friend.tech Closes In On Ethereum With $1.7M In Daily Fees

For an overnight Web3 social media sensation, one needs to look no further than friend.tech.

The invite-only app on the Base Layer 2 network allows users to issue shares of themselves that can be traded on the platform.

Just ten days after launch, the social media upstart only lags Ethereum in terms of fees, with $1.7M collected over the last 24 hours, putting it ahead of DeFi stalwarts like Lido and Uniswap, according to data from DeFi Llama.

The project has processed over 30,000 ETH ($50M) in all-time volume. Activity surged after friend.tech revealed it had received seed funding from Paradigm, the prominent technology investment firm that has backed projects like Blur.

Weekly Points Airdrop

Beyond the speculative trading aspect and access to a private chatroom connecting each shareholder and issuer, the app is drawing in users with a rewards program launched on August 18, when friend.tech conducted its first Friday points airdrop to over 44,000 users.

Throughout the six-month beta period, friend.tech will airdrop a total of 100M points, recorded off-chain, with distributions occurring every Friday. These points are dispersed based on platform activity and will serve a ‘special purpose’ once the beta concludes, according to the project.

Wrapped Friends, Hidden Fees

Crypto influencer foobar created a way to add a layer of complexity atop the friend.tech deployment with “wrapped friends,” a tool to mint ERC20 tokens from friend.tech shares.

This process enables the wrapped shares to be traded on decentralized exchanges, avoiding the 10% fee charged by the platform.

However, not mentioned in foobar’s initial thread is a 5% royalty fee associated with the minting/burning process of these tokens, of which the developer retains half.