Sapien, a Blockchain-Based Social Network, Raises 11 Million in Two Hours

Sapien, a decentralized social network and news platform that will reward content creators, has raised $11 million in a blindingly fast two hours into its presale which began on January 31, 2018 and ends on February 15, 2018.

The reception the project has received in its presale is beyond anything that was expected, and will serve as great encouragement for the team as they move forward into 2018.

The team is extremely happy with the response they have received so far:

The Sapien team is extremely humbled to see how excited the community is for the Sapien Network. Most social media platforms have been censoring posts, limiting privacy, and selling user data and we believe now is the time for change. Sapien will use the blockchain to bring the power of social media back into the hands of the people. We understand that the true value creator within a social network is the user.

– Matias Dorta (Marketing Lead at Sapien)

Fighting in Favour of Content Creators

In the past year, with the occurrence of state-sponsored election meddling and data collection for advertising profit, there has been much concern about the manipulative nature of social media and digital news. It is precisely this predicament that Sapien is seeking to address. In its own words, it aims to be the “social network of the future”.

Ankit Bhatia, the CEO and co-founder, has clearly expressed on Sapien’s Medium blog his worry about the lopsided nature of internet content creation, saying:

Content creators are exploited by existing centralized platforms. A true online democracy should distribute wealth created to its citizens, instead of hoarding all of the profits. We have a responsibility to continually scrutinize large entities with the power to influence the masses.

Facebook and Google, giants of the tech world, generate billions of dollars in revenue from selling advertising data combed from content posted by its users – without a cent being given to content creators. The highly centralized and undemocratic nature of this process is stoking a digital rebellion. Evidence of the online community wanting a fairer revenue system for content creation now has tangible evidence, in the shape of the $11 million Sapien has raised in a matter of hours.

Features of the Sapien Social Network

Built on the Ethereum blockchain, the Sapien platform will be powered by the SPN token, which will incentivize the production of high quality content and power the features of the platform. The ecosystem will include a marketplace, an advertising platform and third-party applications.

The value of the SPN token lies in its ability to ascertain high quality content, implement mechanism to promote quality contribution and reward users for content creation. This system will be supported by a reputation algorithm that, among other goals, will help tackle the virulent spread of fake news. The algorithm is based on a unique protocol, “Proof-of-Value”.

The 4 guiding principles of the platform are democracy, privacy, free speech and customizability. The end result is that the user will be able to tailor their social experience to their liking, a stark difference from the status quo where our social feeds are largely controlled by centralized corporate powers operating on their own agenda.

The team has identified 3 specific use cases where the Sapien network and token could effectively be deployed: combating fake news, tokenizing virtual goods and acting as a unified media portal. To that end, the Sapien platform has established a set of necessary features including the option of public and private browsing, content subscriptions, encryption, community engagement mechanisms and social experience customizability.

Notably, by default, no user will receive advertisements and no personal data will be collected. It is the user’s choice to receive advertisements and share personal data. Advertisement transactions will also be viewable on the public blockchain.

Sapien’s marketplace will allow token holders to purchase premium content, services, virtual goods and physical merchandise.

You can read about more about the features of the platform in Sapien’s whitepaper.

Sapien Token Presale Details

The token price in the presale has been set to 1 ETH for 7200 SPN (+20%).  The presale follows a tiered investment structure, the details of which can be found on Sapien’s pre-sale registration portal.

Originally the team had set a goal of $1 million in the presale. However, they opened up the overall hard cap of $30 million, following a wildly enthusiastic response from the community. So much so that an initial goal of 200 followers has been shattered, with the number of followers now exceeding 15,000. They have done this to accommodate the unanticipated interest, allowing for more participation in the presale.

Funds raised from the presale will go towards development, legal costs and marketing campaigns.

Sapien has already raised $1.65 million in a private presale conducted in November. The ICO is scheduled to be conducted on March 3, 2018, for a duration of one month.

Final Thoughts

The overwhelmingly positive response to Sapien’s presale is an indication that there is public desire for what they are trying to achieve. Blockchain is a tool that can help combat much mischief and malice in the world, and it is heartening to know that teams like Sapien are designing creative ways to help transform the way we interact online.

Sapien’s presale is still live. To participate, simply register at the presale portal. Their Telegram channel is also extremely active and a good source for breaking news on the project. The team can also be reached on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.