Farcaster, the decentralized protocol as soon as pitched as crypto’s reply to Twitter, has been acquired by Neynar, a longtime infrastructure builder in its ecosystem. The transition was introduced by Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero in a publish Wednesday.
Romero stated Neynar will take over the protocol’s sensible contracts, code repositories, cell app and Clanker, an AI token launchpad. Romero and fellow cofounder Varun Srinivasan, together with elements of their group at Merkle, will step away from day-to-day improvement.
“This wasn’t a simple resolution,” Romero stated within the publish. “However after 5 years, it’s clear Farcaster wants a brand new strategy and management to achieve its full potential.”
Farcaster aimed to decentralize social media by letting customers management their identities and information. In 2024, the group raised $150 million from distinguished backers together with Paradigm and Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) crypto fund.
However after practically 5 years of constructing, Romero acknowledged the platform by no means achieved sustainable progress with a social-first mannequin. In December, the group shifted Farcaster’s focus from social networking to in-app wallets and buying and selling to spice up engagement.
Neynar, which supplies APIs and instruments for builders constructing on Farcaster, has supported the community since its early days and now plans to unveil a brand new builder-focused roadmap.
