Los Angeles-based software company Merkle Manufactory is reportedly close to completing a funding round with a valuation of $1 billion, according to Bloomberg. The round is being led by crypto investment firm Paradigm. Merkle is known for developing the Farcaster decentralized social networking protocol, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain. Farcaster allows users to create profiles, make posts called “casts,” and follow other users. It also enables users to connect their Ethereum address and showcase non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as their profile picture. Dan Romero, one of the co-founders of Farcaster, confirmed the funding round on the social media app Warpcast. He also mentioned that Farcaster recently reached a new record of over 77,000 daily active users. Merkle Manufactory previously raised $30 million in a funding round led by a16 Crypto in 2022.