Decentralized social media protocol Friend.Tech captured consideration final yr however has noticeably light from the radar just lately.
CryptoSlate, utilizing Dune Analytics data compiled by 21.co, found a regarding pattern – the platform’s failure to entice new customers, coupled with indifference from its present consumer base. On Jan. 28, the platform garnered a mere 19 new customers engaged in no less than one transaction, a stark distinction to its peak of over 70,000 customers in September.
A separate dashboard by Cryptokoryo sheds gentle on the extent of the downturn. On the identical date, Friend.Tech recorded solely 5,544 transactions, signaling a staggering 99% lower from its peak quantity of just about 540,000.
Including to the downward spiral, DeFillama’s data reveals a constant unfavorable outflow all through this month.
Per the information, Friend.Tech skilled optimistic USD move solely on Jan. 16, with $313,000 getting into the platform. Nonetheless, greater than $5 million flowed out on different days, considerably dropping the full worth of property locked on the platform to $30 million.
Furthermore, this decline is additional mirrored within the charges generated by the community, plummeting from a every day common of practically $1 million to a mere $50,000 within the final two days.
‘Biggest lowlight’
A number of causes may very well be blamed for Friend.Tech’s falling numbers. Nonetheless, points started when a number of customers suffered sim-swap assaults due to the platform’s lax safety. CryptoSlate reported that no less than $20 million within the platform customers’ property had been weak to these assaults.
Whereas efforts to tackle safety considerations had been made promptly, this incident mirrored the platform’s challenges in protecting tempo with bug fixes and implementing important insurance policies for its quickly increasing consumer base.
The platform’s viral success additionally spawned copycats like Stars Area on different blockchain networks, together with Avalanche. DeFillama knowledge reveals these protocols are additionally struggling for adoption and use.
Teng Yan, Head of NFT Analysis at Delphi Digital, called Friend.Tech’s setback the “biggest lowlight” of the previous yr. He highlighted the challenge’s potential to make crypto mainstream however criticized its workforce’s execution.
“[Friend.tech] could have been a top consumer app bringing crypto mainstream. An on-chain reputation layer built on top of existing social graphs. Great idea but poor execution,” Yan added.
Friend. Tech’s viral development
Friend.Tech launched an revolutionary method for customers to monetize their recognition within the crypto house, permitting customers to purchase and promote “keys.” These keys enabled consumers to ship non-public messages to sellers.
Because of this, a number of high-profile figures, each from the cryptocurrency world and the broader leisure trade, used Friend.Tech to join to their group, and the platform was driving transactions on Base, the layer2 community it was constructed on.
Regardless of this preliminary success, the blockchain-based social community confronted a speedy decline, dropping 95% of its exercise inside a month of launch. But, a revival occurred in September, with every day buying and selling volumes nearing $10 million. At its peak, the protocol boasted a TVL exceeding 30,000 ETH ($50 million), outperforming giants like Uniswap and the Bitcoin community in charges generated.
