Friend.tech sees record outflows as top user jumps ship
The SocialFi app appears to be losing steam even as crypto enjoys its best week in over a year
Veja/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
As much of crypto enjoys a week in the green, Friend.tech seems to be losing steam.
The SocialFi app saw $5.81 million leave the platform on Oct. 23, the largest daily outflow since Friend.tech’s launch, according to DeFiLlama. The next day with available data, Oct. 25, saw Friend.tech’s second-largest daily outflow, with another $3.21 million heading for the exits.
The downturn was perhaps accelerated when the platform’s most valuable creator, a profile known as ‘Vombatus,’ sold 176 of their own keys, worth around $1.5 million. Vombatus’ key price fell from around 8.3 $ETH to 1.671 ether (ETH) after the sale.
“At least i got people to talk and use FT for the first time in a few weeks today,” Vombatus wrote on X.
Read more: What is SocialFi? Unpacking crypto’s answer to social media
Vombatus has since set up a profile on New Bitcoin City, a Friend.tech spinoff priced in bitcoin (BTC). New Bitcoin City has been offering boosted airdrops to users migrating from Friend.tech. The nascent platform has seen more than $3 million in net inflows in the past two weeks, per DeFiLlama.
As the assets undergirding the projects pump, SocialFi apps are having a mixed week. Friend.tech, Stars Arena and Friend3 were trending downward, per DappRadar, while New Bitcoin City and Post.Tech saw growth.
Read more: Friend.tech copycats eager to capitalize on social finance craze
Friend.tech’s total value locked (TVL) stood just shy of $40 million on Wednesday. The app still accounts for some 86.8% of the dollar volume among top SocialFi projects after Avalanche-based Stars Arena suffered an exploit, according to a Dune Analytics dashboard.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- Blockworks Daily: Unpacking crypto and the markets.
- Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
- Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
- 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox.
- Lightspeed: All things Solana.
- The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
- Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.
