Friend.tech, a decentralized social media platform built on the Base blockchain, has sparked controversy by announcing punitive measures against users who switch to forked or copycat versions of the app.
The official Friend.tech X account tweeted last week that users migrating to imitation platforms would forfeit any reward points they had accumulated. The controversial tweet has since been deleted.
TL;DR:
- Friend.tech, a decentralized social media platform on Base blockchain, penalizes users opting for forked or copycat versions.
- Disqualified users lose “reward points,” amassed during beta testing, triggering speculations about their purpose.
- Financial challenges coincide with plummeting revenues and active users, while OnlyFans influx and Paradigm investment offer hope.
Friend.tech has been airdropping reward points to beta testers weekly, with plans to distribute 100 million points over six months. However, the team has not clarified the utility of these points, simply stating they “will have a special purpose” at launch.
Speculation suggests the points may be converted into governance tokens when Friend.tech officially launches. Others believe there could be financial benefits for users holding large amounts of points.
The announcement comes as Friend.tech faces financial difficulties. According to DeFiLlama, the app’s daily revenues plummeted over 85% in one week, from a peak of $840,000 on August 21 to just $112,400 on August 28.
Crypto.news reported Friend.tech’s daily transaction volume has seen a 95% decline in the same period, from an all-time high of $16.88 million to $883,000.
Active users per hour also significantly dropped from over 4,700 to less than 600. This led to Friend.tech falling out of the top ten dApps by daily revenue. This is after previously surpassing leaders like Lido and Uniswap.
New user growth has also slowed despite a recent surge. However, Friend.tech did see an influx of OnlyFans accounts, raising optimism about attracting a wider audience.
Additionally, Paradigm’s recent seed investment in Friend.tech has fueled speculation of a potential native token airdrop.
Despite financial struggles, Friend.tech remains committed to growth, as evidenced by strict measures to prevent users flocking to copycat platforms. The app’s ability to attract new audiences and deliver value to early adopters will determine if it can bounce back.
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This article is educational material.
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Vineet is a storyteller based in Mumbai. Having previously worked for various web2 organizations as a journalist, instructional designer, and event manager, he got into blockchain in early 2021. As a musician by passion, he fell in love with the digital megastructures building the future of art and creativity. He believes that web3 unlocks creativity at a higher level, and works towards onboarding music projects to the space.
