Farcaster Ownership Change Controversy: From $1 Billion Funding to Neynar Takeover, the Valuation Puzzle of Decentralized Social

【BlockBeats】Decentralized social protocol Farcaster has been officially acquired by its infrastructure service provider Neynar. After confirmation on January 22, Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero announced that in the coming weeks, the protocol contracts, code repositories, official applications, and the Clanker project will be transferred to Neynar’s management, while he and some Merkle team members will step back from daily operations and focus on new projects.

Many voices within the ecosystem see this as a “handover within the ecosystem.” A group of developers pointed out that Neynar has long served as Farcaster’s behind-the-scenes infrastructure, supporting numerous clients and developer tools, with the deepest understanding of ecosystem needs, making it the most suitable successor. Some even believe this will bring a fresh breeze to Farcaster and clarify its future development direction.

However, there are also significant opposing voices. Some directly pointed out the contradictions: Farcaster, supported by Paradigm and a16z, raised over $150 million at a $1 billion valuation. Yet, despite such a large fundraising amount, it has not managed to develop a clear business model or product-market fit, and was instead acquired by a smaller company. Isn’t this just the founding team taking a high valuation to exit with dignity? Others questioned whether this exposes the gap between Web3 social narratives and capital realities.

From an industry perspective, Farcaster’s change of ownership marks a shift from decentralized social infrastructure to a stage focused on “actual operations.” But it also reignites old issues about VC valuation bubbles, founder responsibilities, and the disconnect between decentralized governance and reality.