Aave has formally refocused its strategy on decentralized finance (DeFi) by transferring stewardship of the Lens Protocol to Mask Network, marking a strategic realignment rather than a full exit from social infrastructure. The move places Mask Network in charge of consumer-facing development, while Aave steps back into a technical advisory role centered on protocol infrastructure.
The transition clarifies operational responsibilities without changing the core nature of Lens. According to statements from the teams involved, Lens remains open-source, permissionless, and infrastructure-first, with no transfer of ownership, governance rights, intellectual property, or treasury assets.
Kulechov said in an X post;
Under the new structure, Mask Network assumes responsibility for execution at the application layer, including product strategy, user experience, and daily operations for Lens-based social apps. This includes guiding the roadmap for consumer products such as Orb and improving how Lens-powered applications reach and retain users.
Aave, meanwhile, will provide protocol-level guidance, offering input on technical decisions while no longer leading front-end or product development. This narrows Aave’s involvement to what it does best: building and maintaining DeFi-grade infrastructure.
Buterin also commented on decentralized social platforms;
From its launch, Lens was designed as shared social infrastructure, enabling users to own profiles, connections, and content directly onchain. The protocol’s architecture—covering profiles, follows, social graphs, and smart contracts—will continue operating as a neutral base layer that any application can build upon.
The stewardship change also drew attention from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who emphasized that shared data layers enable meaningful competition and healthier online discourse. He highlighted that decentralized social tools allow anyone to build clients on top of the same network, reinforcing Lens’ long-term relevance in the evolving Web3 ecosystem.
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