr.
On February 2, Huobi announced that amid rising community interest in the Web3.0 social project Nostr, it is closely monitoring updates to Nostr’s social ecosystem and maintaining close communication with the Damus app to jointly advance the Web3.0 social landscape. Huobi also revealed that users who register on its platform and submit their Damus public key address may qualify for airdrops from Nostr and related Web3.0 social ecosystem projects.
Additionally, RSS3—a Web3.0 information distribution protocol—has announced integration and compatibility with the decentralized social protocol Nostr and the Damus application. On Hoot.it, an RSS3 ecosystem product, searching for a Nostr address displays its associated social data. In the future, developers will also be able to retrieve Nostr address data via the RSS3 API.
Although new projects are sprouting up rapidly, Web3.0 social remains in its early stages, with an unclear direction. Particularly challenging is overcoming the massive social graph moats held by Web2.0 giants, which makes it difficult for users to rebuild social connections from scratch. Perhaps only with broader adoption of crypto and more mature infrastructure can this challenge be overcome. Fortunately, we are already seeing entrepreneurs and participants across the crypto space collaborating to build and share this new world. A new year for Web3.0 social lies ahead—one that promises a bold renaissance shifting focus from platform-centric to user-centric networks.
Meanwhile, the rise of AIGC may weave the narrative for the next generation of the internet.
Web1.0 was read-only, Web2.0 introduced read-write functionality, and today’s Web3.0 narrative centers on a blockchain-based value internet. Web3.0 emphasizes the “creator economy,” aligning perfectly with AIGC’s mission. Leveraging blockchain technology, it is entirely feasible to build an ecosystem network centered around AIGC.
Empowered by AIGC and supported by Web3.0’s economic models, creators can exponentially amplify their creativity and influence. This transformation also enables more people to shift from passive consumers to active participants, and from users to true owners.
The future is already here. With the combined power of Web3.0 social and AIGC, a new paradigm shift has already begun.
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