Farcaster was acquired by Network School and will transform into a network state protocol

The decentralized social network Farcaster has changed ownership for the second time this year. Network School, led by Balaji Srinivasan, has acquired Farcaster from Neynar, with the transaction amount not disclosed. Neynar co-founder Rish stated on Thursday that after considering multiple acquisition offers, the company decided to transfer the "Farcaster application, protocol codebase, and related products" to Network School, citing that Farcaster needs a different operational model in the next phase. Rish and another co-founder, Manan, will leave, while the remaining Neynar employees will join Network School to continue developing Farcaster.

Neynar acquired the platform from Farcaster's original developer, Merkle Manufactory, in January this year, and the deal also included the token issuance platform Clanker. Rish's announcement did not mention the fate of Clanker, but GM Farcaster host Adrienne and NourishProf mentioned during a live broadcast on Thursday that Rish is considering splitting Clanker and seeking other buyers for it. Meanwhile, an in-app announcement indicates that Farcaster will be renamed "Network Nation Protocol," aiming to build a network composed of a voluntarily joined digital society, ultimately landing in the physical world.

Users must choose to accept or reject a "social smart contract," with acceptors receiving an on-chain access NFT as proof.