Friend.Tech, the once promising Web3 social network that captivated the cryptocurrency community last year, has effectively shut down after its development team relinquished control over its smart contracts.
This move has left the platform in limbo with little chance of revival, as the cancellation of contractual ownership prevents any new team from taking over and adding new features.
The decision to relinquish control follows a period of stagnant growth for Friend.Tech, which initially saw a surge in activity after its launch. The data reveals that the Friend.Tech team has raised $52.4 million through the protocol and transferred a total of 19,477 ETH to Coinbase.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Huang, one of the leading figures in the crypto world, reportedly lost at least $15 million by purchasing the platform’s native altcoin FRIEND. Huang spent 4,975 ETH (approximately $15.6 million) to purchase 8.6 million FRIENDs at an average price of $1.81 between May 3 and June 8, and continued to purchase until his FRIEND holdings reached 11 million.
Friend.Tech launched on the Coinbase-backed Layer 2 network Base in August 2023 and quickly became a sensation. By September 15, 2023, the platform’s daily earnings had surpassed Ethereum’s, and the top key, which provided access to the stream of Friend.Tech’s pseudonymous co-founder Racer, was sold for 8.9 ETH, or about $14,500. The protocol also received investment from crypto venture capital firm Paradigm, but the amount raised in the seed round was not disclosed.
*This is not investment advice.
