Decentralized Social (DeSo) is a unique layer-1 blockchain designed to decentralize social media for billions of users. It aims to shift the control of online information from a few tech giants to the users themselves. DeSo allows users to own their identity, profile, content, and social graph in a completely censorship-resistant way. It also provides creators with new crypto-native tools such as Social Tokens, Social DAOs, Social NFTs, and Social Tipping, enabling them to monetize their passion and make a living by doing what they love. DeSo is also designed to support storage-heavy or infinite-state applications, opening up a new world of non-financial-based web3 apps that weren't possible before.

DeSo works by storing all social data on a decentralized ledger, making it immediately available to a large and growing network of independent third-party apps. It supports not only traditional social features like creating profiles and posts, but also novel blockchain-native features like social tokens, tipping, and NFTs. These features unlock new categories of crypto-enabled products, enabling creators to more effectively monetize their content and connect with their followers on DeSo-powered apps. DeSo's unique architecture allows it to reach highly-scalable storage capabilities that are unparalleled by any general-purpose blockchain.

DeSo has a wide range of potential use cases. It can be used to build decentralized versions of popular social media platforms, allowing users to own their content and social graph. It can also be used to create social NFT experiences and influencer stock markets. Moreover, DeSo can be used to build a variety of crypto-native features like NFTs, DAOs, Social Tokens, Crypto Tips, and Paid DMs, providing new ways for creators to monetize their content. It can also be used to build storage-heavy or infinite-state applications, opening up a new world of non-financial-based web3 apps.

DeSo was founded by Nader Al-Naji in January 2019. After graduating from Princeton University, Al-Naji worked as a software engineer at the D. E. Shaw Group and later at Google on the Google Search and Google Ads teams. Before DeSo, he raised substantial funds to start an algorithmic stablecoin Basis in 2017. The DeSo blockchain is supported by the non-profit DeSo Foundation, which aims to support the decentralization of social media. Al-Naji is currently the chairman of the board of the DeSo Foundation, which has a substantial treasury to support its mission. The DeSo Foundation has established a developer fund, known as the Octane Fund.