Block.one Launches Social Media App as Facebook Preps Own Coin

(Bloomberg) -- Block.one, the startup that claims to have raised a record $4.2 billion in an Initial Coin Offering last year, launched a new social-media application Saturday.

Called Voice, it uses the EOS digital ledger that Block.one helped create to let users post, share and promote content. Every action is registered on the EOS blockchain.

Block.one is the latest in a string of companies to enter social networking using blockchain. Kik Interactive already runs a social network that uses Kin tokens, though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is considering an enforcement action against the company. Facebook Inc. is preparing a move into blockchain as well with its own coin. Block.one Chief Technology Officer Dan Larimer had previously helped launch Steemit, a social network where users get paid for posting content.

A blockchain-based social network could potentially give users more control over their posts and photos -- an issue that has increased in importance as Facebook’s business model built around harvesting user data is increasingly scrutinized.

“The truth is, current social media platforms are designed to use their users,” Brendan Blumer, chief executive officer of Block.one, said in a press release. “It’s the platform, not the user, that reaps the reward.”

Whether such a social network can attract users and succeed financially remains to be seen: Steemit, for one, recently had to lay off nearly 70% of its workforce.

Block.one’s strong financial footing should help bolster the effort. The company’s assets, including cash and investments, totaled $3 billion at the end of February, according to a March email to shareholders seen by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporters on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland at okharif@bloomberg.net;Alastair Marsh in London at amarsh25@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Boris Korby, Michael B. Marois

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.