FriendTech was as soon as the most well-liked software on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum-based layer 2 blockchain. It allowed bets on the recognition of Twitter (now X) crypto influencers that FriendTech duplicated onto its platform.
It was, in essence, a BitClout (now Decentralized Social) copycat.
At its September 2023 peak in recognition — one month after Coinbase launched its Base mainnet — FriendTech generated over $1 million per day in charges.
In the present day, that very same protocol has earned lower than $60 prior to now 24 hours in accordance with information from DefiLlama.
FriendTech marketed “shares” in influencers’ profiles that it shortly renamed “keys” to keep away from regulatory points. Keys had been bets on FriendTech profiles, and most of the people purchased them in hopes of being profitable.
Only a few did.
Since October 2023, the entire worth locked (TVL) of FriendTech property has declined 91% from $52 million to $4.5 million at present.
Much more embarrassingly, charges earned by the protocol over the past month whole lower than $5,000. Its annualized payment price is down 99.9% from $180 million in fall 2023 to $60,000 at present.
The value of the undertaking’s proprietary token, FRIEND, is down 98% from its all-time excessive.
Reasonably than enable early customers to invest on the value of early FriendTech keys, the platform “bonded” them to a mathematical curve set by a quadratic algorithm that assured very early purchasers paid lower than subsequent purchasers.
For a prescribed size of time, keys might solely commerce on this up-only bonding curve.
Finally, worth controls lapsed and virtually all keys fell in worth. In 2023, quite a few influencers promoted the alternative for FriendTech keyholders to learn financially.
Once more, few of them ever did.
