Farcaster

From Kerman Kohli (21-10-2022):

"Farcaster is a sufficiently decentralized social network. It is an open protocol that can support many clients, just like email."

Basics

• Based in:
• Started in / Announced on: 2020
• Testnet release:
• Mainnet release:

Audits & Exploits

• Bug bounty program can be found [insert here].

Technology

• Whitepaper or docs can be found [insert here].
• Code can be viewed [insert here].
• Consensus mechanism:
• Algorithm:
• Virtual Machine:
• Development language used:

Transaction Details

• Capacity (TPS):
• Latency:

How it works

• From IndyPen (9-3-2024):

"Whereas a “fully decentralized” social network might hold ALL data on blockchain, a “sufficiently decentralized” social network only stores onchain the data that allows users to find each other and communicate.

In practice this means most user data (i.e. messages, profile info, followers) are held offchain on Hubs: “servers that store and validate Farcaster data”. Hubs use offchain cryptographic signatures to validate data. For example, you can be sure a message is coming from @links because it is signed with my private key and can be verified with my public key. Running a Hub is how one can read/write to Farcaster, and therefore required for any app that is building on Farcaster. Since every Hub must store a copy of the entire network, users must pay rent to keep their data on the Farcaster Hub network to prevent spam and keep the size of the network data manageable.

By separating onchain and offchain data, Farcaster has created a social network that CANNOT censor users while ensuring that cost and performance still work as average consumers would expect. This is a compromise that seems to work pretty well, especially when compared against a fully decentralized network like Lens, which can feel a bit sluggish from a UX perspective, or a fully centralized network like X, which can (and regularly does) censor users.

Farcaster uses a concept called Channels: user-created, user-moderated spaces for like-minded people to get together. Channels function similarly to subreddits, so what makes Farcaster different? The key is web3 integrations; every user on Farcaster has a non-custodial wallet, and Farcaster makes it easy for creators to get paid for their work. NFT mints are displayed prominently in feeds, encouraging other users to discover new pieces of work to mint and own onchain. Warps, Farcaster’s in-app currency, have reduced the difficulty even further, allowing users to mint NFTs without having to sign any transactions or pay gas fees. Frames (essentially mini-apps) make it even easier to connect to external services."

• A hybrid architecture with on-chain and off-chain components (4-11-2022):

"They first leverage the security of Ethereum to store Identities on-chain in smart contracts, the address that controls the Identity can then be used to sign off-chain messages on it’s behalf. This off-chain infrastructure is Farcasters own, always on - user controlled servers called ‘Hubs’. These hubs are used to validate, store, and replicate signed messages. This data is stored off chain due to it being expensive to store on most L1’s and L2’s.

With this system Farcaster enables a deeper focus on the application layer. Applications are programmes people use to interact with the Farcaster network, meaning users can switch between applications anytime to what best suites their needs. These applications can vary in complexity, some may only publish new messages and view messages published by others. While other apps may index the data and enable search, algorithmic feeds, and spam detection. These features of which are difficult or expensive to perform on the Hub itself."

Roadmap

• Can be found [Insert link here].

Usage

• From Kerman Kohli (4-11-2022):

"Farcaster is gaining traction week-on-week. With over 500 new users per week, 1600 weekly active casters, 4,124 connected addresses and a lot of continued engagement over 3 months. There’s already many applications built on Farcaster. There’s already lot’s of different approaches to the application layer. If you’re interested in checking them out, take a look at Alertcaster, Fardrop or Launchcaster, or having a look at the Farcaster ecosystem here."

Projects that use or built on it

• Warpcast is the client built by the Farcaster team.
• Supercast is a client geared towards power users and brands.
• Searchcaster is a quick way to search Farcaster data.
• 33bits is a tool to cast anonymously.
• Hatecast allows users to see who has followed/unfollowed them.

Team, Funding and Partners

Team

• Full team can be found [here].
• Dan Romero; co-founder
• Varun Srinivasan; co-founder

Funding

• Mert invested (28-8-2024).
• Raised $150M (22-5-2024) from Paradigm, a16z, Haun Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Variant, and Standard Crypto, among others.

(:

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