By
Kseniia Klichova
July 14th, 2021
Besides the fundamental roles of the DESO token in the network, users will be able to create social tokens which are unique per creator and have a strong attachment to the profiles that list them.
The pseudonymous founder of controversial social media protocol BitClout, Nader Al-Naji has unmasked himself, ending an elongated longing game amongst crypto observers. Popularly known as Diamondhands, Nader has also unveiled the launch of a relatively new blockchain network, dubbed Decentralized Social (DeSo). The DeSo protocol is designed to overhaul the operational structure of social media platforms with the underlying plans to unseat centralized blockchain protocols such as Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB), and Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) amongst others.
The advancement in digital technologies was propounded by the advent of social media platforms. In a creative way, these platforms enable content sharing amongst users and permit the gathering of followers and traffic, all of which are often exploited by these social media outfits to generate advertising revenue. The emergence of DeSo is billed to change this model, affording every participant to monetize their content in a sustainable way.
The blockchain network according to Nader is open-sourced and DApps will be able to launch on the platform to leverage its functionalities. BitClout will be hosted on the new blockchain network and the CLOUT tokens will be rebranded as DESO tokens.
About the DeSo Blockchain and Funding
The DeSo protocol as pointed out earlier is open-sourced and becomes more secure with more smart contracts or sub-projects that are built on it. Besides permitting DApps with their own custom functionalities, the DeSo blockchain can also house Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), positioning in the right way to tag along with the current trend in the blockchain world.
The native cryptocurrency of the blockchain “$DESO can be used to create a profile, create a post, buy social tokens, buy NFTs, give ‘diamonds,’ and more,” he said. “So overall, the goal is to drive as much activity on the DeSo blockchain as possible to increase the demand for $DESO the coin.”
Besides the fundamental roles of the DESO token in the network, users will be able to create social tokens which are unique per creator and have a strong attachment to the profiles that list them. A good part of the incentivization plans will revolve around these tokens.
Nader has dabbled on other projects in the past, some of which is the stablecoin outfit, ‘Basis’ whose launch was squashed back in 2018 as a result of a regulatory clampdown. The project attracted as much as $133 million in funding at the time, and Nader and his team had to refund the capital following the project’s failure. With the launch of DeSo, the same investors who back the Basis have come again to put their weight behind the social network platform.
Nader’s DeSo now has as much as $200 million in funding from investors led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Sequoia, Social Capital, TQ Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Polychain Capital, Pantera Capital, and Arrington Capital to mention a few. Drawing on the decision of these investors to back his project again, Nader said these big names “care deeply” about fixing the problems that plague traditional centralized social media platforms.
“I think for most of them, it wasn’t just about making money, but about creating a better platform for public discourse than what we have today,” explained he.
