Farcaster acquisition by Neynar sparks heated discussion: founding team exits, supporters optimistic about succession, critics question "overvaluation cash-out"

On January 22, the decentralized social protocol Farcaster was acquired by its core infrastructure service provider Neynar, sparking widespread discussion in the crypto community. Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero confirmed that in the coming weeks, the protocol contracts, code repositories, official applications, and the Clanker project will all be transferred to Neynar for operation and maintenance. He and some members of the Merkle team will step back from daily management and start new projects. Supporters believe this acquisition is an “ecological handover.” Several developers pointed out that Neynar has long served as Farcaster’s factual backend, supporting numerous client and developer tools, with a deep understanding of ecological needs. It is seen as the most suitable successor and is expected to bring “new oxygen” and a clearer development direction to Farcaster. However, opposition voices are also strong. Some comments directly criticize that Farcaster, supported by Paradigm and a16z, raised over $150 million at a $1 billion valuation but has yet to validate PMF and revenue models. Its acquisition by a smaller company is essentially a “high valuation exit” by the founding team, raising questions about the gap between its decentralization narrative and capital operations. Overall, Farcaster’s change of ownership is seen as an important milestone marking a shift from “pragmatic execution” in decentralized social infrastructure, but it also reignites long-term debates in the market about VC pricing, founder responsibility, and the authenticity of decentralized governance.