The latest blockchain-based social media app, Friend.tech, has slumped sharply after a meteoric rise in popularity and support from big names inside and outside of cryptocurrency.
The app, which launched in private beta earlier this month, collected $1.68 million in fees last week (a measure of how many people use the app), making it briefly among the top three most expensive decentralized apps, just below Ethereum network. On Monday, however, the app fell out of the top 10 charging apps, collecting just $161,000 in 24 hours, According to DeFiLlama. The number of transactions on the network also fell on Monday, falling to just over 25,000 from a peak of 500,000 a week earlier. according to the dunes.
Friend.tech launched on Coinbase’s Layer 2 Base blockchain and quickly gained traction with social media influencers and others with a large following. The app allows influencers to sell “keys” associated with their X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts so their followers can message them privately.
Celebrities including YouTuber Ricky “FaZe Banks” Bengston reportedly defrauded of tens of thousands of dollars Revenue share from Friend.tech, every time a key changes hands, 5% goes to the creator and 5% goes to the platform.The app is thanks in part to a new feature that allows influencers to send photos to their Friend.tech followers via private messages Attracted a large number of OnlyFans creatorsBuying one of the several keys on Friend.tech costs them several times more than subscribing to their content through OnlyFans.
The app has previously faced criticism for its lack of a privacy policy and what some say is an unsustainable business model. Similar to its predecessor BitClout, Friend.tech’s performance after an initial wave of excitement has been flat.
Coinbase payments risk manager Lisandro Rodriguez said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) over the weekend that Friend.tech failed because after the initial hype from influencers promoting its keys, all that was left was a platform with a lot of bots and poor user experience.
The app itself is very clunky and not accessible to everyone. You can only enter the platform with an invitation code, which can provide you with “airdrop” points. This in turn rewarded people with substantial shillings. This is certainly a scaling strategy, but a poor one in my opinion.
— Lisandro (@TheRealLisandro) August 27, 2023
Svlook
