Farcaster is a decentralized SocialFi protocol for building social apps, where users have control over their data and developers can build apps without permission on the network.
Web2 social networks, you know, are completely controlled by a few centralized giants such as Meta, Twitter X, Instagram, Tiktok, etc. These giants control user’s data and restrict their freedom on the Internet through censorship or even data abuse. Vitalik Buterin – founder of Ethereum expects Farcaster to provide solutions to Web2 problems, helping users truly take control. Vitalik believes that SocialFi solutions will overcome the disadvantages in the old environment related to decentralization.
Farcaster is built on Ethereum and currently in alpha phase. Its beta version is expected to be launched in 2024.
Features
Farcaster is designed with 2 layers:
- L1 Blockchain: Manage user identities with high security and tamper resistance.
- L2 Delta Graph: spreads updates between users.
Farcaster uses a Delta graph to synchronize the social network’s state. A delta graph is a data structure that represents and synchronizes a social network’s state between many replicas. The state of the social network is a graph where each vertex is an entity like a user or message, and each edge is a relationship between entities.
Architecture
Farcaster is designed based on the concepts of previous protocols such as ActivityPub and SecureScuttlebutt but adds some new improvements. Farcaster’s model includes 3 main components:
FID (Farcaster ID): is a unique identifier for each user. Each user owns a unique FID, recorded through a smart contract on Ethereum. This ensures that users can find and interact with each other without overlapping with any other users on the platform.
Farcaster Hub: Farcaster stores all user information on a server called Hub. Anyone has the ability to deploy and operate a Hub, and connect it to other Hubs via a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. When a hub gets a new delta, it broadcasts it to its peers over a gossip protocol. Every Hub must maintain valid information from all users; otherwise, that information will be removed from the network.
Farcaster Storage Rental: Farcaster collects an annual fee from users to provide data storage services on the network. This fee helps ensure that users have a specific amount of space on the Hub and also encourages them to avoid creating redundant data on the network, enhancing data quality.
Apps built on Farcaster
- Alphacaster: Social network dedicated to decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
- Discove: Social network that allows people to share and discover content they are interested in.
- Jam: Social network built on top of Farcaster and Lens.
- Opencast: An open-source app on Farcaster.
- Warpcast: Web3 social network with an interface similar to Twitter (X).
- Yup: Aggregator social media platform allows users to “crosspost” to Farcaster, Bluesky, Twitter X and Lens.
Development team
Farcaster was developed by Merkle Manufactory. Some key members of the team include:
Dan Romero (Co-Founder): In 2019, he worked as Chief Operating Officer at Coinbase. Finally, he and Varun Srinivansan became Co-Founders of Markle Manufactory.
Varun Srinivasan (Co-Founder): In 2010, he worked as Product Manager at OneNote, a Microsoft product. 3 years later, he decided to start his own business “SoundFocus”, a platform focusing on sound, images, and media. By 2015, he worked as Chief Technology Officer at Coinbase. After more than 4 years, he and Dan Romero established their own company called Markle Manufactory.
Investors
In July 2022, Farcaster raised $30 million in a seed round led by a16zcrypto, Coinbase Ventures, Standard Crypto, 1comfirmation, Multicoin Capital, and more.