How Did the Idealism of Western Founders Get 'Taken Over' by Chinese Buyers?
Over the course of two days, two major decentralized social protocols, Lens Protocol and Farcaster, were acquired—by Mask Network and Neynar, respectively. Combined, these protocols had raised over $200 million, with Farcaster recently valued at $1 billion. This follows the earlier acquisition of Steem by Tron in 2020, meaning two out of three prominent decentralized social protocols are now been taken over by Chinese-led teams.
The author explores why Chinese buyers are stepping in. One reason may be pricing: these acquisitions often target once-prominent projects now in decline. For instance, Farcaster’s monthly revenue has dropped over 95%, and Lens has only 50,000 monthly active users. Another factor is cultural: while Western founders often approach decentralized social with idealism—emphasizing user-owned data and censorship resistance—Chinese acquirers tend to view it as a business opportunity, prioritizing usability and growth over ideology.
Suji Yan, founder of Mask Network, explicitly aims to move “decentralized social from the lab to daily life.” However, past acquisitions like Steem—which led to a community fork—highlight risks when new ownership clashes with original values. The piece questions whether true decentralization is possible when protocols can be sold, suggesting that technical decentralization doesn’t prevent centralized commercial control.
Ultimately, the piece argues that the vision for a better social infrastructure remains, but the builders and operators may increasingly be pragmatic, commercially-driven teams—many from China.
比推01/22 12:42
