Quick take:
- Friend.Tech is experiencing fast early growth, racing to over 100,000 addresses in just 11 days.
- The web3 app lets users buy shares (renamed Keys) of those who hold accounts on X.
- NFT and crypto influencers like Frank DeGods and Gainzy222 are among the early adopters.
Friend.Tech has raced to 100,000 addresses in just 11 days, following in the footsteps of other social apps like Clubhouse and Meta’s Threads, which experienced early success.
According to the Dune Analytics dashboard prepared by Cryptokoryo, Friend.Tech had more than 94,000 unique buyers and nearly 38,000 unique sellers from multiple social media platforms.
Friend.Tech is a web3 app built on Coinbase’s blockchain platform Base. The app enables users to buy shares (renamed Keys) of people with accounts on X (formerly Twitter). Buyers are granted certain privileges like the ability to privately message the sellers.
Since launching on August 10, Friend.Tech has already onboarded popular crypto influencers, and sports athletes including Frank DeGods, Gainzy222, RookieXBT and NBA player Grayson Allen, among others.
Cryptokoryo’s dashboard also shows the platform has generated more than $64 million in cumulative inflows, with more than $410,000 booked on Tuesday.
In 2020, the social audio app Clubhouse, credited with inspiring the creation of X (Twitter) Spaces and Spotify’s Greenroom launched to a slow start before bursting into life in 2021.
However, the fast growth fizzled out quickly, according to data from Exploding Topics. The app has since struggled to replicate its earlier success. And even though it has been downloaded more than 30 million times, data by Demandsage shows it is no longer attracting as many downloads as before.
In January 2023, Clubhouse reduced its workforce by 50% citing challenges related to remote workers and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In July, Threads launched to a meteoric early adoption registering more than 100 million accounts within hours. However, like Clubhouse, the appetite exhibited by the early adopters has since diminished with search popularity for the word “Threads” falling substantially, according to data by Exploding Topics.
Given the shortlived success exhibited by Clubhouse and Threads, critics will be watching Friend.Tech to see whether it can rise above its predecessors and prove to the early adopters it is not a passing fad.
There are already those who have expressed their concern over the app’s treatment of crypto wallets linked to X accounts, essentially making the respective wallet addresses public.
Friend.Tech has the ability to grant buyers with exclusive access to token-gated content or privileges offered by creators/sellers. Could this be the difference that puts it a class above the likes of Clubhouse and Threads? Only time will tell.
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