- Farcaster will remain operational after its acquisition by Neynar, founder Dan Romero said.
- Merkle Manufactory plans to return the $180 million it raised in a Series A.
- Neynar intends to move Farcaster toward a more developer-focused approach.
- Romero reported about 250,000 monthly active users (MAU) in December and over 100,000 funded wallets.
- The deal drew criticism that investors were shortchanged and praise from some crypto figures, including Laura Shin and supporters at Coinbase.
Dan Romero, founder of Farcaster, said the platform is not shutting down after its acquisition by Neynar. In a post on X, Romero wrote that the “protocol works and will continue to work” and that the acquirer plans a more developer-focused direction; his post is available on X here: https://x.com/dwr/status/2014469533210456166?s=20.
Romero added that contributor Merkle Manufactory will return the $180 million it raised during its Series A. He also posted user metrics, saying that there were about 250,000 MAU in December and over 100,000 funded wallets. (A funded wallet is a crypto wallet that contains funds and can transact on a network.)
The acquisition prompted public criticism from Mirza Uddin, who posted, “How to Steal $150 Million and Get Away with It.” His post is here: https://x.com/mirza/status/2014381988761776592?s=20. Supporters pushed back, including crypto journalist Laura Shin, who congratulated Romero (https://x.com/laurashin/status/2014128853157888449?s=20) and called the criticism “stupid” in a follow-up post (https://x.com/laurashin/status/2014483423323161001?s=20).
Others from the industry also voiced backing. A Coinbase executive signaled support in a post here: https://x.com/ViktorBunin/status/2014482632604569743?s=20. Investor Bobby Goodlatte wrote, “Extremely proud to have been an investor. The trolls on this have been so insanely off-base :-/ Such a rare & quite honorable move to be able to return all invested capital” in a post available at https://x.com/rsg/status/2014495509314965825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw.
Romero said the sale “wasn’t an easy decision” and added that “after five years, it’s clear Farcaster needs a new approach and leadership to reach its full potential.” That comment appears in his additional post on X: https://x.com/dwr/status/2014045233189888483?s=20.
Farcaster was built with funding from firms including Paradigm, a16z Crypto, and Standard Crypto to create a decentralized social platform that gives users more control over data and profiles. A protocol is the set of rules and software that lets apps and services interact on a network.
For reference, the platform’s cover image from the original report is hosted here: https://protos-media.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/23144908/Protos-Artwork-Farcaster.jpg.
Follow the publisher on X at https://twitter.com/protos, on Google News at https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMLmroQsw0bW5Aw, and on YouTube at https://youtube.com/protosmedia.
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