Mask Network 接管 Lens Protocol：SocialFi 转向重大时刻

“The next phase is not more protocols, but creating truly usable products, as well as the culture we jointly shape and a community of genuine prosperity.” Mask Network’s declaration on the X platform marks a critical strategic shift in the decentralized social field.

On January 21, 2026, the SocialFi project Lens Protocol announced that its future development would no longer be led by the original team, but instead entrusted to Mask Network to “custody and lead” the next phase.

This change is not just a management handover between two projects but also reflects a fundamental transformation in the entire SocialFi industry, from infrastructure building to practical application deployment.

01 Event Core

The original team of Lens Protocol officially announced on January 21 that they would transfer project leadership to Mask Network.

This decision signifies a fundamental change in Lens’s future development direction. According to official statements, Mask Network will “custody and lead Lens’s next phase of development.”

It is worth noting that Lens’s founder Stani Kulechov has not completely exited but has shifted to an advisory role. He posted on X: “We built Lens Protocol and its underlying on-chain infrastructure… the goal is to create a neutral social infrastructure.”

02 Historical Trajectory

Lens Protocol was launched in early 2022 by Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, initially positioned as “Twitter built on Ethereum.”

The project aims to create a neutral social infrastructure through blockchain technology, enabling developers to build consumer-grade applications that reach mainstream users.

After about a year of development, Lens supported over 110,000 social accounts on Polygon and spawned hundreds of applications. These numbers are impressive on the surface but mask shortcomings in actual activity and mainstream user adoption.

03 Strategic Shift

“The next phase is not more protocols but creating truly usable products,” this statement from Mask Network directly addresses the core pain point in the SocialFi sector.

Although Lens Protocol is technically advanced and conceptually forward-thinking, it has obvious shortcomings in productization and user experience.

Technical barriers such as blockchain wallet setup, Gas fee payments, and private key management pose insurmountable obstacles for ordinary users accustomed to seamless Web2 social platform experiences.

Mask Network’s takeover signifies a strategic shift in the SocialFi industry from “protocol-first” to “product-first.” This means that future successful decentralized social platforms may not be the most technically advanced but the easiest to use.

04 Strength of the Acquirer

Mask Network is not a newcomer to the SocialFi space. The company is known for supporting the decentralized social ecosystem Mastodon, having acquired the second-largest Mastodon server in 2022 as part of its strategy to expand the SocialFi ecosystem.

Founder Suji Yan describes Mask as “Tencent in the Web3 space,” with a network of interoperable social products governed by MaskDAO.

Mask’s venture capital arm, Bonfire Union, manages $100 million and has invested in 120 decentralized social, infrastructure, and creator economy projects, providing strong resource support for the post-acquisition Lens.

05 Market Reaction and Token Data

According to the latest data from Gate platform on January 21, 2026, Mask Network’s token MASK is trading at $19.52, with a 24-hour trading volume of $5.23M and a market cap of $1.95B.

Compared to 24 hours earlier, MASK’s price has decreased by 2.00%, down 14.24% over the past 7 days, but still up 7.23% over the past 30 days. Its all-time high was $1,313.58, currently significantly below that peak.

On the other hand, Lens Protocol’s token LENS was trading at $0.00002000 on January 21, with a market cap of only $19,734.15, and a 24-hour trading volume of just $10.70.

The huge disparity in market cap and trading activity between the two tokens reflects market differing evaluations and expectations for each.

06 Industry Dilemma

Mask Network’s takeover of Lens comes at a time when SocialFi projects are generally facing challenges.

Another well-known decentralized social protocol, Farcaster, has reduced its investment in social networks and shifted resources toward wallet products. Co-founder Dan Romero admitted that years of a social-first strategy failed to attract a broad audience.

Lens’s development model is similar to Farcaster: early developer interest and funding brought initial momentum, but sustained user engagement remains difficult.

The essence of social networks is that people are there because of friends and content, not just because of advanced technology. Decentralized social networks in the cold start phase almost cannot compete with the network effects of centralized giants.

07 Future Outlook

According to official information, after the takeover, Mask Network will build Lens into the foundation for applications, with designs focused on daily use rather than experimental features.

Orb, a Web3-native social app built on Lens, has now joined MaskDAO, providing an initial glimpse of future possibilities. By early 2025, Orb’s monthly active users exceeded 50,000.

Mask Network’s collaboration experience with Mastodon also offers important insights for Lens’s future. Mastodon’s success lies in lowering the usage barrier, allowing users to operate without understanding the underlying federation protocol.

A similar strategy could be applied to Lens: hiding blockchain technology in the backend while providing a smooth experience similar to Web2 social platforms.

Future Outlook

When Stani Kulechov, founder of Lens Protocol, handed the project over to Mask Network, he said: “As Mask leads this important phase, our role shifts from daily product development to advisory.”

The implication behind this shift is clear: the Aave team is skilled at building underlying financial protocols, but transforming technology into products loved by ordinary users requires different expertise.

Suji Yan, founder of Mask Network, responded: “Mask’s mission is to make decentralized social functions easy to use, intuitive, and meet the needs of everyday users.”

On January 21, on the Gate platform, the price fluctuations of MASK reflect the market’s initial response to this industry shift. For the entire SocialFi sector, this takeover may mark the beginning of a new era: from technological idealism to pragmatic productism.