Crypto influencer Autism Capital has called on Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, to resume active participation on X, criticizing his retreat to Farcaster.
According to the influencer, Vitalikβs use of the decentralized social media platform Farcaster and spending time with a smaller group of peers arenβt helping Ethereum grow. Autism Capital urged the Ethereum co-founder to βget back on X,β claiming it would have a much greater impact on the projectβs development.
βVitalik needs to get back on X. Farcaster isnβt going to win the culture war. If he wants Ethereum to shine he should engage more on this platform, not sequester himself with his chosen peers on an island. He will have far more impact if he engages the bigger community here.β
Space X CEO Elon Musk also joined the conversation, inquiring about Buterinβs departure.
βWhy did he leave?β asked Musk, prompting a flood of responses from community participants.
One user speculated that Buterinβs decision could have been influenced by the increasing number of bot accounts on the platform. Another user echoed this sentiment, referencing a post from Tyler John from Jan. 2024, discussing the bot issue.
According to John, Buterinβs posts are usually flooded by βsycophants, crypto bots, and followers,β who spam the replies section every time the Ethereum co-founder posts something.
Buterin agreed to these reasons in response, claiming that this prompted him to do most of his posting on Farcaster.
His pivot to Farcaster was also preceded by a security breach on his X account. The attackers posted malicious phishing links and stole over $690,000 from unsuspecting users.
Vitalik Buterin supports βrainbow stakingβ to fight centralization issues
Farcaster, a decentralized social app protocol, has seen a notable increase in user engagement and developer interest. Buterin has expressed his belief in the platformβs long-term potential, expecting it to remain a significant player in the digital space beyond a mere seasonal trend.
This optimism followed the platformβs notable performance metrics, including a 400% increase in daily active users following the launch of new features like βframesβ on its Warpcast application.
According to Dune Analytics, Farcasterβs daily active user count had surged from 5,000 on Jan. 28 to over 24,700 by Feb. 3. The volume of new daily casts also experienced a dramatic rise at the time, marking a 1,000% increase.
However, a Feb. 18 report revealed that Farcaster wasnβt fully botβand spam-free. Several users have started noticing a drop in conversation quality despite the platformβs growing popularity.
Buterin himself had weighed in on the matter while still considering Farcaster a viable X alternative. He added that addressing the issue of increasing spam was Farcasterβs next challenge.
What is Farcaster, and why are people excited about it?