Friend.tech's Controversial Decision

To avoid future changes, the crypto platform Friend.tech has resigned from control over its smart contracts. Launched in 2023, Friend.tech is a Social Finance (SocialFi) platform that merges social media and Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

The platform is built on Ethereum's Layer-2 Base and allows users to profit from content creation. Creators can monetize their content using tradeable tokenized shares, known as 'Keys,' to access exclusive publications and private chats.

The Announcement

On September 7, Friend.tech's team sent the admin and ownership of its smart contracts to Ethereum's null address. This move was intended to prevent future changes to their fees or functionality.

According to the post, this change won't affect the 'separate web client operated at friend.tech, which will continue.' Additionally, fees from the smart contracts or the platform are not going to the developer team's multisig.

Community Backlash

Following the news, the project's community expressed their discontent. One community member called the team's recent actions 'The best display of WORST LEADERSHIP ever in crypto history.'

Others questioned whether the decision was 'the final nails in the coffin or ribbons on a present?' Investor's doubt was founded in May when the project's airdrop presented several issues. Distrust was cemented when the platform announced it would build its blockchain, 'Friendchain,' in June. After the backlash, Friend.tech abandoned the project, dragging its token's price down by over 35% in July.

'The best display of WORST LEADERSHIP ever in crypto history.' - Community Member

Market Impact

Since the news dropped, FRIEND's price has decreased by 42%. Over the weekend, the cryptocurrency plummeted from the $0.102 mark to the $0.0593 level.

On Monday morning, the crash drove the token's price to its all-time low (ATL) of $0.0574, nearly a 98% drop from its all-time high (ATH) of $3.26. As the token hit its lowest price, a crypto investor saw its investment nosedive over 95%. Blockchain research platform Spotonchain revealed that a whale had lost over $15 million on its FRIEND holdings.

Investor Losses

Taiwanese personality Machi Big Brother was a 'hard-core bull' on the platform's token. The whale was at nearly $16 million in realized and unrealized losses after spending around $18 million worth of ETH to acquire FRIEND tokens.

Machi bought 15.99 million FRIEND tokens between May 9 and August 13 at an average price of $1.125. During this period, the trader also accumulated FRIEND by providing liquidity on BunnySwap. As the token's value declined over the months, the investor sold around 5.26 million tokens to cut a loss.

At the time, the sale was worth $2.27 million at an average token price of $0.431, representing a 61.7% realized loss. Machi's remaining 11.1 million FRIEND tokens had a 94.5% unrealized loss, worth $11.4 million. At the time of the report, the whale's holdings were worth around $689,000.

Token Recovery

According to Coingecko data, the cryptocurrency has recovered 32% from its ATL, briefly hitting the $0.09 mark earlier today. As of this writing, FRIEND is trading at $0.0761, a 2.1% surge in the last 24 hours.