Friend.tech, the once-popular crypto social network built on Coinbase's Base network, has announced its closure.
Friend.tech, the once-popular crypto social network built on Coinbase's Base network, has announced its closure. The shutdown has left investors reeling, while the project's creators are set to walk away with a substantial sum of approximately $44 million.
On Monday, the project's team announced the transfer of admin and ownership rights for the protocol's code to a null address. This move effectively renders the protocol immutable, preventing any future changes or fee collection by the original creators. The FRIEND token experienced a staggering 98% decline since its May launch, and is currently valued at $1.34 million.
Friend.tech's innovative concept allowed users to invest in influential individuals by purchasing "keys" - tokens granting access to exclusive chat rooms. The project's popularity initially soared, at one point accounting for more than half of all activity on the Base network. However, recent months saw a sharp decline in user activity.
Since its inception just over a year ago, friend.tech generated nearly $90 million in fees, according to data from 21.co. Half of these fees were allocated to the project's development team, highlighting the lucrative nature of the venture for its creators.
The project's demise comes despite attempts to revitalize it. A new version of the app and a token airdrop in May failed to reignite interest. User activity plummeted, with daily new users dropping to single digits and daily generated fees falling from a peak of $2 million to less than $100. This sudden closure has dealt a blow to investors, including venture firms Paradigm and Notation Capital, who had backed friend.tech's seed round.
This article contains links to third-party websites or other content for information purposes only (“Third-Party Sites”). The Third-Party Sites are not under the control of CoinMarketCap, and CoinMarketCap is not responsible for the content of any Third-Party Site, including without limitation any link contained in a Third-Party Site, or any changes or updates to a Third-Party Site. CoinMarketCap is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement, approval or recommendation by CoinMarketCap of the site or any association with its operators.
This article is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. It is important to do your own research and analysis before making any material decisions related to any of the products or services described. This article is not intended as, and shall not be construed as, financial advice.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s [company’s] own and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinMarketCap.
