Crypto Social Platform To Repay $180 Million to Venture Backers

Jan. 23, 2026, 4:48 AM UTC

The software firm behind a crypto-oriented social-media platform plans to repay venture capitalists the $180 million they had invested in the project, underscoring a period of consolidation for one of the more ambitious corners of the blockchain market.

Merkle Manufactory, whose flagship product is Farcaster, will return the money it had raised to investors, co-founder Dan Romero said in a post on X late Thursday in the US. Multiple investors including former Coinbase Global Inc. executive Balaji Srinivasan confirmed the plan in separate posts.

Neynar, another crypto project focused on social media, said on Jan. 21 that it had acquired ...

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