Network School acquires decentralized platform Farcaster.
Network School, founded by former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, has acquired the decentralized social platform Farcaster from Neynar. This was announced by Neynar co-founder Rish Mukerji.
Mukerji’s announcement about the Farcaster acquisition. Source: Farcaster.
According to Mukerji, Network School will take over the Farcaster app, protocol repositories, and related products.
Neynar considered several offers but chose Srinivasan’s project, as the platform requires a different operational model for its next phase.
The remaining Neynar employees will join Network School and continue working on the DeSoc platform. Rish and the other co-founder, Manan Patel, will leave the project.
New User Rules
Farcaster will be renamed to Network State Protocol. According to an announcement in the app, the project’s goal is to unite voluntary digital communities that can eventually form associations in the physical world.
One of the main changes will be a “social smart contract,” an agreement on platform behavior rules. Users will be invited to accept its terms, after which they will receive an NFT access token to confirm their agreement on the blockchain.
The new rules include bans for so-called digital crimes, such as hate speech, death threats, fraud, harassment, systematic provocation, and passing off AI-generated content as one’s own.
Those who refuse the agreement will only be able to view posts in the main app. Their keys, funds, followers, and message history will be transferred to another client.
Network School also plans to implement AI moderation and gradually introduce verification to confirm that accounts are managed by humans, not bots.
Rish’s announcement does not mention the fate of the token launch platform Clanker, which Neynar acquired along with Farcaster in January. According to the hosts of the GM Farcaster stream, Rish is considering spinning off Clanker as a separate project and finding another buyer for it.
From Investment to Ownership Change
Farcaster was developed by Merkle Manufactory, founded by former Coinbase employees Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan.
In early 2024, the platform’s popularity surged due to the Frames feature, which allowed interactive apps to be embedded directly into posts. In May of that year, the project raised $150 million in a round led by Paradigm.
However, it failed to retain its audience. By October, Farcaster’s monthly revenue had dropped by 96% from its February peak.
In December 2025, the team shifted focus to developing a crypto wallet. Romero admitted that the previous strategy, emphasizing the social aspect, did not ensure sustainable growth.
In August 2026, Neynar began searching for a new team to manage Farcaster, Clanker, and its developer platform. At that time, Rish announced that the company would return remaining funds and its employees would pursue new projects.
In January 2026, Neynar acquired Farcaster from Merkle Manufactory. After the deal, Romero announced plans to return all $180 million raised to investors.
Among them was Balaji Srinivasan, who publicly confirmed the return of funds.
Follow ForkLog on social media
Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press CTRL+ENTER