By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 29th, 2024
Social Network innovates Bitcoin staking, merging NFTs and Earth Wallet for eco-friendly engagement, promoting outdoor exploration with ‘Touch Grass’.
Following a successful testnet phase, Social Network, a newly introduced Bitcoin staking Layer-2 solution is reportedly launching its mainnet on April 22. The network, created in collaboration with Earth Wallet, aims to help Bitcoin become more scalable by increasing the speed, cost efficiency, and energy efficiency of its transactions.
What Social Network Represents
Notably, Bitcoin and its Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus has long been a subject of scrutiny for its excessive energy usage by environmentalists. This is where Social Network steps in, attempting to rewrite the narrative with an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and an NFT-based mobile scavenger hunt linked to its mainnet launch.
It is important to mention that the Social Network is not a social networking platform like Facebook, Instagram, or X, but rather a solution to receive staking rewards. The eBTC token, which is utilized for staking rewards paid out from Layer-2 transaction fees, serves as the foundational reward system for Social Network. The network focuses on getting crypto users out of their homes and into nature.
“Social Network is one of the projects we’re contributing to the most right now, which is trying to create a new decentralized social network incentive system that essentially makes social networks a public good again,” noted Sukhveer Sanghera, Earth Wallet founder, CEO, and Core Contributor to Social Network.
While the benefits of Social Network seem immense for users, Sanghera expressed concern that convincing core Bitcoin maximalists to utilize an Ethereum-based solution would be challenging. Nonetheless, the CEO believes that environmentally conscious Bitcoin traders and investors would hop into the network upon recognizing its value.
Concurrently, Social Network is launching its “Touch Grass” campaign just in time for its mainnet launch. This campaign is similar to Niantic Labs’ Pokemon GO in that users can gather NFTs while outdoors. The campaign which opened its doors to over 10,000 testate contributors on April 1 will become available to the public on April 14.
How to Participate on Network
The process involved in becoming a participant in Social Network is quite simple as all players need to do is simply touch grass. According to Sanghera, the first step to take is to download the Earth Wallet. Upon launching the wallet, it will direct players to the park closest to them, where they can get hold of a Regens character.
To fully comprehend this concept, Sanghera went on to explain that when players visit a park and open the Earth Wallet app, they will see a “touch grass” button.
Tapping this button takes the app into Augmented Reality (AR) mode, thus exposing region-specific NFT characters that users can try to capture by pushing and holding on to them. Players should, however, keep in mind that the distribution of these NFTs varies depending on population density and energy consumption in different jurisdictions.