Friend.tech Community in Uproar Amid Token and V2 Launch

Social crypto platform Friend.tech has launched its new native token alongside version two (V2) of the decentralized social media. But so far, it's not going very smoothly.

FRIEND tokens were supposed to be airdropped to those captured in an April snapshot. Unfortunately, it appears that many users have struggled to claim their tokens.

“Literally all my friend.tech points are gone and I have 0 FRIEND to claim?” one Twitter user panicked. “I'm NOT selling my FRIEND airdrop (Cause I can't even claim it),” another said.

Friend.tech launched in August 2023, quickly gaining a ton of hype as well as a fair few critics. The decentralized social network, on Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Base, allows users to buy and sell “keys” that are linked to Twitter accounts.

Friend.tech did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.

Now with the launch of version two of the platform, which happened alongside the token airdrop, users are also able to join community owned spaces called Clubs that are operated by key holders.

Friend.tech Founders Say Viral Crypto App Is Surprising Them Too: 'We Want to Catch Our Breath'

Friend.tech, the new decentralized social media platform from the makers of Stealcam, has already, in its mere two weeks of existence, seen an extraordinary run. Now its developers tell Decrypt that they’re planning various fixes and features—after they catch their breath. The app, which is built on Coinbase’s Base scaling network for Ethereum and lets users buy and sell “keys” (originally, “shares”) in their favorite Twitter accounts, has generated a whopping $2.88 million in protocol fees. In...

But even those who managed to claim their tokens weren’t happy with its price tanking 46% from $2.78 to $1.49 in less than four hours, according to CoinGecko. The community believes the devs only adding $0.01 in liquidity is the primary factor in its value tanking so quickly.

Even those who were in it for the social media platform were left short changed as it appears that the new Clubs feature—a key step for gaining airdrop eligibility—isn’t working as planned. Users are reporting that the platform is not registering that they have joined a club or that newly made clubs aren’t showing on the platform.

“This shitty SocialFi app [is] still not verifying [the] join club step,” one Twitter user moaned. “I hate Friendtech.”

This has resulted in a number of community members turning against what was previously the darling of the Web3 industry—some threatening to dump their tokens the moment they’re airdropped.

“I had a lot of hope with friend.tech V2,” Twitter user mcSleuth said. “Here we are after V2, app still looks like shit, is slow as fuck and after 8 months the only update we got was 'clubs' (which people are only using to claim their airdrop and dump it).” He continued, “how does one fumble this bad.”

Edited by Stacy Elliott.