Friend.tech’s revenue reached an impressive $5.6 million on September 9, marking a 30-day high for the blockchain-based social networking platform. According to Token Terminal data, this upswing indicates a regained momentum after a significant slump.
Significantly, the robust revenue stems from a consistent rise in user activity over the past two weeks. This comes despite the platform experiencing a sharp decline in initial enthusiasm post-launch on the Base blockchain. On September 9, Friend.tech registered 9,000 Daily Active Users (DAUs) and 2,000 new sign-ups. Moreover, the platform recorded a trading volume of $12.3 million, making it the third-highest trading day since its debut.
Additionally, fees collected on that same day were around $1.23 million. This is the third-highest fee-generating day for any blockchain or decentralized application (dApp) in the cryptocurrency market.
According to on-chain data, the platform executed 92,000 key trades on September 9. Meanwhile, the Total Value Locked (TVL) was an impressive $19.73 million. Since its launch, Friend.tech has successfully wooed 138,169 unique buyers into its network. Regarding market dynamics, the combined market capitalization of all its keys is $57 million. Notably, the top 250 keys alone account for a market cap of $43 million.
Friend.tech initially made waves by debuting its beta version on Coinbase’s layer-2 Base on August 11. Consequently, within 10 days, the platform’s fees skyrocketed, outperforming established players like Uniswap and even the Bitcoin network. However, this success could have been more-lived. By the end of August, the platform faced an 87% drop in daily fees and a staggering 90% decrease in transaction volume.
At its core, Friend.tech’s innovation lies in its unique “keys” feature. This allows users to buy and sell keys for sending private messages, with the platform taking a 5% commission. High-profile figures like UpOnly podcast host and renowned YouTuber Faze Banks have shown interest.
Yet, critics have dissected the platform’s rapid decline. For instance, coinbase payments risk manager Lisandro Rodriguez attributes this to a blend of “greed and poor execution.” Hence, despite the recent surge, Friend.tech still has significant challenges to overcome to maintain its regained momentum.
