Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan, co-founders of the crypto social network Farcaster, have joined Tempo, a blockchain project focused on stablecoins. The move follows the recent acquisition of Farcaster by Neynar. Both announced their new roles on X, highlighting the potential of stablecoins in global finance.
Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan, who launched Farcaster in 2020 as a decentralized social network, announced on Monday via their X accounts that they are joining Tempo. This stablecoin-focused blockchain is backed by fintech leader Stripe and crypto investor Paradigm. Specific roles for the duo at Tempo remain undisclosed.
Romero expressed enthusiasm, stating, “Stablecoins are a generational opportunity. I’m excited to work with Matt Huang, Georgios Konstantopoulos and the rest of the team to make them mainstream.” Srinivasan echoed this, noting, “Tempo is working on the most important problem in finance: building a global payments network that is fast, inexpensive and transparent.”
The transition comes shortly after Neynar, a developer tools startup for Farcaster, acquired the project last month amid challenges in user adoption. Under the deal, Neynar assumed control of Farcaster's smart contracts, code repositories, mobile app, and AI token launchpad Clanker. Romero, Srinivasan, and staff from Merkle Manufactory, Farcaster's operating entity, have stepped back from daily operations. Romero also intends to return the full $180 million raised by Farcaster to its investors.
Prior to Farcaster, both founders held key positions at Coinbase: Romero as vice president overseeing consumer business and international growth, and Srinivasan leading engineering and product teams.
Tempo has been aggressively building its team, adding former Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist in October, ex-Optimism Labs CEO Liam Horne, and Rice University professor Mallesh Pai late last year. The project boasts partnerships with over a dozen organizations, including Anthropic, Deutsche Bank, OpenAI, Revolut, Shopify, and Visa. It launched a testnet in December, with a mainnet rollout planned later this year.
