About Farcaster

What is Farcaster and why should anyone care?

Farcaster is a decentralized social protocol built in 2020 by Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan, both ex-Coinbase. At its core, it lets people own their social identity and connections without being trapped inside one app. Sounds small, but it flips the traditional model of social networks on its head. Instead of data silos, you get portability and user control—something crypto has been chasing for years.

Does Farcaster have a coin of its own?

Not yet. There’s no FAR token floating around on Binance or Coinbase. What exists instead is Warps—a kind of internal credit system tied loosely to USD value. You use them to create channels, mint NFTs, or onboard friends. Warps aren’t tokens you can trade on-chain, and they’re managed by the Warpcast team. Think of them more like “app credits” than crypto money.

How does posting on Farcaster actually work?

Here’s the twist: you rent storage. Every account needs “storage units,” which cost about $7 USD a year (paid in ETH). Each one covers 5,000 casts, 2,500 reactions, and 2,500 follows. That recurring fee may feel odd for social media, but it’s what keeps spam at bay and makes the network sustainable without central ads or endless VC subsidies.

Are there vesting or unlock schedules to track?

None for the core protocol, since it has no native token. But the wider ecosystem tells a different story. DEGEN, the most popular community token, has a total supply near 37 billion, with around 70% reserved for rewarding activity. Most of it has gone out via airdrops—handing tokens directly to active casters.

Who has backed Farcaster with money?

The project raised $180M across two rounds. In July 2022, a $30M seed round was led by a16z crypto, joined by Multicoin, 1confirmation, Balaji Srinivasan, Coinbase Ventures, Standard Crypto, and Volt Capital. Then in May 2024, Paradigm led a $150M Series A at a $1B valuation, alongside Union Square Ventures and Variant. Not bad—those names sit at the very top of crypto venture.

Can you trade anything tied to Farcaster?

The protocol itself? No coin, no listing. But the ecosystem? Absolutely. DEGEN/USDT is live on Coinbase, while MEXC and EXMO host DEGEN/BTC. Smaller tokens—like HAM or WILD—float around on Uniswap V3 (mostly Base network). So while there’s no official Farcaster coin, community tokens have found their way into liquid markets.

What kind of airdrops are running?

Two flavors. First, the ongoing Farcaster activity airdrop (since September 2023), which rewards users who streak, post, and interact via Warpcast. Second, the one-off community token airdrops like DEGEN or novelty tokens (HAM, FARTHER, ENJOY). Worth noting: if you’re active, you’ve probably been included in at least one drop already.

What exactly are Warps used for?

Warps are flexible credits inside Warpcast. You can buy them or earn them through reward programs. With Warps, you can hook up apps, mint NFTs, pay for onboarding, send invites, or tip a caster. They’re not glamorous like a token mooning on Binance, but they keep the whole system ticking.

What makes Farcaster different from other social protocols?

It runs on a hybrid design. Account creation and security live on Optimism smart contracts (on-chain), while fast actions—posting, following, reacting—run through off-chain Hubs. That balance gives speed without losing user ownership. And then there are Frames—mini-apps that run directly inside feeds. Imagine sending crypto, playing a game, or tipping someone without leaving your timeline.

What’s on the roadmap?

There’s no token launch teased. Instead, the focus is on scale: stronger Hub infrastructure, better developer tools, and refining Warps. Frames already proved viral, so expect more innovation on that front. The north star? Becoming the social layer for crypto—where wallets, communities, and feeds merge into one portable social graph.

Where are the risks hiding?

Plenty. Technically, the reliance on Hubs introduces single points of failure. Financially, a $1B valuation looks ambitious given the user base. Regulators could swoop in if a token launches. And then there’s competition: Lens and Nostr are racing for the same decentralized social crown. The gamble? Whether Farcaster can build network effects fast enough.