The Friend.tech developers decided to give up control over the platform’s smart contracts, which effectively closed the further development of the project. In this article we will look at the story of the fall of Friend.tech.
The Rise and Fall of Friend.tech
Friend.tech is an application that allows you to create exclusive chat rooms with influencers, access to which is controlled through paid “keys”.
The project was launched last August on Base and has skyrocketed in popularity. Many have used the protocol for short-term trading and potential airdrops.
By September 2023, the protocol's revenues exceeded those of Ethereum. As a result of this start, the platform attracted investments from the Tier-1 fund Paradigm (investment amount is unknown).
Friend.tech developers earned more than $20 million from transactions
But soon after October, activity on the platform began to decline, and the influx of new users slowed down significantly.
The launch of the v2 version of the protocol in May and the associated airdrop were able to attract a number of users, but this did not help maintain activity.
One of the main blows to the platform was the statement by the co-founder of Racer about his intention to move the project from Base.
Although plans were initially considered to launch their own network called FriendChain, the developers ultimately decided to stay on Base.
Developers have given up control over smart contracts
The developers called a function in the platform's smart contracts, which transferred control over them to the Ethereum address zero. This action made further changes or updates to the protocol impossible.
In their official announcement on X, the development team confirmed that they no longer receive income from their work smart contracts or platform website.
Although Friend.tech is still operational, the lack of developer control prevents the possibility of new features or significant changes.
The token fell by 24% after the news
Conclusion
The largest holder, Machi Big Brother, who spent ~5.2 thousand ETH (~$16.7 million) to purchase 11.1 million FRIEND, lost ~$16 million. His tokens are now worth ~$750 thousand. So far he has nothing with his tokens makes and makes no statements regarding this matter.
Address - https://debank.com/profile/0xf0ea13334d6f74044ec7332de1c6ec194179df3
At the moment, the protocol has 100-200 transactions per day (at its peak in October there were 500k).
Friend.tech will most likely no longer be able to regain its hype due to the inability to make changes. The team will probably decide to focus on creating a new project, leaving Friend.tech in the past; connections, experience and finances will allow them to hold on for a long time.
It is important to note again that even with the support of top funds, the success of projects depends on many other factors, such as marketing, constant updates and ecosystem development.
