Farcaster is one of today’s largest decentralized social networking platforms, spearheaded by its main application, Warpcast. This guide by Node Scribe will walk you through setting up a Farcaster Hubble (Farcaster Node) to explore potential future airdrop opportunities.
Why Run a Farcaster Node?
Farcaster operates on the Social Graph protocol, a database that captures relationships within social networks without relying on third parties like Twitter, Facebook, or Google. With a successful $30 million in fundraising led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) on June 13, 2022, and participation from Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and Standard Crypto, Farcaster has proven to be a key player in the burgeoning SocialFi space, which is expected to explode from 2024 to 2026. In 2023, Farcaster issued the DEGEN token airdrop, increasing over 600 times and yielding up to $60,000 per account if who held onto their tokens so far.
Step-by-Step Guide to Running Your Node:
Step 1: Setting Up a VPS
Begin by selecting a suitable VPS provider; I recommend Contabo for its balance of cost and quality. Opt for the CLOUD VPS 2 package, which adequately meets the requirements for running a Farcaster node:
– 16 GB RAM
– 4 CPU cores or vCPUs
– 40 GB of free space
Sign up for Contabo VPS for smooth node operation: https://contabo.com/en/vps
Step 2: Obtaining Your FID from Warpcast
Register an account at warpcast.com, requiring a $5 account setup fee. Navigate to your profile, select About, and note down your FID.
Step 3: Setting Up an API RPC with Infura
Register for an account at https://app.infura.io. Select ‘My First Key’, then choose ‘Endpoints for Ethereum Mainnet and Optimism Mainnet’. Save your changes.
Step 4: Launching the Farcaster Node on VPS
Log into your VPS using SSH and create a Screen session to ensure your node continues running 24/7:
sudo apt update -y
sudo apt install screen -y
screen -S Hubble
Run the installation script:
curl -sSL https://download.thehubble.xyz/bootstrap.sh | bash
Wait for the script to complete, then enter the following configuration details in order:
1. RPC Ethereum Mainnet
2. RPC OP Mainnet
3. FID
Where ‘RPC Ethereum Mainnet’ and ‘RPC OP Mainnet’ are the endpoints you registered in Step 3. The ‘FID’ is your unique identifier from your Warpcast account.
After successfully running the script, if your VPS displays same image, your node is operational.
Before exiting, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + A + D to detach from the screen session safely. To re-enter the running Farcaster node screen, log back into your VPS and execute the command:
screen -r Hubble
If your node stops working or there is a new version available, you can update your node using the following command:
cd ~/hubble && ./hubble.sh upgrade
Conclusion:
This guide provides a straightforward approach to setting up your Farcaster node.
**Disclaimer:**
The node projects discussed in Node Scribe are based on personal research and evaluated for their potential airdrop benefits. However, these projects come with no guarantees of future airdrops. Please consider carefully before participating.
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