Friend.tech Creators Abandon Ethereum Social Platform Four Months After Token Launch

The creators of the cryptocurrency-fueled social network Friend.tech have relinquished control over the platform’s smart contracts, signaling an end to development just four months after its token launch. The invite-only application, built on the Ethereum layer-2 network Base, allowed users to buy and sell “keys” attached to Twitter (aka X) accounts, granting access to private group chats within the app.

Key Takeaways

• Friend.tech creators have relinquished control over the platform’s smart contracts.

• The platform generated $22 million in fees since its launch in August last year.

• User activity and the value of the FRIEND token have dramatically declined.

• The platform will continue to function as-is, but future development is uncertain.

Platform Overview

Friend.tech described itself as a “marketplace for your friends,” where users could buy and sell keys linked to Twitter accounts. These keys allowed access to private group chats within the app. The platform charged a 10% fee on transactions, split evenly between Friend.tech and the owner of the account the key was based on.

Financials and User Activity

Since its launch, Friend.tech’s protocol generated $22 million in fees. However, the total amount of money earned is somewhat unclear, with estimates suggesting it could be as high as $63 million. The platform saw significant participation from popular crypto influencers and had 905,000 different accounts creating keys.

Despite early success, user activity has dramatically declined. The network registered a peak of 500,000 daily transactions last September, but this figure had fallen below 200 transactions as of the latest update. The value of the FRIEND token has also plummeted, falling 97% from its peak price above $3 to $0.07.

Shift in Control

In a recent post on Twitter, the project announced that “admin and ownership parameters” had been set to an address commonly used to burn tokens, preventing any changes to the platform’s fees or functionality. This move effectively means that Friend.tech’s makers are no longer benefiting from user activity and cannot make any changes to the platform.

Future Prospects

While the announcement appears to signal an end to future development, the project stated that the Web3 social network would “continue to function as-is.” The platform saw a slight bump in activity following the announcement, with 18 users purchasing keys and 192 looking to offload them.

Background and Early Success

Before launching Friend.tech, the project’s pseudonymous co-founders created Stealcam, a decentralized media distribution platform. Friend.tech’s early success led to the establishment of SocialFi as an umbrella term for similar crypto projects. The platform raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding in a round led by venture capital firm Paradigm.

Conclusion

The future of Friend.tech remains uncertain as its creators have stepped back from development. While the platform will continue to operate, the dramatic decline in user activity and token value raises questions about its long-term viability.

Sources

• Friend.tech Creators Bail on Ethereum Social Platform Four Months After Token Launch - Decrypt, Decrypt.

• Friend.tech Creators Bail on Ethereum Social Platform Four Months After Token Launch - Decrypt, Decrypt.