#ChartoftheDay #Web3 #social project Lens Protocol is reportedly seeking a $50 million round of funding in a deal that would value the platform at $500 million. This follows the decentralized social networking protocol Farcaster’s $150 million Series A led by Paradigm last month, which has brought renewed vitality to the social sector.

As an important vertical of the #crypto-verse, the #social sector rose to prominence in the last cycle, along with the emergence of various decentralized social projects, including some led by high-profile executives from #Web2 social platforms. However, most of the projects turned out to be short-lived, and no one has seemed to achieve sustainable growth so far.

Lens Protocol is a relatively long-existing social media platform created by the team behind Aave. Compared to Farcaster, it is more crypto native and #DeFi integrated. Lens Protocol enables users to tokenize their social assets, including handles, profiles, and contents, as NFTs, fostering a marketplace for collectibles and unique assets within the social media ecosystem.

According to a dashboard on Dune Analytics, the number of users interacting with Lens has continuously risen, reaching an all-time high. Previously, Lens Protocol has been in a testing phase for the last several years, resulting in low market attention. The absence of a token launch plan also led many users who look for airdrops to lose patience with it.

It seems that, after reaching enough users and sufficient operational readiness, Lens is now on full forth. Last month, Lens Protocol unveiled its plan to create its own EVM-compatible #Layer2 network called Lens Network to grow its ecosystem. Farcaster's recent great steam may also have put pressure on Lens. Anyway, both projects and their competitive development will be worth paying attention to for the social sector.