What is Friend.tech?

What is Friend.tech?

Friend.tech is a decentralized social media platform built on Coinbase's Layer 2 network, Base. It enables users to purchase "Keys" for access to exclusive content and private chat rooms hosted by creators. The project launched in August, 2023 and it was an instant hit among crypto natives.

Using blockchain to create tokenized social attention, Friend.tech allows the value of each user’s keys to fluctuate with demand, making it the most popular SocialFi project back in 2023. People could trade shares of their favorite crypto influencer or even grow themselves into becoming one. In Friend.tech V2, "Clubs" were introduced as another social feature.

The platform's early success brought in millions in revenue, a growing user base, and enormous demand for a token launch. However, following the FRIEND airdrop in 2024 and multiple unsuccessful updates, Friend.tech lost much of its initial traction, almost vanishing completely.

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How Does Friend.tech work?

Friend.tech operates by allowing users to buy keys (shares) in other users. Key prices increase as demand grows, thanks to a unique bonding curve mechanism. The project charges 5% fees on transactions plus 5% that goes to the key issuer.

For new Friend.tech users, the setup involves a few simple steps:

1. Set Up a Web 3 Wallet: Create a wallet with MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet and add Base to the supported networks.
2. Transfer ETH to Base: Use a Base bridge to move ETH to your Base wallet or send ETH directly to your Base address from a centralized exchange.
3. Join the App: Visit Friend.tech, sign in with Google or Apple, and connect your ETH-funded wallet. Passing the invitation step is easy, as you can just input any user of the platform.
4. Finalize Account Setup: Deposit ETH to your Friend.tech account from your connected wallet, enabling key purchases.
5. Explore the Ecosystem: Engage by buying and trading Keys, joining Clubs for exclusive community interactions, and utilizing the FRIEND token within the protocol.

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Friend.tech Revenue and Growth

Launched in August 2023, Friend.tech had a stellar rise, generating over $18 million in revenue within two months. With its unique social trading model, the platform drew widespread interest, attracting 1,043,701 users by the end of October 2023.

At its peak, it became one of the most discussed crypto protocols online, with speculation around a potential token launch. Few foresaw that this would later contribute to Friend.tech's decline later on. According to DefiLlama, the protocol had a peak TVL of $52.04 million of which only $3.28 million remains now with barely 250 average transactions a day.

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Friend.tech $FRIEND Token

In May 2024, Friend.tech introduced its native token, FRIEND, alongside the release of Version 2 of the platform. The total token supply of $FRIEND was approximately 94.75 million, allocated primarily as follows:

• Airdrop to Users: 88% (around 83.38 million FRIEND tokens)
• Liquidity Provision and Incentives: 12% (about 11.37 million FRIEND tokens)

Upon market launch, FRIEND entered at $0.10 and reached an all-time high of $3.26 on May 3, 2024. As of November 1, 2024, the token's value has since decreased to roughly $0.08748.

In terms of market capitalization, that translates to $274 million at its peak to $8.01 million currently, ranking it below the top 1600 cryptocurrencies.

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Friend.tech Airdrop

The FRIEND airdrop was distributed to users, based on their engagement and activity levels, with high-volume participants receiving over 500,000 FRIEND tokens. That would correlate to about $1.5 million per whale if it sold within the first week of the airdrop.

Since the airdrop accounted for 88% of the FRIEND total supply, that correlated to 82,135,012 total claimed token with 73,792,876 fully obtained. The airdrop was distributed to 194,165 users.

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Friend.tech Downfall

Soon after reaching its peak in November 2023, the protocol began to stagnate in user growth, both in terms of unique sellers and buyers. Despite the euphoria in May 2024 with the release of Version 2, the introduction of Clubs, and a massive FRIEND airdrop, activity levels never rebounded.

In a final attempt to revive interest, Friend.tech announced "Friendchain" in June 2024, intending to improve scalability and reduce transaction costs. However, the migration from Base faced immediate criticism, and abandoning the plan failed to improve the situation.

The final blow came in September, when the Friend.tech team transferred control of their smart contracts to Ethereum’s null address, effectively renouncing control. This “burning” of the contract meant that no further modifications could be made, marking the end of Friend.tech’s active development and leaving the platform stagnant.

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Is Friend.tech Safe?

Friend.tech faced several security challenges, including multiple SIM-swap attacks that allowed unauthorized access to user accounts, resulting in substantial financial losses. The platform acknowledged the attacks and introduced two-factor authentication (2FA) as a preventive measure but did not deny the initial exploit.

Additionally, a data leak exposed details of over 100,000 users, raising further privacy concerns. Notably, Friend.tech was audited by CertiK and Cyberscope, both of which gave the protocol a low-risk status.

Despite these issues, Friend.tech gained early credibility from major venture capital support, including undisclosed funding from Paradigm in early 2023. Sadly, the later burning of the platform’s contract in September 2024 has left existing vulnerabilities unaddressed and made future updates impossible.

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Who Created Friend.tech?

Friend.tech was developed by two pseudonymous individuals known as Racer (0xRacerALT) and Shrimp (Shrimppepe). Their real identities have not been publicly disclosed, and they have not been doxxed. Prior to Friend.tech, Racer was involved in projects like TweetDAO and Stealcam, which explored innovative social media interactions in crypto.

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Bottom Line

Friend.tech V1 once captivated the crypto world, surpassing even Bitcoin’s daily fee revenue at its peak and outshining competitors like Farcaster and Fantasy.top.

The launch of FRIEND token and V2 stirred enormous hype, culminating in a community-focused airdrop few protocols manage to pull off. Yet, this generosity marked the start of its collapse, as token oversupply triggered a sharp decline in value.

With market cap down 98% and TVL down 94%, Friend.tech’s September 2024 contract burn sealed its fate. Once SocialFi’s brightest star, Friend.tech now serves as a cautionary tale.