The community-centered approach to Web3 — Aave founder and CEO

“What if we actually can have ownership on our own presence in social media — our profiles, our social identities?” asked Stani Kulechov.

Aave (AAVE) founder and CEO Stani Kulechov said the firm was continuing to develop its decentralized social media platform, with Web3 potentially changing the way many view ownership.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Collision conference in Toronto on Thursday, Kulechov said Web3 — a buzzword often thrown around, which generally describes the next evolution of an internet based on blockchain technology — could impact how people use social media in much the same way cryptocurrency changed perceptions on finance. The Aave CEO remarked how developers had adapted protocols to handle custody, and the rise in nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, seemed to point to a community-centered approach.

“I think Web3 is quite a lot related to the concept of ownership,” said Kulechov. “As we have ownership of […] financial protocols and communities and creators, what if we actually can have ownership on our own presence in social media — our profiles, our social identities?”

Kulechov added that Aave’s Lens Protocol was part of the firm’s expansion into Web3, as a decentralized social media platform in which essentially a network of “dynamic” NFTs acted as both users’ profiles and communications between followers. The Aave CEO said that there were more than 30 live projects built on the protocol.

Related: What the hell is Web3 anyway?

Despite the recent market downturn, Kulechov seemed to be hopeful about the future of the space. However, he said perceptions of crypto in the current climate could affect onboarding new users.

“It’s not the first time I’m building in a bear market,” said Kulechov. “Web3 and crypto in general is very market driven, so you have highs and downs. When we build, we always are considering the long game. Regardless of market conditions, we’re building something that is bringing utility for the whole community.”