Project Liberty, a venture spearheaded by billionaire Frank McCourt, is taking a substantial leap towards the creation of a decentralized social media platform. In a recent partnership with Consensys, a leading Ethereum developer, Project Liberty’s blockchain, Frequency, will become compatible with the related technology. This includes the Linea layer-2 network that leverages advanced “zero knowledge” privacy technology for high-volume transactions and the MetaMask self-custody wallet, which boasts 30 million active users monthly.
This strategic alliance could trigger an escalation of interest in Frequency and its Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), an open standard designed for swift data movement. The agreement could be a significant revenue generator for Linea. Frequency, already a prominent parachain in the Polkadot environment, plans to incorporate other blockchains as it aims to extend its reach to a broader user base.
Project Liberty is keen on diminishing consumer dependence on large-scale social media corporations like Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, and Meta’s Facebook. The dissatisfaction among users has instigated a mass migration from X to alternatives like Meta’s Threads. A substantial number have turned towards Bluesky, a public benefit corporation that champions the same decentralization principles as Project Liberty. Notably, Bluesky’s user base has seen a significant surge, adding 1 million accounts on some days while crossing the 20 million user threshold this week.
McCourt believes that by creating a universally accessible social graph, individuals can take control of their online presence, thereby embedding the network effect into the internet. He stated, “By opening up and creating this universal social graph that’s accessible by everyone, where individuals control their stuff, you then have the network effect embedded in the internet.”
However, the motto of Project Liberty extends beyond addressing the abuses prevalent in social media. It focuses on constructing a fairer internet, free from walled gardens and surveillance capitalism. This approach aligns the project closely with Web3, a concept propagated by tech leaders like Consensys chief Joe Lubin.
McCourt, reflecting on the project’s potential, stated, “This is a transformative moment. We’re meeting the zeitgeist where it is with something that’s been extremely well engineered and thoughtfully done with a massive amount of time and money invested in it. We need an internet where we’re not eventually clicking on the terms and conditions of use of apps, but the apps are clicking on our terms and conditions of use for our data.”
Five years and $500 million into its journey, Project Liberty declares its readiness for deployment on a population-scale. Interoperability is pivotal to achieving this vision. McCourt drew parallels with his family’s telecommunications company, RCN, which predicted the integration among large incumbent telcos in the ’90s.
McCourt foresees a future where people will find it preposterous that one needed to be on Facebook to interact with someone on Facebook. He concluded, “I think when people are empowered, they’re going to move fast.”
The Project Liberty Summit on the Future of the Internet is scheduled to take place this week in Washington, D.C., from Nov. 21-22.
