Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin Going All-In on Decentralized Social Media as Farcaster, Lens Change Hands

In brief

• Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin is committing to decentralized social media in 2026, encouraging others to explore the space more intentionally.
• His words come amid major shakeups in the ecosystem as both Lens Protocol and Farcaster found new owners in the last two days.
• Buterin insists the future of decentralized social media should be run by people focused on “social,” and not speculative financial instruments.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin said he’s moving fully back to decentralized social media platforms in 2026, with his words coming right as the two biggest players in the space—Farcaster and Lens Protocol—have changed hands. In an X post, the outspoken founder highlighted the need for better mass communication tools, calling for a move beyond “everyone constantly tweeting inside a single global info warzone.” “We need mass communication tools that serve the user’s long-term interest, not maximize short-term engagement,” said Buterin. “There is no simple trick that solves these problems. But there is one important place to start: more competition.”

In 2026, I plan to be fully back to decentralized social.

If we want a better society, we need better mass communication tools. We need mass communication tools that surface the best information and arguments and help people find points of agreement. We need mass communication… https://t.co/ye249HsojJ

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 21, 2026

“Decentralization is the way to enable that: a shared data layer, with anyone being able to build their own client on top,” he added.  Buterin’s remarks came after Lens Protocol, the social platform built by the development team behind Ethereum DeFi protocol Aave, announced on Tuesday that Mask Network would “steward the next chapter” for the decentralized protocol.  On Wednesday, Farcaster made a similar announcement, detailing that its protocol smart contracts, code, the Farcaster app, and its acquired token launchpad, Clanker, will all be transferred to Neynar—a longstanding Farcaster client and infrastructure firm. 

“This wasn’t an easy decision. Farcaster and the people building on it mean a lot to us," posted Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero on X. “We’re proud of what our team built, and what the community built alongside us. But after five years, it’s clear Farcaster needs a new approach and leadership to reach its full potential.”  That new approach will come less than two years after the platform raised $150 million in a Series A which valued the company at $1 billion and sought to expand its active user base and developer primitives. Farcaster’s team recently said that it would pivot focus towards wallet development after the “social-first” approach failed to maintain momentum. While neither platform currently has a native token of its own, Buterin claims that most crypto social projects have inserted something speculative and considered it innovative. “Too often, we in crypto think that if you insert a speculative coin into something, that counts as ‘innovating,’ and moves the world forward,” he posted. The real focus though, he said, should be on solving for the actual social aspect of social media. “Decentralized social should be run by people who deeply believe in the ‘social’ part, and are motivated first and foremost by solving the problems of social,” Buterin added. For the new leaders of Lens, that means a focus on “consumer-grade execution, product design, and global distribution.” For Farcaster, it is a new “builder-focused vision” that is expected to be shared soon. In both instances, the original teams will step away from day-to-day operations.