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About Towns Protocol
Towns Protocol is a decentralized real-time messaging infrastructure built on Base. It allows users to create "Spaces" — chat rooms that exist as on-chain smart contracts, with membership represented by ERC-721 NFTs. Messages are routed through a separate network of stream nodes and encrypted end-to-end, while access rules and payments are settled on-chain. The TOWNS token (ERC-20) is used for staking and governance, with node operators and stakers rewarded through inflation (starting at 8%, decreasing to 2% over 20 years).
The core value proposition is user ownership: unlike traditional platforms where admins control communities and can censor or delete them, Towns Spaces are owned by their creators via NFTs, and membership rules are transparent and enforceable on-chain. This addresses the pain point of centralized control, where platform policies can arbitrarily remove users or communities.
In the past six months (2026-02-28 to 2026-08-31), the official website's front page has been promoting paid stock-tip groups and gambling-themed Spaces, with a headline "TOTAL EARNINGS" counter that has remained unchanged for months. Notably, two official documentation pages give conflicting lock-up periods after unstaking (30 days vs. 60 days), and no public security audit has been found. The Base token contract is an upgradeable proxy that has been changed three times, meaning upgrade rights holders could alter its behavior after users read the code.
Towns Protocol is a decentralized real-time messaging infrastructure built on Ethereum, designed to enable on-chain community ownership, end-to-end encrypted messaging, programmable identity, and native value transfer. Its development history includes several milestones with long-term significance:
- A-round funding led by a16z (February 2023): Towns raised $25.5 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Benchmark and Framework Ventures. This marked the initial institutional endorsement of its vision for a decentralized social communication protocol.
- B-round funding led by a16z (April 2025): Towns completed a $10 million Series B round, again led by a16z, with Coinbase Ventures participating for the first time and Benchmark continuing its investment. This sustained backing from top-tier VCs signaled confidence in the protocol's long-term direction.
- Launch of the Towns Alpha version: After nearly two years of development, Towns officially launched its Alpha product, offering web and iOS applications. The alpha phase introduced the concept of 'Spaces'—each a unique NFT representing community ownership—and integrated wallet-free login options, laying the groundwork for mainstream adoption.
- Technical architecture based on River: Towns is built on River, a Layer 2 scaling solution specifically designed for decentralized social applications. River provides a three-layer architecture: an EVM-compatible L2 chain, a decentralized off-chain streaming node network, and smart contracts deployed on Base. This architecture enables high-performance, low-cost, and censorship-resistant real-time communication.
- $TOWNS token launch and economic model: The $TOWNS token, deployed on Ethereum mainnet with an initial supply of 10 billion, serves multiple purposes including delegation to node operators, space address delegation, and participation in governance. The token features an initial annual inflation rate of 8%, linearly decreasing to 2% over 20 years, with rewards distributed biweekly to active node operators.
- Transition of protocol operations to the Swiss Foundation: In a significant governance milestone, Towns co-founders Ben and Pat announced the transfer of protocol operations to the Towns Foundation based in Switzerland. A new experienced leadership team will continue to host the protocol and drive its next phase of growth. This move reflects the project's commitment to decentralization and sustainability beyond the founding team.
- User and ecosystem growth: Towns has accumulated over 1.6 million users and more than 400,000 communities. In 2025, users earned over $40 million through the protocol, and the token was listed on multiple major exchanges. This growth demonstrates the protocol's ability to attract and retain a vibrant ecosystem.
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Patrick Fives (Co-Founder & CTO): Previously founded Forge (2019-2025), served as EIR at Benchmark, Engineering at Houseparty (2017-2018), Principal Android Engineer at Motiv, Android Engineer at Cluster Labs, Co-Founder at BF Marketing and WakeRatings.com, SEO Analyst Intern at Red Ventures, and Web Developer at Beacham Consulting. B.S. in Computer Science from Wake Forest University.
Ben Rubin (Co-Founder & CEO): Previously founded Houseparty (acquired by Epic Games in 2019), served as Scout at Sequoia Capital (2017-2024), EIR at Benchmark, and studied Architecture at Technion. Also co-founded Towns Labs and Here Not There Labs.