Onchain social faces reset as Farcaster and Lens change hands

Two major decentralised social protocols shifted ownership within days, reigniting debate over the future of onchain social.

Farcaster transferred its protocol, Warpcast client, and Clanker product to infrastructure partner Neynar on January 21.

Lens Protocol passed stewardship of its consumer products to Mask Network a day earlier.

Merkle Manufactory co-founder Dan Romero said the company plans to return the full $180 million raised to investors.

The clarification eased concerns over Farcaster’s transfer after initial scepticism in crypto circles.

Lens founder Stani Kulechov said some capital was returned to investors, with the rest funding ecosystem development.

“Now that this foundation is complete, stewardship of consumer products transitions to Mask,”

Stani Kulechov said.

Investors said decentralised social is no longer a priority area compared with finance-focused crypto use cases.

“Momentum is shifting as the industry re-centers on its foundational, finance-oriented use cases,”

Brandon Potts said.

Builders cited onboarding friction, weak network effects, and over-financialisation as barriers to adoption.

Analysts said early traction in SocialFi was often driven by incentives rather than organic demand.

Some investors believe decentralised social is entering a reset phase rather than ending entirely.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he plans to return focus to decentralised social experimentation this year.