@tylerfoust.eth

Since many people missed it, it is important to repeat this clearly. Dan Romero officially confirmed that Farcaster is transitioning to a wallet-first model because, in his words, the social layer “did not work” after four and a half years. However, there are things that need to be called by their proper names. 1. Where is the Farcaster token? Its launch should have happened a long time ago. It is not just a checkbox on the roadmap, but the foundation of an economy that creates incentives for users, opens up space for developers, generates commissions and revenue for the protocol, supports mini apps and authorial products, and most importantly, creates real value in the network. Other web 3 social networks have been operating under this model for a long time and are generating profits that Farcaster could be earning today. The decision to postpone the launch was purely managerial, not technical. 2. The early network infrastructure included people who are not mentioned today In the early stages, many people launched nodes and supported Farcaster. It was not as critical as in classic blockchains, but these people invested resources, created a sense of decentralization, strengthened trust in the protocol, and maintained stability when the network was just emerging. Today, when the course has changed dramatically, their contribution is not only unrecognized, but not even mentioned. This is not about reward, but about basic respect. 3. Did the social part really “not work” all these years? During this time, it was users and independent developers who created channels, virality tools, communities, and the mini apps ecosystem. The most innovative and popular features of Farcaster did not come about thanks to the internal work of the team, but thanks to the activities of the community. Therefore, the statement that the social level “did not work” is an incorrect diagnosis. It worked perfectly, but without an economic model, it could not scale. 4. Why the focus is suddenly on the wallet Because it is the wallet that generates profit. It is explicitly stated that every new wallet user is a new protocol user. But it must be said honestly that the success of the wallet is largely based on the activity and traffic generated by the social part. It is this part that attracts users, stimulates usage, and creates entry points. Therefore, attributing this result solely to the work of the wallet team would be an oversimplification of the real picture. 5. The tone of the message became part of the problem The phrase, “If you don't like it, use another network,” is not a strategy, but an alienation of the people on whom the entire product depends. A social network exists not because someone developed it, but because someone fills it with content. No CEO who values their community would allow such communication. This is not just a mistake, but a symptom of a deeper imbalance in the relationship between management and users. Over time, I have become accustomed to disrespect from the project's CEO. 6. The problem is not with Farcaster. The problem is with management And this is becoming increasingly obvious. It is not the community's fault. It is not the developers' fault. It is not the social network format's fault. It is not the users' fault. All key failures occurred where strategic decisions are made. It was these decisions that led to the token never being released, the economy not being built, the developer ecosystem not receiving funding, creators not receiving support, early participants not even hearing a “thank you,” communication being destroyed, and the course of development becoming chaotic and inconsistent. This is not a failure of the community. This is a failure of strategic vision. 7. Farcaster received significant investments - hundreds of millions of dollars And instead of directing them towards launching a token, developing the economic layer, supporting infrastructure, illuminating the dev tools ecosystem, programs for authors, and scaling the social product - the funds were spent on areas that the managers themselves now recognize as “unsuccessful.” This was followed by a sharp turn to the wallet-first model without analyzing the reasons for previous mistakes. The result is simple: the lion's share of the investment was spent in such a way that users did not feel any benefit. This is a strategic mistake, not a market coincidence. ================================================== I speak as a user who has fallen in love with this product with all my heart. I have never spent so much time on any other social network. Farcaster has enormous potential - and this is proven every day by the real people who create, build, and move the ecosystem forward here. But as long as strategic decisions are made without taking into account the community's opinion and without a well-thought-out economic model, this potential will inevitably be lost. The community works. The ecosystem works. The mini-apps work. The idea works. The only thing that doesn't work is the strategy from above. This is just my personal opinion. If you have your own, please share it. I would be very grateful to hear your point of view.

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