Bluesky
A decentralized social network based on the AT Protocol
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About Bluesky
Bluesky is a decentralized social network built on the AT Protocol, offering users control over their data and algorithms. Its core value lies in portability (users can move accounts across providers), customizable feeds, and community autonomy. It addresses pain points of traditional platforms: opaque algorithms, data lock-in, and arbitrary content moderation.
In the past six months (2026-03-07 to 2026-09-07), Bluesky shifted focus toward protocol development and community features. It launched an AI-powered tool called Attie for building custom feeds, introduced group chats, and expanded support for third-party apps (e.g., video app Skylight). However, mobile active users declined significantly: monthly active users dropped to ~10.4 million in June 2026 (down 27.2% year-over-year), and daily active users fell to ~3 million in July 2026, a ~52% decline from the late-2024 peak. Despite this, the company continues to push its decentralized ecosystem, aiming to differentiate from centralized rivals like X and Threads.
Bluesky originated in 2019 as a decentralized social protocol initiative within Twitter, led by then-CEO Jack Dorsey. In 2021, it became an independent Public Benefit Corporation, and in late 2022, it formally severed ties with Twitter to operate independently.
In 2023, Bluesky launched its invite-only beta, introducing the AT Protocol-powered architecture that separates user identity, social graph, and content data from any single platform. This design enables account portability and cross-server interoperability, which are foundational to its long-term vision.
A major milestone came in October 2024, when Bluesky completed a $15 million Series A round led by Blockchain Capital, signaling institutional backing for its decentralized social vision. Shortly after, the platform opened to the public, rapidly growing to over 30 million users.
In 2025, Bluesky raised $100 million in Series B funding, led by Bain Capital Crypto, to expand its ecosystem. It also announced Flashes, a photo-sharing app built on the AT Protocol, demonstrating the protocol's ability to support multiple interoperable applications beyond the main Bluesky client.
These developments mark Bluesky's evolution from a research project into a viable open social network, with its protocol-level innovations in identity, data portability, and composable moderation representing its most enduring contributions to the decentralized web.
Bluesky saw major strategic shifts in the past six months. Founder Jay Graber stepped down as CEO in August 2026, becoming Chief Innovation Officer, with Toni Schneider (True Ventures partner) taking over as interim CEO. The company raised a $100M Series B led by Bain Capital Crypto (closed April 2025, disclosed September 2026). Despite declining app MAU (from 22.1M in Q4 2024 to 10.7M in Q2 2026, per Similarweb), Bluesky doubled down on protocol infrastructure. In August 2026, it launched Bluesky Protocol Services, introducing Jetstream v2 with Network Replay (historical data access via sealed segments), plus new TypeScript and Go SDKs. Official roadmap emphasizes: full decentralization, user-owned identity/data/graph, and supporting third-party developers. The company explicitly stated its commitment to open protocols remains unchanged, with future work focused on earning developer trust and moving towards a fully decentralized system.
Jay Graber (Chief Innovation Officer): Founder of Bluesky, previously founded Happening and worked as a software engineer at Zcash, dedicated to decentralized social media.
Rose Wang (Chief Operating Officer): Former co-founder and CEO of Chirps, responsible for operations and growth.
Paul Frazee (Chief Technology Officer): Co-designer of the AT Protocol, distributed systems engineer, and founder of Blue Link Labs.
Toni Schneider (Interim CEO): Former CEO of Automattic (WordPress parent company), now temporarily leading Bluesky.