Friend.tech Token Plummets Over 20% Amid Co-Founder’s Base Departure Hint

The native token of Web3 social network Friend.tech, known as FRIEND, has experienced a significant drop in value.

The decline came after one of the protocol’s co-founders, who goes by the pseudonym Racer, expressed intentions to part ways with Base, the Ethereum Layer-2 network developed by Coinbase that hosts the project.

“System design bounty: If you can figure out a way to migrate friendtech off of Base without causing major issues for users, and it works well enough that we decide to use it, we will pay you $200K,” Racer said in a post on X.

Friend.tech Relationship With Base Has Been Tumultuous

According to Racer, the relationship between the Friend.tech team and Base has been tumultuous.

In another post, Racer mentioned that Farcaster investors had misconstrued their project upon its launch, resulting in a strained relationship with the Base community.

The team felt ostracized and disconnected from certain parts of the Base and Ethereum ecosystems.

Jesse Pollak, the head of Base at Coinbase, responded to the situation with a message of understanding.

In a post, Pollak acknowledged that the Friend.tech team had experienced feelings of isolation and disconnection and expressed his support for whatever path they choose.

“I’ll be sad if the team decides to leave Base, but I also respect and will support whatever path – that’s the beauty of the decentralized, onchain, economy,” Pollak wrote.

my quick thoughts:

– I love @0xRacerAlt and @friendtech
– they've repeatedly innovated at the edge of what's possible on @base and showed the way for the industry
– their product was incorrectly culturally labeled early on as "negatively speculative" by certain parts of the… https://t.co/m7h1cvLDJQ

— Jesse Pollak (jesse.xyz) 🛡️ (@jessepollak) May 26, 2024

Following Racer’s statements, the value of the Friend.tech token plummeted by approximately 20%.

Friend.tech’s Popularity Sees Uptick After Decline

Friend.tech, launched on August 10, 2023, has become one of the top decentralized applications (dApps) on the Base layer, attracting over 200,000 users and facilitating a trading volume exceeding $230 million.

The platform uniquely converts user influence into tradable tokens known as “keys,” allowing users to gain access to a creator’s attention or influence.

The model has attracted not only cryptocurrency influencers but also NBA players and esports personalities, broadening its appeal beyond the crypto space.

One significant factor contributing to Friend.tech’s popularity was the hype surrounding the Base network, a Layer 2 solution associated with Coinbase.

The involvement of Paradigm, an investment firm connected to Coinbase, further increased confidence in Friend.tech’s potential.

However, the platform has also faced privacy concerns, particularly regarding the potential for user doxxing due to the link between Twitter profiles and Ethereum addresses.

Friend.tech has addressed these concerns by clarifying that the information deemed leaked was actually from their public API, showcasing the platform’s open nature while also highlighting the importance of user caution in protecting personal information.

Nevertheless, Friend.tech has seen an uptick in popularity as of late.

According to a Dune analytics dashboard, the project raked in more than $500,000 in revenue on May 3.

This came as its revenue had recently fallen to under $20,000 over the past couple of months.