In certain instances, we may earn revenue when a reader makes a purchase or completes a form through our pages or on a partner’s website. We adhere to a strict 
What is CyberConnect (CYBER)?
CyberConnect (CYBER) is a Web3 social blockchain protocol designed to enable developers to create decentralized social applications (dApp) and give users control over their digital identity, connections, content, and interactions.
The platform’s goal is to revolutionize the social media landscape by facilitating direct connections between creators and their audiences, eliminating the need for intermediaries.
CyberConnect is looking to achieve this through its decentralized social (DeSoC) ethos.
DeSoC is a social model that advocates openness, fairness, and a censorship-free environment. This enables users to express their opinions without violating the moderation principles of the underlying platform.
The Web3-powered movement seeks to break free from the constraints of centralized social media architectures, where privately owned companies determine the dynamics of the social graph.
These centralized social platforms often restrict opinions that diverge from their policies, profit from users’ data without adequate compensation for creators, and control users’ social connections.
Techopedia Explains
CyberConnect harnesses the potential of DeSoc to create an entire ecosystem where users possess a self-sovereign digital identity that is not reliant on any singular entity.
To achieve this, the platform establishes a modern social media framework that enables developers and creators to launch innovative blockchain-powered social experiences controlled by the community.
For creators, this means the ability to build and monetize their content and audience directly, eliminating the need for intermediaries.
This not only significantly boosts their earning potential but also cultivates a stronger bond with their community through features like digital collectibles.
Likewise, users benefit from this paradigm shift by gaining control over their online identity.
They have the ability to determine how their digital identity is utilized and can seamlessly transfer their social connections to other platforms, free from the friction and lock-in effects prevalent in the legacy-backed social experience.
On CyberConnect, users can:
- Mint a self-sovereign universal ID through CyberConnect’s CyberAccount, a feature responsible for onboarding new users.
- Engage in activities like following others, posting content, and monetizing social connections through EssenceNFT and SubscriptionNFT smart contracts.
- Document their social interactions using the CyberGraph and CyberNetwork features.
The Web3 social network is duly powered by the CYBER token.
The CYBER Token
The CyberConnect ecosystem is powered by the CYBER token. The digital token is an ERC-20 fungible asset boasting a total supply of 100 million coins, with over 11 million in circulation as of December 7, 2023.
The CYBER token plays several crucial roles within the Web3 social platform:
- Governance: CYBER token holders can actively participate in network decision-making by voting on proposals. This involves locking their assets on the platform to exercise their voting rights.
- Staking: To enhance network security, CYBER tokens are often locked for a period of time through the staking process. In return, users receive a variable amount of new CYBER tokens for staking their assets.
- CyberAccount Minting Fees: Users utilize CYBER tokens as a payment method to create new CyberAccount profiles on the Web3 platform.
- Payment Mechanism: Besides serving as the payment medium for minting new profiles, CYBER tokens are also used as gas credits for transactions executed on other blockchains within its ecosystem.
How Does CyberConnect Work?
CyberConnect is designed to establish a permissionless and portal universal identity (ID) through its CyberAccounts service. This provides users with complete control over their Web3 identity within a censorship-free environment.
Notably, users enjoy the freedom to select personalized usernames and include the “.cyber” suffix, eliminating the need to rely on Web2 emails to initiate Web3 interactions.
To begin:
- CyberConnect requires users to create a CyberAccount, which is usually minted as a non-fungible token (NFT).
- Once created, users can engage with the protocol’s social graph, post content, follow others, and build a community within a decentralized environment. The process involves using EssenceNFT and SubscriptionNFTs to create social profiles and monetize connections.
Meanwhile, the CyberGraph records all on-chain activities and stores them off-chain.
History of CyberConnect
CyberConnect was launched in Q3 2021. Since then, the platform has created an entire infrastructure for the development of decentralized social networks with a focus on boosting community-owned and censorship-free platforms.
Below, we provide a brief snapshot of the CyberConnect blockchain network:
Year
Event
2021
CyberConnect V1 launched its decentralized social graph protocol. This allowed developers to build social apps that utilized a shared layer of user connections and content.
2022
CyberConnect V2 launched with an extension of its Ethereum base layer to the BNB Smart Chain and Polygon networks. V2 introduced a hybrid scaling model with more flexible smart contract functionality.
2023
V3 is deployed with three important tools: CyberAccount, CyberGraph, and CyberNetwork. All three tools are fixated on ensuring easier user onboarding and better social experience.
