Allen Soc is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Metya, a Web3 social payment platform that integrates artificial intelligence and decentralized finance. Prior to his work in the blockchain industry, he served as a global growth leader for a major Web2 technology company, where he focused on user acquisition and community development. ^{[1] [2]}

Education

Allen Soc completed a Master’s degree in Finance (硕士, 金融硕士) at Tsinghua University from September 2004 to June 2007.

Career

Before entering the Web3 space, Allen Soc held a position as the global growth head for an unspecified major Web2 platform. In this role, he gained extensive experience in user growth strategies, product operations, and community ecology management. His time in the Web2 industry led him to identify what he perceived as significant shortcomings in centralized social media, including issues related to data privacy, the commodification of user data for traffic, and a lack of user sovereignty over their digital identities. These observations motivated his transition to the decentralized Web3 ecosystem. ^{[3] [1]}

In 2021, Soc co-founded Metya, where he serves as CEO. He leads the company's overall strategy, which focuses on building a social platform that combines SocialFi (Social Finance) and PayFi (Payment Finance). As CEO, he has overseen the development of the Metya platform, its product launches, and its strategic fundraising efforts. Under his leadership, Metya has secured multiple rounds of financing. This includes a $6 million strategic funding round announced in October 2025, which was co-led by Greenwood Global Capital and Echo3Labs. Previous investors in the company include OKX Ventures, Cryptogram Venture (CGV), Tido Capital, Candaq Fintech Group, and individual investor Mario Nawfal. ^{[4] [2]}

Philosophy and Vision

Soc is a proponent of "long-termism" in product development, emphasizing the creation of sustainable platforms that serve real users over pursuing short-term narratives or speculative market trends. He has stated that products with long-term evolution capabilities are the ones that can endure market cycles. His vision is centered on returning data ownership and digital identity sovereignty to users, which he sees as a fundamental flaw in the Web2 social media model. ^[1]

In an interview, Soc articulated his perspective on building in a volatile market, stating, "Doing things in a bubble requires faith and a sense of direction." He further elaborated on his philosophy: “Long-termism is not waiting for a miracle, it is doing the right thing every day.” ^[3]

His long-term goal for Metya is for it to become a foundational protocol, which he describes as the "Android system for Web3 social." This vision involves creating an open ecosystem where other developers can build applications and where users can move freely between different social scenarios. He has expressed a desire to reconstruct social network protocols rather than simply creating another application. ^[1]

Personal Details

Soc has described himself as a typical INTP (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Perceiving) personality type, characterizing himself as quiet, rational, and a systematic thinker. He has noted that many members of the Metya team are also introverted, which aligns with the company's mission to provide "a fairer, smarter and more trustworthy way to connect for introverts, marginalized people, and cross-cultural users." ^{[3] [1]}

Associated Project: Metya

As co-founder and CEO, Allen Soc's career is closely linked with the development and growth of Metya. The project was founded in 2021 and is led by a team that includes Soc, Co-founder & COO Christy T, and CMO Christian Tarala. ^[2]

Overview

Metya is a Web3 social platform designed as a "social payment ecosystem" that integrates SocialFi and PayFi. The platform's mission is to allow social interactions to generate measurable value and to integrate asset circulation into social scenarios. It aims to connect on-chain activities with real-world consumption. The platform also incorporates AI-driven "DatingFi" (Dating Finance) concepts, utilizing a "Dating to Earn" economic model to incentivize user engagement. ^{[4] [5]}

The platform officially launched in early 2025 and reported exceeding 1.9 million registered users by April 2025. Its three-year goals, as stated by Soc, are to reach 100 million registered users, 10 million daily active users, and 50 million AI-Agent assets. ^[1]

Technology and Ecosystem

Metya's architecture is built on a combination of AI, a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePIN) network, and on-chain incentive mechanisms.

• AI Agents: Users interact, match, and manage social relationships through AI agents, which are designed as "personality agents" rather than simple chatbots. The AI system is being developed to include features like multilingual matching and emotion recognition.
• On-Chain Social Graph: Social relationships and interactions are recorded as on-chain assets, giving users ownership of their social data and enabling the "financialization" of social connections.
• Payment System (MePay): Originally launched as Metyacard in July 2025, the payment brand was upgraded to MePay in October 2025. It is designed to bridge Web3 assets with real-world consumption through a payment card and integrated multi-chain wallet.
• DePIN Network: The project's roadmap includes the introduction of hardware nodes to provide computing power. A planned device, the "Mini Ear," is intended to feature voice recognition, AI interaction, and edge computing capabilities.
• Tokenomics: The ecosystem's native token was initially $MET. In October 2025, the company announced a brand upgrade that included plans to replace $MET with a new token, $MY. The token is used for on-chain staking and to incentivize user-generated content.

These technological components are designed to create a closed-loop social economic system. ^{[2] [1]}

Development Roadmap and Milestones

Metya's development is structured in a four-stage roadmap:

1. Stage 1 (Completed): Focused on the initial launch and establishing the economic model. This included the launch of the $MET token, an on-chain staking module, and a Mini App for the initial AI social experience.
2. Stage 2 (In Progress): Aims to broaden the technology stack by enhancing the AI system, integrating multi-chain wallet support, and introducing NFTs as a form of social asset.
3. Stage 3 (Future): Plans to introduce content incentives through an on-chain User-Generated Content (UGC) mechanism and launch the "Mini Ear" DePIN hardware device.
4. Stage 4 (Future): Focuses on global expansion and governance, with plans to establish localized operational nodes in regions like Southeast Asia and Latin America, launch a community governance system, and create offline "social centers."

Key milestones for the project include the launch of its mobile app on major app stores in May 2025, the listing of its $MET token on the MEXC exchange in June 2025, and the official launch of its payment card in July 2025. ^{[3] [2]}

Partnerships

Under Soc's leadership, Metya has established a number of strategic partnerships across the Web3 ecosystem. In February 2025, the company partnered with OKX Wallet for a promotional event. In October 2025, it announced a technical integration with zkLink to incorporate its Layer 3 zkEVM solution for cross-chain payments. During the same month, Metya also formed collaborations with the RWA (Real World Asset) tokenization platform Onino.io and the BNB Chain infrastructure project Zetarium. These partnerships are intended to expand Metya's payment capabilities, staking options, and integration of tokenized real-world assets into its ecosystem. ^[2]