Generating only $21 in revenue in 30 days, FriendTech relinquishes control of contracts Technology 1 day ago

On Sept. 8, the team behind the decentralized social media protocol Friend.Tech transferred control of its smart contract to Ethereum’s null address, effectively relinquishing control of the project one year after its successful launch.In a social media post on X, the team stated:“Admin and ownership parameters have been set to 0x000…000 to prevent any changes to their fees or functionality in the future.”Despite this, the web client at Friend.Tech will continue to operate as usual. The team also clarified, “No fees from either the smart contracts or Friend.Tech currently go to the dev team multisig.”Following the announcement, the platform’s native token FRIEND plummeted by over 47% in 24 hours, reaching an all-time low of $0.06026, according to CryptoSlate data at press time.While the team has not provided a clear reason for this move, CryptoSlate’s analysis of on-chain data highlights the platform’s steep decline in popularity.Friend.Tech, launched in August last year on Coinbase’s Layer 2 network Base, initially gained rapid traction in the crypto community.By September 2023, the protocol’s daily earnings surpassed Ethereum’s, and its top keys fetched high prices. Around the period, the platform also raised an undisclosed seed round from crypto VC firm Paradigm.However, the hype faded as the platform struggled to maintain momentum. It faced several challenges, including sim swap attacks and mismanaged plans to exit the Base blockchain.These issues contributed to a sharp decline in user engagement. Dune Analytics data shows the platform’s transaction volume dropped by 99%, and by September, it was failing to attract new users.This decline inadvertently severely impacted revenue, which fell to just $21 over the last 30 days, according to DeFillama data. During the same period, the platform generated less than $10,000 in fees.Friend.Tech’s downfall drew widespread criticism from the crypto community, particularly regarding the team’s handling of the project.Calvin Chu, a core builder at Impossible Finance, voiced his disappointment, saying, “Friend.Tech had become more of a lab experiment than a genuine social finance project.” He further expressed frustration over being “rugged” by the decision to shut down future upgradeability, which, in his view, ended any hope for further development.Similarly, Mikko Ohtamaa, the CEO of Trading Strategy, added that Friend.Tech was a prime example of monetizing hype and quickly cashing out.Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin’s potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.Also known as “Akiba,” Liam is a reporter, editor and podcast producer at CryptoSlate. He believes that decentralized technology has the potential to make widespread positive change. Follow us on X for your essential dose of daily crypto news and deep dives.CryptoSlate’s latest market report dives deep into Bitcoin’s historical monthly and quarterly returns, focusing on the period between 2013 and 2024 to assess the likelihood of a similar pattern unfolding in 2024.Disclaimer: Our writers’ opinions are solely their own and do not reflect the opinion of CryptoSlate. None of the information you read on CryptoSlate should be taken as investment advice, nor does CryptoSlate endorse any project that may be mentioned or linked to in this article. Buying and trading cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk activity. Please do your own due diligence before taking any action related to content within this article. Finally, CryptoSlate takes no responsibility should you lose money trading cryptocurrencies.