Friend.tech, a platform built on Ethereum layer 2 Base, made headlines on Sunday by transferring the powers of its token, FRIEND, to an empty Ethereum (ETH) address. Market observers stated that the empty address is a burn address, and tokens, once sent in, cannot be reused or revived.
Moving the Power
According to an official announcement on X, the platform stated that the admin and ownership parameters have been set to an address to prevent any future changes to its fees or functionality. However, the platform assured its users that the separate web client it operates will maintain its operations. Further, the platform asserted that its development team will no longer receive fees from smart contracts or the token end.
New Blockchain – Friendchain
Interestingly, this drastic move of transferring power came three months after the platform announced that it was building a blockchain of its own. Named ‘Friendchain,’ the blockchain will be developed in collaboration with Conduit, a crypto-native infrastructure platform. Notably, the platform’s native token, $FRIEND, will empower the upcoming blockchain.
However, the announcement was met with mixed reviews, which negatively impacted the token. Moreover, the platform stated in July that it would be using the Base L2 network for the $FRIEND token, which created more uncertainty around the token.
Friend.tech Faces Uphill Battle as Metrics Witness Sharp DeclineInception of Friend.tech
Launched last August, the friend.tech gained traction by allowing its users to buy and sell their shares on their social media handles. Utilizing this option, the platform attracted over 1 lakh users and gained over $2 billion in a short while from its debut. However, the initial excitement reduced, and the platform struggled to satisfy its users. Furthermore, users faced difficulty claiming tokens during an airdrop in May.
At the time of writing, the platform experienced a 26% loss and is priced at $0.0591. As reported by Coingecko, the total value locked (TVL) on the platform has also plummeted to $3,461,583.
