Lens targets Q4 for mainnet on ZKsync, with end goal of AI monetization

Social networking graph Lens is targeting Q4 for its migration to the ZKsync network, where it hopes to find greater privacy controls that could let users monetize their data through AI training models.

“The testnet is internally ready; we’re already doing test transactions. But we’re looking for a public testnet in the next one or two months,” said Avara founder and CEO Stani Kulechov in an interview at ETHCC. “I think mainnet will happen in the next three to four months.”

Lens is blockchain-based infrastructure for building crypto-embedded social media sites. It aims to be the underlying data source for profiles, connections and transactions between users — while the app layers will make all of this data available to users in different ways.

Kulechov said the third version of Lens will be deployed shortly after the network is migrated to ZKsync, an Ethereum Layer 2 network. This will include some early forms of privacy settings, where users will be able to choose what data they want to share with applications that are built on Lens.

Eventually the goal is to use zero-knowledge proofs — which are core to the ZKsync network — for controlling privacy. This could allow users to prove certain information about themselves without revealing it publicly (such as proving that they’re overage but not revealing their birthday).

Kulechov said Lens’ focus on privacy should result in giving users the choice whether they want to let AI models access their data and use it for training purposes. Then the end goal will be to let users get rewarded if they opt in to doing so. 

“We have to think of who has the actual opportunity to grow these algos, and owns the data when it actually should belong to the users. And this is something we're thinking about with Lens V3,” he said.

“In my opinion, you should be able to use social networks and interact without giving away data. And then, step two is that when you want to give data to improve services or get benefit out of it, or benefit the public good, or even a company, how do you get rewarded for doing so?” he added.

Moving from Polygon to ZKsync

Kulechov explained that the migration from Polygon to ZKsync was relatively simple. He said this is because it’s an EVM-compatible network, meaning that the codebase was able to be ported across. 

He added that Lens will use another network for storing data other than normal blockchain transactions. This should make using Lens cheaper as storing data directly on the Ethereum mainnet is expensive. He said it’s considering multiple data availability networks, including Celestia, but hasn’t decided which one to use yet.  

Kulechov pointed toward improvements in blockchain technology, such as with data availability but also things like account abstraction — where wallets are able to make the user experience better. He said with these tools, “we have everything we need for an application to feel like any internet application.”

He’s also positive that such crypto-embedded applications can reach mainstream adoption. He said, “Eventually, I do think that a lot of the onchain protocols and networks that we're building will reach a critical scale.”