Farcaster founder Dan Romero has said that his decentralized social media firm “isn’t shutting down” after rumors of its closure circulated following Neynar’s acquisition of the platform.
Romero dispelled the rumors yesterday in a post on X which also clarified that Merkle Manufactory, a contributor to the Farcaster protocol, will return the $180 million it raised from investors during its Series A funding round.
He said, “The acquirer, Neynar, is a venture-backed startup and plans to shift Farcaster in a more developer-focused direction.”
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It had managed to secure investment from investment firms Paradigm, a16z Crypto, and Standard Crypto, to build a decentralized social media platform that would give users more control over their data and profiles.
Some called the Farcaster acquisition a $150M theft
There was some backlash to the acquisition from Mirza Uddin, head of business at Injective protocol, who posted, “How to Steal $150 Million and Get Away with It.”
He claimed that Romero essentially “scammed” investors out of hundreds of millions to cash out, buy luxury mansions, and sell the company for “effectively $0 a few years later.”
However, this criticism was described as “stupid” by crypto journalist Laura Shin, who congratulated Romero for what he and his team had achieved.
Shin said that it’s “nobody’s business” where Romero got the money to buy a house from, adding that “any sane person would have figured out it was likely from the Coinbase IPO.”
Multiple crypto industry proponents also expressed their support for Romero’s decision, with some Coinbase execs telling him to “ignore the haters.”
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Romero said the acquisition “wasn’t an easy decision.” He claimed that he was proud of what his team and the community were able to build but added that “after five years, it’s clear Farcaster needs a new approach and leadership to reach its full potential.”
