Friendsies’ team has denied claims that they are “abandoning” the NFT project in the wake of “rug pull” accusations. Friendsies is in hot water after announcing a “pause” and deleting its Twitter account, sparking speculation that the project is a sham. The initial drop of the NFTs in 2022 raised approx. $5 million.

According to the Friendsies team, “market volatility and challenges” complicated the project’s progress, so they decided to put it on hold while the space matured. They went on to say that the team would be “waiting and watching for the right time and opportunities” to reappear and fulfil their full vision, and thanked everyone who believed in and supported the project from the start.

Around 40 minutes later, after pausing operations, their Twitter account was also deleted. Meanwhile, Friendswithyou, the LA-based art duo who developed the NFT project, made their Twitter account private, sparking rumours that the founders had “rugged” for $5 million.

This has raised eyebrows in the crypto world, and Twitter users have also pointed fingers at Farokh, host of the Web3 show Rug Radio, and generative artist Jen Stark, both of whom hyped the collection on Twitter in its early days.

The project’s Twitter account has since been restored, with the founders emphatically denying “abandoning” the project. However, the account of the founders remains private.

“It is clear that we have upset many of you with the nature of our announcement, and perhaps we did not handle that in the best way possible,” they said, “To be very clear, we are not abandoning fRiENDSiES.” the team added.

In April 2022, The Friendsies collection was released by Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III via a Dutch auction which commenced at a price of 3.33 ETH ($5,510). The collection consists of 10,000 NFTs built on Ethereum.

The collection offers each owner a tailored “digital companion” which can be utilized in the metaverse, real-life activities, art installations, and ultimately, a play-to-earn game that resembles “Tomogatchi.”