Social-to-Earn Network Market Report 2026

The social-to-earn network market size has grown exponentially in recent years. It will grow from $2.91 billion in 2025 to $3.67 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.2%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to early adoption of blockchain-based social platforms, rising distrust in centralized social media, growth of cryptocurrency awareness, increase in digital content creators, expansion of peer-to-peer online communities.

The social-to-earn network market size is expected to see exponential growth in the next few years. It will grow to $9.24 billion in 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to integration of AI-driven reward optimization, increasing demand for creator income diversification, regulatory clarity for digital assets, growth of metaverse-based social platforms, rising enterprise adoption of web3 engagement models. Major trends in the forecast period include tokenized social engagement models, creator-owned monetization ecosystems, gamification of social interactions, decentralized community governance, cross-platform reward interoperability.

The growing trend of social monetization is expected to drive the expansion of the social-to-earn network market. Social monetization refers to generating revenue from digital and social platforms through methods such as advertising, premium subscriptions, token rewards, and creator-driven income streams. This trend is increasing as advertisers shift more of their budgets to social platforms, where targeted audience reach and measurable engagement provide higher returns compared to traditional channels. Social-to-earn networks support social monetization by enabling users to earn income through active participation, content creation, and engagement within decentralized platforms. These platforms utilize blockchain-based reward systems and tokenized incentives to transform social interactions into measurable economic value, allowing both creators and audiences to directly benefit from their online activity. For example, in April 2024, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), a US-based nonprofit organization that sets global standards for digital advertising, reported that the US digital advertising industry reached a record USD 225 billion in 2023, a 7.3% increase from the previous year. As a result, the rising social monetization is driving the growth of the social-to-earn network market.

Key companies in the social-to-earn network market are focusing on integrating advancements in token monetization, such as blockchain-based reward systems and decentralized payment systems. These technologies tokenize social interactions and automate reward distribution, enabling real-time reward validation, transparent transaction tracking, and seamless payout of digital incentives. For instance, in May 2025, Connect, a US-based blockchain-driven social innovation platform, in collaboration with WIN Blockchain, a Switzerland-based blockchain company, launched the world’s first Social Impact Platform with Learn2Earn integration. This blockchain- and AI-powered system gamifies education, rewarding users for completing learning modules and contributing to social good. The platform includes trackable on-chain participation events, verified digital rewards, and decentralized payout mechanisms. It improves reward transparency, participation incentives, and measurable community impact, with participants earning over $500,000 in rewards within the first 12 hours of launch, marking a significant achievement in purpose-driven Web4 innovation.

In February 2025, Thirdweb, a US-based provider of Web3 development tools and infrastructure, acquired Yup for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition allows Thirdweb to integrate Yup’s decentralized social graph, curation protocol, and on-chain identity assets, strengthening its social infrastructure and enhancing its creator monetization capabilities. This also improves the reach of Thirdweb's products for developers building social-to-earn applications. Yup, a US-based provider of a decentralized social-to-earn network, is known for its on-chain social identity protocol, cross-platform aggregation, and tokenized reward system, which reward users for content creation and curation.

Major companies operating in the social-to-earn network market are Chingari, Galxe Group Inc., UHive Limited, Torum Technology Sdn. Bhd, DeSo, Minds Inc., Cheelee, Audius, Phaver, Friend.tech, Lens Protocol, Showtime Group, Rally, BitClout, Only1 Tech Limited, Steemit Inc., Hive Blockchain Technologies, ReadON DAO, Hooked Protocol, Zealy.

North America was the largest region in the social-to-earn network market in 2025. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the social-to-earn network market report are Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa. The countries covered in the social-to-earn network market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.

The social-to-earn network market consists of revenues earned by entities by providing services such as content moderation services, community management services, influencer onboarding services, digital wallet integration services, analytics and performance tracking services, and user verification services. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. The social-to-earn network market also includes sales of tokenized reward points, creator badges, virtual gift items, social engagement scorecards, user ranking dashboards, and decentralized identity profiles. Values in this market are ‘factory gate’ values, that is the value of goods sold by the manufacturers or creators of the goods, whether to other entities (including downstream manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers) or directly to end customers. The value of goods in this market includes related services sold by the creators of the goods.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

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