Moon Capital Observation #2 —SwapChat
What is SwapChat?
Have you ever wondered what WhatsApp looks like on Web3? Now there are several SocialFi projects that focus on instant messaging. SwapChat is one of the native Web3 APPs that provide a direct message function to OpenSea, Twitter, and Discord users.
SwapChat is a web3 native cross-platform chat application incubated by S3 Labs, powered by Web3MQ, and built for web3 users. Similar to MetaMask, SwapChat is installed as a browser plugin and users can access the SwapChat function on relevant websites. Currently, SwapChat can be used on OpenSea, Twitter, and Discord. In the future, it will expand to multiple decentralized APPs and the browser plugin will not require users to update frequently.
How to use it?
Just like any DAPPs, users need to connect with their wallet addresses as their unique identification and their Twitter accounts as social profiles. Then they are ready to use. Now, users can only chat with other users that registered on SwapChat. If they want to talk to a person who is not registered, they could send an invitation for registration.
There are many interesting ways to use SwapChat. The most frequent one now is to talk to the NFT seller on OpenSea for any offers or stories to share. Many NFT buyers and sellers wish to know each other because of the same appreciation for the specific NFT community. SwapChat provides a channel for people to connect and for the community to bond together. As SwapChat extends its plugin to more DAPPs, there are many more interesting ways for us to explore. It will also provide a trade function for its users to facilitate crypto asset trading. As it moves forward, it might have the potential to become a phenomenal decentralized instant messaging APP in Web3.
SwapChat Fundamentals
The founder of SwapChat is Luke Wang. He has participated in social network technology since 2017. He had experience in AI at MIT Media Lab and many venture capitals.
SwapChat has not announced an official fundraising other than Gitcoin Grant Round 14. It received lifetime funding of $4,870 on Gitcoin Grant.
SwapChat has a clear roadmap. At Stage 3, in 2022 Q3, it will polish its production plugin, open-source clients, and open-source SDKs at frontend. At backend, it will run its federated Testnet while Servicenet still runs production service. At Stage 4, in 2023 Q3, it will go live on the Mainnet.
Competitors
In the instant messaging segment, there are some players competing with SwapChat.
- Blockscan Chat is built by Etherscan team. On Blockscan Chat, users can send messages to other ETH addresses. But all messages are sent through Secure Sockets Layer, which is an off-chain channel.
- XMTP is a crypto instant messaging network. It has ZapMail and an instant messaging APP. XMTP announced $20M in Series A funding round backed by a16z and Coinbase.
Conclusion
Overall, SwapChat is a useful instant messaging product for Web3 users. But it still needs to increase its user base so that people form the habit and actually chat through SwapChat instead of Web2 APPs. It might require collaboration with KOL and leading institutions or other useful methods like NFT airdrop. It is worth looking at what SwapChat provides us in the future.
About Moon Capital
Moon Capital is a cutting-edge investment firm focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency. Moon Capital portfolio includes, Project Galaxy, Woo Network , Matrix World, Litentry, DeepDAO and some other high-quality projects.
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