SocialFi protocol Lens releases Lens Chain mainnet with Avail DA and ZKsync tech

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The Block2025/04/03 16:00

By:By Naga Avan-Nomayo

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Quick Take Stani Kulechov’s Lens protocol launched its EVM-compatible Layer 2 network for onchain social networking and data ownership. The network taps Avail’s data availability solution to optimize storage needs, ZKsync’s developer stack for cheap transactions, and Aave’s GHO stablecoin as a native gas token.

SocialFi protocol Lens releases Lens Chain mainnet with Avail DA and ZKsync tech image 0

Decentralized social graph Lens released its Layer 2 network Lens Chain on mainnet, marking one of the largest data migration events in blockchain history to date — with around 125GB of storage logs transferred from the Genesis block.

Lens Chain is designed to serve as the infrastructure for the Lens Protocol, a decentralized social graph where users control their data and interactions. The goal is to support a range of custom social media platforms that have embedded cryptocurrency tools.

“To fuel next-generation SocialFi applications, we made it possible for all types of web builders, regardless of their experience with blockchain and smart contracts, to deploy on Lens Chain rapidly,” said Stani Kulechov, founder of Avara, the umbrella company for Aave and Lens. “This enables builders of all backgrounds to provide an exceptional onchain experience for mainstream users and monetize in a variety of ways quickly to achieve profitability,” Kulechov added.

Some web3 social apps have already started migrating to the newly launched Lens Chain, including names like Bonsai, Fountain, and Orb.

Kulechov launched Lens as an onchain social network on Polygon, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution, in May 2022. The SocialFi platform seeks to provide a decentralized setting for user-owned data, where individuals and entities have full control over publishing and monetization. Two years later, Lens unveiled plans for its ZK-powered validium chain and aimed for a Q4 2024 mainnet launch . The rollout was eventually delayed by a few months to enable developers to migrate the massive data set in Lens V2 on Polygon to Lens V3 on Lens Chain.

Last December, Lens raised $31 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed Faction. Firms like Avail, Circle, Consensys, Wintermute Ventures, and angel investors also participated. The protocol has raised around $46 million across several funding rounds and claims to have over 650,000 users.

How was Lens Chain built?

Lens Chain is a Validium chain, which means that it doesn't use the Ethereum blockchain for storing its main data. Instead it leans on Avail’s data availability solution , a tool optimized for zkSync’s stack and built to provide affordable censorship-resistant data publishing. Avail DA employs the Data Availability Sampling (DAS) structure, a technique that allows data availability checks without needing every blockchain node to download and retain all the information. DAS reduces data costs and boosts scalability.

Lens Chain was designed using ZKsync’s rollup stack, which uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify information while maintaining privacy. This means the network is Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible as well.

Lens Chain integrated Aave’s stablecoin GHO as a native gas token. GHO is an overcollateralized stablecoin pegged to the US dollar and issued by Aave Labs, the entity behind DeFi’s biggest lender. The move was first announced in February and aims to offer predictable transaction fees.

Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

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