Web5 app Zion launches new version and raises $6 million in funding round

Zion’s latest funding round brings the company’s valuation for decentralized social platforms to $53 million.

Miami-based startup Zion has launched a new version of its app that provides access to the decentralized social network Web5, along with raising $6 million in a funding round led by XBTO Humla Ventures.

Designed to allow developers to own their communities while users have control over their online identities, the Zion Protocol is based on Jack Dorsey’s Block Web5 standards and the Bitcoin Lightning network. According to the publication, Zion’s v2 app has a waiting list of over 60,000 users and is valued at $53 million. The latest round of funding was backed by a number of investors including footballer Aaron Rodgers and motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

The new app offers a “universal standard for social data sharing” based on “decentralized identities, communities and social content” and “interoperable peer-to-peer relationships”. Its features include a decentralized identifier system, decentralized web nodes, and a Bitcoin Lightning Wallet.Zion claims to have served over 3,000 creators while processing more than 120,000 transactions between creators and fans using Lightning.

Founder and CEO Justin Rezvani said that the company’s business model “is built around giving you a product to build your audience that you can own and monetize.” The goal, he added, is for Zion to be “the last platform you ever have to build an audience on.” The protocol, Rezvani said, is a response to “large-scale censorship of language and an endless series of data breaches worldwide” resulting from centralized social media platforms.

Greg Carson, Managing Partner at XBTO Humla Ventures, said the Zion team combines “a deep understanding of creator communities and scalable peer-based content technology” with a Lightning payments network, making the company “a unique and exciting investment for the ecosystem.” make. .