Towns hands protocol operations to Swiss-based foundation

ChainCatcher said Towns co-founders Ben and Pat announced that the protocol they built with Brian over five years has completed its operational handoff to the Towns Foundation, which is based in Switzerland. The new leadership team will continue to steward the protocol and drive the next phase of growth, with team members set to appear through official channels in stages. Towns said the protocol will remain a decentralized communications network, supporting onchain community ownership, end-to-end encrypted messaging, programmable identity and native value transfer. It also supports real-time messaging, payments, governance and $TOWNS network incentives. According to the project, Towns has more than 1.6 million users and over 400,000 communities. Users earned more than $40 million through the protocol in 2025, and the protocol has also listed on several major exchanges. The team said building a sustainable company is different from building a protocol. In changing market conditions, they chose to hand the protocol to a suitable team for continuity rather than shut it down. Pat and Ben said they will move on to new ventures, while continuing to support the transition on a part-time basis. They thanked the team, investors, node operators, exchange partners, developers, $TOWNS holders and community members, and said they hope the foundation will keep advancing Towns at the intersection of decentralized communications and AI.