Friendship is often touted as one of life's most invaluable treasures - a bond that transcends material wealth. Interestingly, in the era of crypto and blockchain, this relationship is being commodified and tokenised through the raging phenomenon called Friend.Tech. 


How much is a true friendship actually worth to you? And would you be willing to sell that friendship to the highest bidder? These are the burning questions put to the test by this controversial new platform that has taken the crypto world by storm. 


So what exactly is Friend.Tech? How does this decentralised social app operate? And most importantly, in tokenising human connection itself, is it proving to be a trusted comrade or an enemy undermining the true essence of friendship? Let's peel back the layers on this viral craze.


What Is Friend.Tech?


The concept of a decentralised social app (or Social DApp) is not new, but Friend.Tech has emerged as the most successful Web3 "anti-Facebook" to date. Built on the Base network, Friend.Tech boasts over 200,000 users and an astonishing $309 million in trading volume. Its popularity helped Base surpass Ethereum, Arbitrum and Optimism in transactions per second after launch. 


Remarkably, Friend.Tech is now one of crypto's most profitable protocols, outperforming giants like Uniswap, MakerDAO and even Bitcoin itself - all within just months of its August 10th release.


Origin Of Friend.Tech


Interestingly, Friend.Tech started under a different name by the two-person team of Racer and Shrimp. Racer's first decentralised social project was TweetDAO, where egg NFTs granted access to a shared Twitter account before being shut down. 


Then came Stealcam, rebranded as Friend.Tech in May, where users could mint images as NFTs invisible until purchased - which could also disappear if someone else bought them from you.  


How Does Friend.Tech Work?


The premise is straightforward: Friend.Tech lets you buy and sell "keys" representing shares of your friends or any user. More keys make future keys exponentially pricier. Every transaction incurs a 10 per cent fee - half goes to the buyer/seller, and half to the platform. Key owners gain access to private chatrooms and exclusive content from that "friend."


The Hype Behind Friend.Tech


So why the hype? Likely the prospect of a future airdrop, as hinted by Friend.Tech's "airdrop" tab stating "Points airdropped every Friday will have future uses." Popular Crypto Twitter personalities like Hsaka, Cobie and Pranksy were among the early, alongside celebrities like Grayson Allen and FaZe Banks whose keys were snatched by fans. 


Even VCs like Paradigm hopped aboard. The pull of these chats is that their owners could offer trading insights, token picks or access to seed-funding deals – which raises the value of the shares.


To start, you'll need an invite code from friends or influencers. Then create an account connected to X (formerly Twitter), and deposit at least 0.01 ETH from Ethereum or Base into the auto-created wallet. Using a burner wallet is advisable for privacy. Once set up, start buying and trading friend keys!


Racking up airdrop points requires actively buying, selling and sharing invite codes. However, many question Friend.Tech's staying power given the overtly teased airdrop and questionable sustainability with top keys ranging from 0.1 to over 7 ETH. Is activity merely propped up by airdrop-hungry whales? The 5 per cent revenue share for traded users also incentivises public figures to join for "easy money" without providing real value.


While volatile, Friend.Tech was earning over $1 million per day in fees at its August peak with over 100,000 users, extremely high for a crypto app. Some influencer keys like @Cobie and @HsakaTrades spiked to nearly $5,000. Activity fell off as the shine faded but saw a $7 million influx in early April ahead of the Version 2 launch expanding beyond Twitter in May 2024. Weekly fees recently topped $1.3 million for the first time since November.


Developers also teased a FRIEND token, with expectations it could airdrop based on accrued usage points. However, privacy concerns linger as one researcher easily doxxed users by linking Twitter profiles to wallet addresses generated at sign-up. The wisdom of entrusting Friend.Tech with private keys is also questionable.


Ultimately, Friend.Tech exemplifies how anything can be tokenised in crypto, innovatively monetising attention and influence akin to OnlyFans or Patreon. But is the price of these blockchain-traded friendships one you're willing to pay?


(The author is the Vice President of WazirX)


Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP Network Pvt. Ltd. Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is subject to market risks. Readers are advised to seek expert advice and read offer document(s) along with related important literature on the subject carefully before making any kind of investment whatsoever. Cryptocurrency market predictions are speculative and any investment made shall be at the sole cost and risk of the readers.