Key Features of CyberConnect
While Bitcoin and Ethereum are famous for their roles in decentralized value transfer and the establishment of emerging crypto asset markets, CyberConnect introduces a next-generation system for engaging with the social media landscape.
Below, we delve into some of its robust features.
CyberAccount
CyberAccount is the registration hub for the CyberConnect protocol. This feature creates beginner-friendly steps for users to onboard Web2 users into the Web3 domain.
In addition, it facilitates the creation of permissionless, transferable digital collectibles, popularly known as NFTs. These digital assets can then be ported across the Web3 social app ecosystem seamlessly.
CyberGraph
CyberGraph draws inspiration from the overarching concept of social graphs. Essentially, it comprises a set of smart contracts that enables users to establish connections between their CyberAccounts (social identities) and their content, as well as their social capital or connections.
Additionally, CyberGraph ensures the immutability of this data by recording it across all Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible blockchain networks.
CyberNetwork
The CyberNetwork functions as the data layer within the CyberConnect ecosystem. Its primary responsibility is to facilitate the scalable recording of on-chain data across the entire system.
CyberConnect Smart Contracts
CyberConnect hosts two primary smart contracts for the digitalization of online identities: the EssenceNFT and SubscriptionNFT.
EssenceNFT allows users to own the content of their preferred content creators as digital collectibles. This fosters a stronger connection between users and creators who share similar worldviews. It allows creators to establish a more direct and meaningful interaction with their audience.
On the other hand, the SubscriptionNFT facilitates the creation of profiles, enabling users to garner followers, similar to traditional Web2 social platforms. This NFT can further be configured to offer unique subscription options like pay-to-subscribe or hold-to-subscribe models, which can be monetized.
What Makes CyberConnect Unique?
CyberConnect distinguishes itself through unique principles that set it apart from other blockchain protocols. Here’s a brief overview of some key principles:
- Interoperable: CyberConnect introduces portable social profiles, enabling users to seamlessly transfer their social identities across various social and blockchain protocols.
- Composable: Developers benefit from CyberConnect’s DeSoc stack integration, allowing easy incorporation into their platforms. This integration provides access to pre-existing social graphs for specific use cases.
- Programmable: Developers can create custom smart contracts for specific use cases like creating and importing profiles and uploading content. Creators can also establish subscription-based services for their paying audience.
- Scalable: Recognizing the scalability challenges in older blockchain protocols, CyberConnect employs a hybrid scaling model. This model leverages off-chain storage mechanisms to alleviate network congestion and enhance transaction throughput simultaneously.
CyberConnect aims to address the following social media challenges:
Challenges
CyberConnect Solutions
Data Exploitation
Existing social media platforms capitalize on users’ data by selling it to companies, depriving them of compensation. Hence, personal details such as users’ names, dates of birth, and more are monetized without fair remuneration, as companies retain all the profits. CyberConnect gives back power to the community by enabling users to determine how their personal information should be utilized.
Reduce Stagnation in Innovation
Centralized social platforms are siloed and monopolistic as they do not operate on an open-source framework. This can stifle innovation as developers and creators outside Big Tech don’t have access to relevant information to build innovative products. CyberConnect creates an open and shared data ecosystem that allows developers to build products that reflect the ideal needs of users.
Platform Lock-in
Users frequently face the challenge of losing old connections, social experiences, interactions, and data when transitioning to a different platform. This is due to the absence of portable profiles. CyberConnect introduces universal IDs, granting users the ability to seamlessly transfer their social capital to any platform of their choice, eliminating the constraints associated with platform lock-ins.
Content Manipulation
Centralized platforms have control over the content uploaded to their platforms, often prioritizing profit over user satisfaction. This biased approach frequently results in end-users being exposed to irrelevant content that fails to meet their needs due to the lack of direct connections between creators and their audiences.
Censorship
Centralized social media domains often sanction and ban accounts that do not align with their stated policies. This often makes it impossible for users to air their views without being censored. By putting control back into the hands of the community, CyberConnect provides a level playing field where everyone’s views are heard.
The Bottom Line
Contemporary social media faces criticism for censorship, centralization, and privacy infringement. However, CyberConnect changes the dynamics and allows the online community to retain its unique identity without tampering with their privacy.
The platform aligns itself with a burgeoning array of blockchain networks striving to revolutionize the essence of human existence by adopting distributed ledger technology.
