Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated he plans to totally recommit to decentralized social media in 2026, arguing that solely platforms constructed on shared, decentralized information layers can foster actual competitors and assist mass communication methods aligned with customers’ pursuits somewhat than engagement metrics.
In a Wednesday post on X, Buterin stated he has shifted his exercise in the direction of decentralized social platforms this 12 months, noting that each put up he has written or learn in 2026 has been accessed by Firefly, a multi-client interface that helps X, Lens, Farcaster and Bluesky.
“If we wish a greater society, we want higher mass communication instruments,” Buterin stated, arguing that decentralization allows competitors by permitting a number of purchasers to function on a shared social information layer.
Buterin criticized many crypto-native social initiatives for counting on speculative tokens as an alternative choice to significant innovation, arguing that SocialFi experiments have repeatedly failed by rewarding pre-existing social capital and short-term value hypothesis as a substitute of content material high quality and constructive discourse.
He contrasted these efforts with creator-subscription fashions akin to Substack, which he stated higher align incentives round high-quality content material.
Calling for broader group participation, Buterin urged customers and builders to spend extra time in decentralized social ecosystems, saying the business should transfer past a single centralized “data warzone” and towards a extra aggressive frontier the place new types of on-line interplay can emerge.
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The state of decentralized social media
Decentralized social media, or SocialFi, refers to platforms constructed on open or blockchain-based networks the place person identities, content material and social graphs will not be managed by a single firm. Whereas protocols akin to Lens and Farcaster have gained early traction, the sector has to date struggled to transform that momentum into sustained mass-market adoption.
On Wednesday, core infrastructure supplier Neynar acquired Farcaster from Merkle. Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero announced the information, saying that “after 5 years, it is clear Farcaster wants a brand new method and management to achieve its full potential.”
Lens additionally underwent a management transition this week, as Aave transferred stewardship of the open-source social protocol to Masks Community, tasking the Web3 social firm with advancing consumer-ready, onchain social purposes.
Farcaster options greater than two million complete registered customers and a whole bunch of 1000’s of day by day interactions, measured by posts and reactions. Lens has accrued about 506,000 customers, in response to Dune Analytics information.
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