Farcaster is about to launch its own blockchain Snapchain

Unlike conventional blockchains, Farcaster's Snapchain will charge users an annual fee instead of requiring per-transaction fees.

Farcaster is launching its own blockchain Snapchain. Photo: Varun Srinivasan

Farcaster co-founder Varun Srinivasan announced on December 7th information about Snapchain, the Decentralized Social Media 's own blockchain.

Introducing Snapchain

Snapchain is a new data layer for the @farcaster_xyz social network, which keeps apps in sync.

It's written in Rust, can handle 10k+ TPS and will support millions of daily users. pic.twitter.com/WfokoZPTHO

— Varun Srinivasan (@varunsrin) December 6, 2024

Snapchain is designed to be the “data layer” for Farcaster, handling up to 10,000 transactions per second to meet user demands, Srinivasan said.

Every user interaction on Farcaster will be XEM a transaction on Snapchain, which will be included in the Block to be stored on the blockchain. However, to ensure scalability and keep transaction fees low, Snapchain will have the following special features:

- Transactions on the blockchain will not be Turing-Complete so as not to serve the computational needs of other applications.

- Fees will be charged annually instead of per transaction.

- Transaction history will be cleaned periodically.

Snapchain will charge each user $2 per year to use the blockchain. After paying this amount, users will be allowed to make up to 500 transactions per hour and have a storage limit of 10,000 transactions. Those who reach the limit can pay additional fees to continue using the blockchain.

However, Snapchain will still operate on Farcaster's current platform, OP Mainnet (Optimism) , because it still needs a party to manage user accounts and directly collect transaction fees. Although not directly mentioned, the actual model of Snapchain will likely be a layer-3 on top of layer-2 OP Mainnet.

Snapchain relies on a blockchain for managing accounts and collecting fees, which are things it cannot do.

Users create accounts by making a transaction to a registry contract on OP Mainnet. Once an account is created, users can use "app keys" configured on the registry to sign… pic.twitter.com/DGCIhpe4Sx

— Varun Srinivasan (@varunsrin) December 6, 2024

Each Snapchain Block will include a blockchain transaction to update account status, along with a snapchain transaction to record a user's social media activity.

Alpha testing for Snapchain will begin this December, with the mainnet launch expected in Q1 2025, Varun Srinivasan said.

Farcaster is one of the prominent names in the SocialFi trend , along with competitors Lens Protocol and friend.tech . The project was once highly expected to breathe new life into the Decentralized Social Media sector whenit was praised by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin , plus raised $150 million in Capital in May 2024.

However, after half a year without many breakthroughs, Farcaster's operations have declined significantly, significantly affecting revenue .

Statistics of daily active users on Farcaster . Source: @pixelhack on Dune Analytics (December 8, 2024)

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