Farcaster is changing hands again. Network School, the initiative led by former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, announced on October 15, 2026 that it is acquiring the decentralized social platform from Neynar.
That makes it the second ownership change for Farcaster in roughly nine months.
The platform will not keep its name. Under Network School, Farcaster is set to be rebranded as the Network State Protocol. It will also gain a new rulebook built around AI moderation, proof of humanity, and a code of conduct modeled on Singapore.
What Network School plans to change
The underlying protocol is expected to stay open and permissionless. Anyone can still build on it without asking for approval.
The bigger shift is in the main app people use to reach it. The primary client framework will move to a moderated environment, and that environment comes with three headline features.
First, AI moderation. Instead of relying only on human moderators or user reports, software will help police what gets posted.
Second, proof of humanity. Users will need to verify they are real people, which is a direct swing at bots and fake accounts.
Third, a “social smart contract” inspired by Singapore’s standards of public conduct.
The stated goal is cultural as much as technical. Network School wants to cultivate a community of techno-optimists interested in building digital societies that could eventually turn into physical network states.
Current users get a vote, and an NFT
Network School is not simply flipping a switch on existing users. Current Farcaster users are being asked to vote on the new operational models.
Those who opt in will receive an onchain NFT. The token is meant to reflect their support for the protocol’s new governance rules.
Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Neither Network School nor Neynar has put a public price on the platform.
How Farcaster got here
In 2024, the project raised $150 million from investors including Paradigm and a16z crypto. Farcaster struggled to sustain user growth under its original model.
On January 21, 2026, Neynar bought Farcaster from Merkle Manufactory, the company that originally built it. The purchase included the protocol, its official client, and Clanker, an AI token launchpad. That deal followed the original co-founders stepping back from day-to-day roles. Under Neynar, the platform leaned into a builder-centric direction, focusing on developers and the tools they use.
Network School itself relocated to Kazakhstan earlier in 2026 after facing challenges in Malaysia. It also recently raised funds at a $2 billion valuation.
Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.