Friend.tech Releases Smart Contract Control, Friend Token Plummets

TLDR

Friend.tech Takes Control of Smart Contracts to Ethereum Null Addresses Friend Token Price Drops Over 30% Within 24 Hours After Transfer, Friend.Tech's Total Locked Value Drops From $52 Million To Under $3.5 Million Daily Fees On The Protocol Are Consistently Low. $1,000 Starting in late July, the move effectively ends the ability to add platform features or fix bugs.

Friend.Tech, a once-promising crypto social media platform, has made a dramatic change by transferring control of its smart contracts to Ethereum's empty address.

On September 8th, Friend.tech announced on social media that it had transferred the admin and ownership parameters of its smart contracts to an Ethereum null address. This address is used as a burn address to intentionally destroy tokens, and transactions sent there cannot be reversed or reversed.

The admin and owner parameters are set to 0x000…000 to prevent any changes to their payload or functionality.

This change will not affect the specific web client where it will continue to function. No charge from either…

— friend.tech (@friendtech) September 8, 2024

The platform said the transfer was made to “prevent future changes to their fees or practices.” However, this decision had immediate and significant consequences for the FRIEND token and the platform's ecosystem.

Following the announcement, the price of the FRIEND token plunged more than 30% in 24 hours, reaching an all-time low of $0.059.

This marks a dramatic drop in the stock's stock, which has seen a market capitalization of $233.6 million in the four days since its sharp decline. As of the latest data, FRIEND's market value has dropped to just $5.6 million.

The impact of this decision extends beyond the value of the token. Total Locked Value (TVL) on Freden.tech has been dropping dramatically, down from a peak of $52 million in early October 2023 to $3.5 million.

This significant drop in TVL indicates a lack of confidence among users and investors in the future prospects of the platform.

Further complicating the platform's woes, daily payouts on the protocol have consistently stayed below $1,000 since late July, a far cry from its past performance. FRIEND token trading volume has also seen a similar decline, indicating a significant drop in user engagement and activity on the platform.

The decision to transfer control of the smart contract comes three months after Friend.tech announced plans to build its own blockchain, dubbed “Friendchain.” This early announcement has created confusion in the community over the future direction of the protocol. The cancellation following the announcement post added uncertainty to the direction of the project.

Friend.tech clarified that this transfer of control will not affect the separate web client operating under the “friend.tech” domain. The team also stated that no payments from smart contracts or this domain currently go to the dev team's multi-sig wallet.

However, the implications of this move are far-reaching. By ceasing control over smart contracts, Friend.tech effectively ends its ability to implement new features, fix bugs, or make any changes to the platform's core functionality.

This limitation can severely hamper the platform's adaptation and evolution in the fast-paced world of scripting and decentralized applications.

Friend.tech, which runs on Coinbase's layer-2 solution Base, allows creators to monetize their content with tokenized shares or “keys.” When it launched, it attracted more than 100,000 users and generated more than $2 billion in paid revenue.