Aave’s Social Media Protocol Lens Acquires NFT Mobile Game Sonar

Lens Protocol, the blockchain-based social media project from decentralized finance (DeFi) lender Aave, has acquired Sonar, a mobile app whose users pilot NFT-linked avatars through digital worlds.

Lens declined to state the terms of the acquisition, Aave’s first foray into buying out other teams. It will integrate what it termed Lens’ decentralized profile system with Sonar’s avatars – cutesy emojis called “mojis” – to create a singular identity within its metaverse.

Players can log into the Sonar game using Lens, the companies said. The app claimed to have 20,000 monthly active users and thousands of NFTs owners, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk.

Sonar’s NFTs have seen 49 ETH in trading volume since launching in October 2021, according to its OpenSea page. The collection had just over 1,000 different owners at press time.

Along with the acquisition, the startup's executives will join Aave to build its mobile consumer-facing social applications powered by Lens, with other Web3 consumer applications launching in 2023. Aave declined to disclose more information on those plans.

Earlier in May, Aave launched Lens Protocol on Polygon blockchain, allowing developers to build their own decentralized social media applications and marketplaces where users can control their data. The acquisition helps Lens expand to the mobile application, accelerating its social media product strategy based on the Lens Protocol.