Farcaster has changed hands for the second time this year. Neynar took over Farcaster from Merkle Manufactory in January, and less than nine months later, it has transferred the app, protocol repository, and related products to Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School. The amount was not disclosed.

Rish’s comments, in essence, were that the next phase requires a different operating model. He and Manan are leaving, while the rest of Neynar’s employees will join Network School and continue working on it.

The in-app message puts it more plainly: Farcaster is becoming the Network State Protocol, aiming to “print” voluntary digital communities into the physical world. Users must first accept or reject a “social smart contract.” Those who agree get an on-chain access NFT; those who decline can only read on the main app, while their keys, funds, followers, and posts move to other clients. They also plan to add human verification to cut down on bots. So-called digital felonies include hate speech, fraud, stalking, and passing off AI-generated content as your own.

Clanker, the token-launch platform involved in the same January deal, wasn’t mentioned in this announcement in terms of where it’s headed; someone on the livestream said Rish is considering splitting it off and finding another buyer. Treat that as unconfirmed for now.

Decentralized social has changed bosses twice this year. The protocol is still there, but operational control has become quite centralized. Not investment advice.

#Farcaster #NetworkSchool #Web3社交 #去中心化社交 #Crypto