CyberConnect Overview: Development Updates, Protocol Data, and Future Outlook
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CyberConnect Overview: Development Updates, Protocol Data, and Future Outlook
CyberConnect aims to gradually transition Web2 social app users' habits to Web3 applications through iterative updates, while further lowering the barrier for decentralized social interactions by reducing interaction costs and other means.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Jaden, LD Capital
Recently, Binance announced the listing of CyberConnect’s governance token CYBER on its Launchpool. As a decentralized social protocol, CyberConnect aims to provide users with greater privacy, data ownership, and diverse content economy models. Since its inception, the CyberConnect protocol has continuously evolved. This article outlines the development journey and current status of CyberConnect.
1. CyberConnect Development Updates
Launched in 2021, the CyberConnect project aims to build a decentralized social graph. Its architecture emphasizes data sovereignty, leveraging Ceramic and IPFS as the underlying storage layer to establish a user-centric data flow system.
In 2022, CyberConnect launched version v2, introducing a hybrid scalability framework (EVM + Arweave) for social applications. This hybrid model enables dApps to store more user social data on-chain. Additionally, v2 adopted an SBT-like approach by binding a series of social data to W3ST (non-transferable ERC-721 standard tokens) to reconstruct users' Web3 identities. The flagship product utilizing CyberConnect v2 is Link3.
On July 14, 2023, CyberConnect announced its v3 version, aiming to complete deployment across six EVM-compatible networks within the following two months. The core vision of v3 is to transform CyberConnect into a cross-chain social protocol, with key components including: CyberAccount—an ERC-4337-compatible identity infrastructure; CyberGraph—a censorship-resistant database recording user content and social relationships; and CyberNetwork—a cross-chain solution.
CyberAccount is a set of smart contracts designed to significantly mirror Web2 user behaviors and lower the barrier for user migration. Key features include: 1) Identity verification and recovery—users can recover accounts via email or phone number if keys are lost, with enhanced privacy measures planned in the coming months; 2) ERC-4337 compatibility enabling account abstraction, allowing the CyberConnect protocol, underlying networks, or designated Web3 dApps to pay transaction fees on behalf of users and enabling seamless wallet switching across ecosystems—the product layer implementation being CyberWallet; 3) CyberID; and 4) Organization accounts.
CyberGraph focuses on linking user identities and social data, enabling social data to be recorded across multiple EVM-compatible blockchains. This data linkage forms a foundational element of CyberConnect’s creator economy. Correspondingly, v3 further emphasizes the creator economy. The W3ST token, previously using the ERC-721 standard in v2, has transitioned to the ERC-1155 standard in v3, reducing gas costs.
The team has not disclosed detailed information about CyberNetwork, but both ERC-4337 compatibility and CyberGraph lay the groundwork for improved multi-chain user experiences. The team stated it will introduce additional upgrades in the coming months to further reduce the cost of social interactions.
2. Protocol Data
CyberConnect experienced explosive growth in user data in mid-to-late March 2023, June, and late July. These spikes correspond to the following events:
1) CyberConnect lowered the threshold for Profile minting. During the CyberConnect and BNB Chain hackathon, users could register free usernames (Handles) of 12 characters or longer, and the invitation-only registration model was removed. Additionally, on March 16, Arbitrum announced its ARB token airdrop, prompting users seeking pre-token projects to engage due to the wealth-generation effect of airdrops.
2) Public token sale on CoinList concluded.
3) Binance Launchpool announced the listing of CYBER.
Currently, CyberConnect has a total of 1.258 million Profiles, with approximately 11,000 daily active users. Weekly active users stand at 82,000, down 45% from the previous week. After Binance announced the token listing on Launchpool, users engaged in short-term on-chain interactions driven by airdrop expectations, followed by a continuous decline in active users. Historically, since March 2023, long-term sustained daily active users were around 40,000. After the token sale on CoinList, the snapshot for early adopter airdrops was completed by end-April, leading to a drop in long-term active users to about 30,000. Given that part of the token allocation remains reserved for future community rewards, on-chain activity shows intermittent growth. Currently, sustained on-chain active users have further declined to 10,000–20,000, reflecting a more realistic user count.
3. Funding Overview
Funding: Total raised: $30.4 million.
Q3 2021: Completed a $10 million seed round led by Multicoin and Sky9 Capital, with participation from Animoca Brands, Draper Dragon, Hashed, Zoo Capital, Smrti Lab, and Mask Network.
Q1 2022: Closed a $15 million Series A round led by Animoca Brands and Sky9 Capital, with participation from Delphi Digital, Protocol Labs, IOSG Ventures, Tribe Capital, GGV Capital, Spartan Group, Amber Group, Polygon Studios, and SevenX Ventures.
In 2023, raised $5.4 million through a public sale on CoinList at a price of $1.8 per token, with 25% unlocked at TGE. Public sale participants would only break even at TGE if the CYBER price reaches $7.2.
4. Economic Model
Total supply of CYBER: 100,000,000.
Token Distribution:
Ecosystem Allocation Details:
Image source: Binance Research
Token Use Cases:
1) Payment of gas fees for all transactions within CyberWallet across EVM-compatible chains, applicable on Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, Base, and Polygon networks.
2) Community governance voting;
3) Payment for CyberProfile minting.
5. Roadmap
Q3 2023: Launch v3 and deploy across more EVM-compatible chains; release beta version of CyberWallet compatible with ERC-4337 and CyberGraph model; upgrade [.cyber] to an omnichain domain.
Q4 2023: Implement Web2-style login/recovery for CyberWallet; launch CyberConnect Grant program; achieve integration with over 120 ecosystem projects and 1.5 million profiles.
6. Competition
CyberConnect’s main competitor is Lens Protocol.
The core of Lens Protocol V2 is composable social networking, supporting external smart contracts to integrate with Lens Protocol; enabling a more open economic model for value sharing among users, algorithms, applications, and other roles within the platform; and introducing the ERC-6551 token standard, which allows value to be linked directly to individual Profile NFTs rather than owner addresses.
Compared to Lens Protocol, CyberConnect v3 emphasizes user experience and the construction of a multi-chain universal identity network.
In terms of data, Lens Protocol has 360,000 users—about one-third of CyberConnect’s user base. However, its daily active user patterns are similar to CyberConnect’s: spikes in activity are typically unsustainable, lasting only about a week. Current daily active users are approximately 20,000.
Conclusion
CyberConnect is a highly notable project in the decentralized social space. Through iterative updates, it aims to gradually transplant Web2 social app user habits into Web3 applications while lowering interaction costs to reduce the barrier to entry for decentralized social protocols.
However, data indicates that current user engagement on decentralized social protocols is largely driven by token airdrop expectations. Moreover, entrenched user habits and social connections contribute to high stickiness and difficulty in migrating away from traditional social platforms. Thus, decentralized social protocols still face significant challenges in achieving widespread adoption.
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