Network School acquires Farcaster from Neynar, rebrands it as Network State Protocol

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 standa...