Aave has handed stewardship of the Lens Protocol to Mask Network, shifting responsibility for consumer-facing social applications while retaining Lens as open-source infrastructure. Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the move reflects a strategic refocus on decentralized finance, with Aave stepping back from product execution into a technical advisory role.
Under the new arrangement, Mask Network will lead development at the application layer, including product roadmap decisions, user experience, and day-to-day operations for Lens-based social apps. Lens’ core components, such as its onchain social graph and smart contracts, will remain permissionless and open-source, with no changes announced to protocol ownership or governance.
The transition reinforces Lens’ original positioning as infrastructure rather than a standalone platform. For Aave, the move allows greater concentration on DeFi protocol development, while Mask Network expands its footprint in decentralized social technology amid renewed interest in open, composable social networks.
