Friends no more? The uncertain future of Friend.tech
Friend.tech, a decentralized social network, has experienced a significant decline in several key metrics, including daily trading volume, new users, daily transactions, and inflows. This decline has led critics to declare the platform “dead,” raising questions about its sustainability in the rapidly evolving crypto landscape.
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Sharp decline in key metrics
According to Dune Analytics, Friend.tech’s daily trading volume plummeted by over 95% from its peak on August 21, with new daily users declining from 20,359 to just 2,392 on August 27.
Furthermore, daily transactions witnessed an 82% plunge from around 135,640 to just over 23,280 during the same period. Inflows also experienced a sharp 90.5% drop from $1.68 million to approximately $1.6 million.
Early influencers like Cobie, Hsaka Trades, and other crypto Twitter accounts initially brought attention to Friend.tech, but the excitement seems to have waned. This decline in activity, inflows, and volume has been disheartening for the crypto community, as it followed a buzz-filled beta version launch on Coinbase’s layer-2 Base on August 11.
Decline in transactions and fees
Moreover, the platform’s fees have also taken a hit. Data from DefiLlama indicates that daily fees, which peaked at $1.7 million on August 21, dropped by over 87% to around $215,000 on August 26. Transactions also declined by over 90% from nearly 525,000 to just over 51,000 on August 27, as per Dune Analytics data compiled by Crypto Koryo.
Renowned crypto figures, such as Michael Gu, founder of Boxmining, observed that both buyers and sellers on Friend.tech are dwindling toward zero, signaling a worrying trend.
Lisandro Rodriguez, who manages payment risks at Coinbase, expressed his opinion that the platform has essentially collapsed due to a combination of avarice and subpar implementation.
This observation was echoed by Beaniemaxi, a pseudonymous NFT trader and crypto analyst, who straightforwardly declared “RIP Friendtech” in a tweet, highlighting the platform’s decline in transactions.
The uncertain future of Friend.tech
Initially ranked among the top 5 fee generators with a peak daily revenue on August 21, Friend.tech’s revenue has now shrunk to a mere $80,558, according to DefiLlama data. This decline questions the performance of Base, especially as it lags behind rivals Arbitrum and Optimism in terms of daily transactions, according to l2beat.
Although Friend.tech provided a novel way for influential profiles to monetize their audiences by issuing shares of their social media accounts, the lack of a privacy policy and numerous bugs have certainly contributed to its decline.
