Neynar acquires Farcaster in $1 billion–valued deal

Decentralized social media infrastructure firm Neynar, backed by Haun Ventures, is acquiring Farcaster, the Ethereum-based social media protocol previously valued at $1 billion, from R&D firm Merkle Manufactory.

According to the announcement, ownership of Farcaster’s protocol contracts, code repositories, the Farcaster app and Clanker will be transferred to Neynar in the coming weeks. Neynar will take over ongoing maintenance and operation of the entire ecosystem.

Farcaster founder Dan Romero said Neynar is well positioned to lead the protocol’s next phase and will soon share a new builder-focused vision. Romero and co-founder Varun Srinivasan have been gradually stepping back from Farcaster in recent months, shifting their attention toward building a wallet application based on the protocol after concluding that a social-first strategy had not delivered the desired results.

Founded in 2020 by former Coinbase executives Romero and Srinivasan, Merkle Manufactory raised $150 million in a Series A round in 2024, valuing Farcaster at $1 billion. However, the protocol generated just $1.84 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025, down 85% year over year.

The acquisition comes amid broader changes in the decentralized social media sector. Earlier this week, Lens, a rival social protocol created by Aave founder Stani Kulechov, transferred ownership to Mask Network, while Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin reaffirmed his commitment to supporting decentralized social platforms.