Farcaster’s Revenue Reaches $600,000
Farcaster, a decentralized social media platform, has achieved a total revenue of $600,000, indicating that crypto enthusiasts are not only interested in using the platform but also willing to pay for it. This success is reminiscent of FriendTech’s early days, which experienced waves of attention followed by a decline in sustainability. However, Farcaster’s challenge lies in maintaining longevity.
The Waves of Attention
In early December 2023, Farcaster saw its first wave of attention as users began paying for platform storage. The second wave occurred in late January and peaked in early February. This wave resulted in a significant increase in user signups, daily users, and posts per day due to the introduction of Frames, an in-app engagement tool.
Frames Driving Demand
Frames have played a crucial role in boosting demand on Farcaster by offering native monetization within the app. Users can receive NFTs and other potential airdrops by following and reposting another user’s Frame. This incentive attracted many crypto community members to join Farcaster in larger numbers compared to other social media platforms.
How Farcaster Generates Revenue
Unlike most social media platforms, Farcaster charges its users a small fee for posting and ongoing storage costs. The posting fee is $0.01 per post, but various reward mechanisms provide free posts. The storage fee is $5 per year for 5,000 posts, reactions, and follows. These fees ensure decentralization and prevent spam while allowing users to control their own data storage.
However, users aim to minimize fees as much as possible and still need to pay blockchain transaction fees when making transactions through Frames. Recently, most Farcaster users have switched to the Coinbase-built Base network for on-chain transactions due to its low fees.
Facing the Reality of Sustaining the Community
While Farcaster and FriendTech differ in their monetization approaches, they share the experience of being the go-to social platforms for the crypto community. However, Farcaster must find a flywheel effect to retain users in the long term, which is no easy task.