Developer infrastructure firm Neynar acquires decentralized social protocol Farcaster

Decentralized social media protocol Farcaster has been acquired by developer infrastructure company Neynar. With Farcaster’s operator fully transitioning to Neynar, a full-scale reshaping of the ecosystem’s structure is set to begin.

According to Cryptopolitan on the 22nd (local time), Neynar said it acquired Farcaster, an Ethereum- and Optimism-based decentralized social protocol, from its existing operator Merkle. The acquisition price was not disclosed. Farcaster previously raised a cumulative approximately $180 million in funding and was valued at around $1 billion following a Series A led by Paradigm in May 2024.

Following the deal, Neynar will assume full responsibility for maintaining and managing the Farcaster protocol. Along with operating Farcaster-related clients, Neynar will also manage the Clanker service, and some members of the Clanker team will join Neynar. Neynar explained that “many Farcaster-based services are already running on our infrastructure, so this will be a natural integration.”

Neynar plans to accelerate the buildout of a developer-centric ecosystem through the acquisition. The company outlined a vision of creating a structure that supports builders from the idea stage through to generating recurring revenue. The plan is to expand Farcaster beyond a simple social platform into an experimental space centered on the developer community.

Neynar said it sees Farcaster’s core value not in the product, but in the community. The company assessed that Farcaster’s long-accumulated developer base has served as the foundation for new ideas to be tested and spread quickly. Going forward, it plans to expand global utility by combining software creation, crypto-asset payment rails, and an on-chain ecosystem.

The acquisition is not expected to bring immediate changes to the service structure of Farcaster, Neynar, or Clanker. Neynar denied any possibility of shutting down clients or halting the protocol, adding that the existing pricing model and features will remain in place. It added, however, that the development environment will be simplified further and accessibility improved.

Previously, Farcaster acknowledged limits to achieving sustainable social network growth by the end of 2025 and announced a strategic pivot toward wallet and trading features. Co-founder Dan Romero said at the time that the social-first strategy failed to deliver results and that the company would focus on the wallet and trading functions that had shown growth. This acquisition is interpreted as a full-fledged structural overhaul following that pivot.