This is bound to involve complex technical framework support such as chain abstraction and account abstraction.
Author: Haotian
Cover: MASK Network
What do you think of $MASK, which is regarded as the "Little Tencent in the Crypto"? Calling it a "plug-in", "ITO issuance platform", "web2 and web3 middleware", "investment fund", etc. does not seem to be inappropriate, but is this the true face of @realMaskNetwork? Obviously not entirely.
Although the impression of "plug-in" is too preconceived, if analyzed from a business perspective, MASK is still focusing on the business of Web3 application traffic entrance. Let's analyze it briefly:
In the past few years, MASK has indeed been labeled with many labels: "social plug-in", "ITO issuance platform", etc., which made it the number one target of SocialFi for a time.
As a plug-in, MASK has developed an aggregated application with social platforms such as Facebook, X (Twitter), Lens, Mirro, Farcaster, etc. For example, users can directly use NFT Avatar as their avatar on the Twitter platform, and can also directly access their own on-chain web3 page on the Twitter page to view assets, Activities, donations, NFTs and other content.
Simply put, it is equivalent to seamlessly embedding Debank into Twitter, allowing Twitter users to access the Web3 on-chain application environment without leaving their daily social application scenarios.
During the process, MASK made a lot of compatibility optimizations, connected to the Transak fiat currency aggregation channel to solve the deposit problem; wallets can be created directly for asset management; it also connected to DeFi and NFT trading platforms such as Uniswap, Sushiswap, Opensea, and Rarible, and innovatively launched the ITO first Twitter issuance asset fundraising platform, etc.
It should be said that the most impressive thing about MASK is its web2-level "product strength", which is no different from Tencent's product strength positioning among Internet companies.
Although web3 is good at Tokenomics, its overall product and user experience are both flawed. Although the so-called pixel punk designs are quite trendy, they alone cannot attract users in the mature application environment of web2. The private key custody threshold of digital wallets, the complex logic of on-chain asset interaction, and the ever-present phishing traps are enough to discourage most Web2 users.
MASK is completely different from other completely reconstructed social platforms like Lens. Social platforms such as Lens have made a thorough decentralization transformation from the underlying server, communication protocol logic, and front-end application presentation. The story is very sexy but difficult to implement.
MASK is based on the usage habits and preferences of Web2 user groups to embed customized Web3 application components. The difficulty lies in how to hide the various Infra infrastructures abstracted by the web3 environment and only present them to users with a familiar front-end interactive window of web2. This is bound to involve complex technical framework support such as chain abstraction and account abstraction.
From a broader perspective, MASK’s ambition is not limited to a SocialFi platform. It’s just that its product’s “liveliness” and promotion are very good, so it is labeled as SocialFi.
In my opinion, MASK is taking the first step towards its goal of becoming the Tencent of the crypto: inputting web2 traffic + product strength into the web3 environment, that is, using plug-ins as an entry point to make itself a leading SocialFI platform with huge traffic.
The second step of MASK's grand strategy to become the "Little Tencent"in the crypto is to integrate and expand its investment portfolio through capital power, and become a web3 application traffic distribution platform with a large user base.
Recently, MASK disclosed that the total size of its Bonfire Union fund has exceeded US$100 million, and 120 projects have joined the Mask Network ecosystem to date, including: Lens, Galaxy, CyberConnect, Ton, Scroll, Rss3, Altlayer, 0xScope, Orbiter and other products and protocols, even covering AI fields such as CHirper, CharacterX, KEKKAI, etc.
A closer look reveals that all of these investment targets included in the MASK Portfolio have more or less traces of web2 product power. For example, Galaxy has become a tutorial and guide for tasks, CyberConnect is also a super traffic integration and interactive platform, and Altalayer is also trying to use modular To B thinking to become the hub of the layer2 track, etc. These products have played a certain role in the influx of Web2 users (C-end users + B-end developers) into Web3.
In addition, MASK's investment expansion is not without rules. It positions itself as a resource integrator and traffic driver, continuously expanding its influence through investment or mergers and acquisitions, and using the strategic positioning of traffic entrances to leverage the integration of web2 and web3 industry resources, thus becoming a necessary path for incremental web2 users to enter web3 and enjoy the dividends of explosive market growth. Hidden behind this is MASK's deep capital operation capabilities and market insight. If this step is achieved, it will undoubtedly become the "Little Tencent in the Crypto".
In general, MASK uses social plug-ins to maintain its huge user stickiness, and based on its resource integration and coverage in all areas of Web3, it aims to provide the web2 user group with an application entrance with low technical participation threshold and high user experience, complete a "migration" from Web2 to Web3, and ultimately promote the true arrival of Mass Adoption.
above.
Note: There is always a mysterious force of web2 active in the Web3 field. They have amazing product power and are good at making things happen. Tokenomics is also very good at it, but it is just betting on the prospect of Mass Adoption, which is uncertain when it will come. To be honest, this web2 force is quietly driving the maturity of the web3 industry.
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