On Thursday, Romero shared on X that Merkle Manufactory plans to refund all investor capital:

“As for Merkle, we plan to return the full $180 million raised back to investors. Over the last five years, we’ve tried to be good stewards of investor capital.”

Romero highlighted that the protocol had 250,000 monthly active users and more than 100,000 funded wallets as of December. He also noted that Neynar intends to shift the project in a more developer-focused direction:

“Farcaster is not shutting down. The protocol works and will continue to work.”

Former Coinbase executive and early Farcaster supporter Balaji Srinivasan also confirmed the refund plan:

“The technology is real and works. The transfer to Neynar could help Farcaster achieve its long-term goal of deeper decentralization.”

Founded in 2020 by Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan, Merkle Manufactory is backed by major investors including a16z Crypto and Paradigm. Following a $150 million Series A round in 2024, Farcaster was reportedly valued at $1 billion.

Farcaster’s $180 million refund plan has been confirmed by supporting venture capital funds and strategic partners. This step reinforces Farcaster’s long-term mission to advance decentralized social media.

What is Farcaster?

Farcaster stands out in the decentralized social media ecosystem by giving users control over their data and audience. Built by Coinbase alumni in 2020, the protocol runs on Optimism, managing accounts, usernames, signers, and messages on-chain while social interactions leverage off-chain storage. Applications like Warpcast offer a Twitter-like experience—censorship-resistant, interoperable, and user-first. Its hybrid architecture ensures identity data is on-chain while social activity remains off-chain, so users maintain ownership of their content and followers even when switching apps. As of 2025, Frames enables on-chain and off-chain actions—including NFT minting, gaming, and commerce—directly within the feed.

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The post Farcaster Announces: Protocol Is Not Shutting Down appeared first on Coin Engineer.

What is The Arena?

The Arena is a platform that combines social media and financial interaction. Users can purchase digital assets called “Tickets” from content creators, investing in their content. The value of Tickets increases based on the creator’s popularity and engagement. Additionally, users can tip content creators and join exclusive communities. This mechanism creates new revenue models for content creators while offering users both social interaction and financial gain opportunities.

How Does The Arena Work?

The Arena operates on the Avalanche blockchain. Users can buy digital assets called “Tickets” from content creators, investing in their content. The value of Tickets increases based on the creator’s popularity and engagement. Additionally, users can tip content creators and join exclusive communities. This mechanism generates new revenue models for content creators while providing users with both social interaction and financial gain opportunities.

What is The Arena’s Purpose?

The primary goal of The Arena is to foster deeper and meaningful interactions between content creators and users. The platform offers new revenue models for creators while enabling users to invest in content and earn financial rewards. This approach aims to create a fairer and more sustainable social media ecosystem.

Who Founded The Arena?

Detailed information about The Arena’s founders and team is currently limited. However, it is known that experienced blockchain developers and social media experts were involved in building the platform. The team leverages its deep knowledge and experience in social media and financial technology to develop The Arena.

Who Are The Arena’s Investors?

The Arena successfully raised a total of $2M in funding to enter the market. Although there are no major corporations among the investors, the project secured funding quite successfully. Among the investors, Abstract is the most notable firm, followed by Ventures and Alpha Crypto. Additionally, strategic partnerships and collaborations may have been established to support the platform’s development. These partnerships play an important role in the growth of the platform and expansion of its user base.

$ARENA Tokenomics

The total supply of $ARENA tokens is 10 billion. The circulating supply is approximately 2.86 billion. Tokens are used to pay content creators, execute in-platform transactions, and distribute user rewards. Tokenomics is designed to support the platform’s sustainability and growth.

Official Sources

• Official Website
• CoinMarketCap Page
• Whitepaper
• X (Twitter) Account

Live Data

The post What is The Arena (ARENA)? | The Future of Social Finance appeared first on Coin Engineer.

You Might Be Interested In: Elon Musk Talks About the Name of a New Memecoin!

Following the announcement, MASK Coin surged by 14%, climbing to $1,29 as investor interest spiked. The news has been received as a strong bullish signal by analysts and the crypto community alike.

Volume Surge And Long-Term Potential

The price rally was accompanied by a significant increase in trading volume, indicating a strong reaction from the market. Experts suggest that such partnerships could expand MASK‘s use cases and support its long-term valuation.

DWF Labs emphasized that the collaboration aims to empower users by giving them control over their data within a decentralized social ecosystem — a vision aligned with the broader Web3 movement.

With increased investor attention, MASK could be entering a new bullish phase.

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The post MASK Coin Soars with Partnership News! appeared first on Coin Engineer.