Friend.tech TVL tops $20M weeks after being declared ‘dead’

Decentralized social media platform friend.tech has seen a sudden surge in total value locked (TVL), doubling to reach more than $20 million within the last four days.

Only two weeks ago, critics declared the platform “dead” after activity on the app looked to be fizzling out.

Total value locked and fees on Friend.tech since Aug. 10. Source: DeFiLlama

However, activity on Friend.tech has witnessed a significant resurgence over the last few days, with the app witnessing $12.3 million in daily trading volume — the third-highest ever — on Sept. 9, according to data from Dune Analytics.

Trading volume and number of traders on Friend.tech since inception. Source: Dune Analytics

As the pseudonymous account TylerDidIt pointed out, the Sept. 9 trading volume on Friend.tech eclipsed that of OpenSea, outperforming the NFT platform by more than $3 million on the day.

FriendTech trading volume was $12.3M yesterday.

Total NFT trading volume on ETH was just $9.15M. pic.twitter.com/CbqVYqP5PQ

— TylerD ‍♂️ (@Tyler_Did_It) September 10, 2023

While there’s no apparent reason why the platform saw such a surge, many crypto industry heavyweights shared some reasoning for its resurrection.

Prominent trader Hsaka jested that TVL had doubled since users realized that Friend.tech chats were “just yield farms rebranded” — a comment that refers to the potential gain from the 5% fee earned when users buy or sell someone’s “key.”

Another potential reason behind the resurgence of activity on Friend.tech may have something to do with the growing number of non-crypto figures that have joined the platform in recent weeks, including a number of prominent YouTubers and OnlyFans creators.

PancakesBrah, the pseudonymous account in charge of growth and business development at Friend.tech said this hammers home the point that the platform “isn’t an app for just crypto bros.”

I love to see stuff like this bro, @sleepdiplomat just joined, which hammers home the point some people don’t get, this isn’t an app for just crypto bros, every vertical can find value on friend tech, everyone bro pic.twitter.com/c7EpuGQtDt

— Pancakesbrah (actually Based) (@Pancakesbrah) September 10, 2023

Additionally, the app has shipped a number of updates that have offered improvements to user experience and functionality.

Initially plagued by bugs and various technical errors, the app has added a series of new features including the ability to upload photos, credit-card-enabled purchase options and new sections to view different types of activity.

Friend.tech launched on Coinbase’s layer-2 Base on Aug. 11, and generated a staggering $5.9 million in fees by its 10th day.

Shortly afterwards however, user activity stalled — daily fees plummeted 87% and transaction volume fell 90% over the course of the next week, causing some to prematurely declare the platform “dead.”

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