[Ukko](https://link3.to/galaxy) is a web3 enthusiast, influencer, educator, and builder. Over the past year, he has devoted himself to growing [SMART](https://link3.to/smrt), a community of crypto/web3-curious people from the [CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States) region. Beginning his journey as a cryptocurrency market researcher, Ukko quickly connected with other passionate individuals who cared deeply about sharing information and comparing notes about major projects. It was only a matter of time until SMART was born, championing a unique culture founded on self-reliance, radical transparency, and a collective desire to learn and grow.

“The most valuable aspect of SMART is its people,” Ukko writes to the CyberConnect team in a Telegram message from Moscow. In May, Ukko found out that some of his friends, who along with him have been staunch believers and supporters of CyberConnect, were gathering together in the Russian cosmopolitan capital to celebrate the project’s [CoinList public sale](https://twitter.com/CyberConnectHQ/status/1651633556123262979). Having moved to Mexico just last year to build a new future for his family, he did not expect to return to Russia that soon. But nonetheless, Ukko had to find a way.

![img](https://link3-image.cyberconnect.dev/5ebbb9fa-9d33-4741-a22d-2a7dc4b95c0c/postImageFolder/6f64b32370a64b2e)   *Ukko's Link3 post to raise money for his trip to attend CyberConnect Moscow Event*

“My story with CyberConnect is special. Ignoring the rules of crypto investing, I have dedicated more than 80% of all my time to this one project, and have supported the team through all its milestones in the past year. When I received information about the community meetup in Moscow, I knew I had to be there,” Ukko wrote in a [Link3 post](https://link3.to/smrt/post/1d3e445eb4f466b43772825c737a02fa91c0a1718bf9b77efbc8f5201ca5fc56) from SMART. Creatively using Link3’s latest [post feature](https://link3.to/post) and its paid collectible settings, Ukko called on his community members for support to make his Moscow trip possible. By pricing his post at 50 USDT, he hoped that 40 supporters will mint his post-NFT and help fund his travels. To his own surprise, within 48 hours, he raised enough money to purchase the plane ticket. ”Link3 provides new possibilities that are already changing people’s lives. Thank you, SMART, for making this trip possible.”

![img](https://link3-image.cyberconnect.dev/5ebbb9fa-9d33-4741-a22d-2a7dc4b95c0c/postImageFolder/25196c231bb11a5e)                   *Ukko addressing a CyberConnect community members in Moscow*

A web3 project is incomplete without a dedicated, engaged community. They are the cornerstone of our projects; they provide feedback, support in scaling, and represent our brands as ambassadors. This is remarkably different from how brand, product, or company building occurs in web2, where a single or a group of individuals control all the decision-making powers. Usually, communities around products or services emerge after they are publicly available, but in web3, this model flips on its head. From [Friends with Benefits](https://twitter.com/FWBtweets) to [Filecoin](https://twitter.com/Filecoin) or [Bored Ape Yacht Club](https://twitter.com/BoredApeYC) to [Ethereum](https://twitter.com/ethereum) itself, several community-driven projects have demonstrated what's possible when users have a say in the project's overall goals.

CyberConnect has been a community-driven project from its inception. We are on a mission to create long-lasting on-chain connections through the power of our network. With our open, permissionless, and composable protocol, we are building a new future of social networking on the internet, where developers can build innovative social applications, and users own their identities and data, while creators can grow their audiences in a fairer, more direct, and decentralized environment. Link3, a web3-native social network to build and discover new communities and creators, is our attempt at filtering out signal from noise. It is an example of the quality of products and services that can be powered by utilizing web3 technologies.

”Link3 is an excellent demonstration of Cyberconnect's capabilities. It caught my eye with its fresh ideas and new approach to social networks. In Russia, there is a significant problem of trust with the content creators, as many only project a beautiful and expensive external image with the reality being completely different behind the scenes. They rent houses, and expensive cars, and to generate hype, later selling their audience to advertisers. Link3 solves this problem by verifying identity and assets. This is the future.” said Ukko.

![img](https://link3-image.cyberconnect.dev/5ebbb9fa-9d33-4741-a22d-2a7dc4b95c0c/postImageFolder/9724deff17686073)                               *CyberConnect Community Meetup in Moscow, Russia*

To Ukko, his community SMART is a mix of engagement, knowledge, high-quality content, community organization, and good vibes. "Smart is one of the most active crypto communities in the CIS region; it has attracted people with a high level of technical knowledge for exchanging experiences and up-to-date information in the crypto field.”

"Thanks to its friendly and productive atmosphere, strong individuals with something to say and share have joined the community. This leads to a constant and active exchange of experiences, knowledge, and important information from many crypto projects. We invite ambitious crypto enthusiasts to join our movement."

As SMART has grown from a single crypto aficionado to a 70K-member strong community of experts, Ukko finds himself grateful for what CyberConnect and SMART have done for him and so many others. "I thank the CyberConnect team for trusting me to create the SMART organization for a small community,” he said.

Well, Ukko - we thank you for believing in our mission and sticking with us.

Community superheroes like Ukko give us the strength to continue working towards decentralizing social networking on the internet. In the coming weeks, we will feature more champions like Ukko, who have taken the CyberConnect message to many corners of the world and helped us become a rising star in the web3 social space.

On-chain friends last forever.

### About CyberConnect

[CyberConnect](https://cyberconnect.me/) is web3’s earliest and biggest decentralized social network that enables developers to create social applications empowering users to own their digital identity, content, connections, and monetization channels. [Messari](https://link3.to/messari), [1inch](https://link3.to/1inch), [BNB Chain](https://link3.to/bnbchain), along with over 2,000 projects, and 900k creators and users are building long-lasting connections through apps built on CyberConnect.

### Join CyberConnect Community

[Website](https://cyberconnect.me/) | [Docs](https://docs.cyberconnect.me/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/CyberConnectHQ) | [Discord](https://discord.gg/cyberconnect) | [Telegram](https://t.me/CyberConnect)

Ukko is a web3 enthusiast, influencer, educator, and builder. Over the past year, he has devoted himself to growing SMART, a community of crypto/web3-curious people from the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) region. Beginning his journey as a cryptocurrency market researcher, Ukko quickly con

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