Friend.Tech's Bold Move: Leaving Ethereum Behind

Friend.Tech takes a bold step away from the Ethereum ecosystem, introducing its proprietary blockchain, Friendchain. But what does this mean for users, and is it a wise decision?
Friend.Tech's Bold Move: Leaving Ethereum Behind

Friend.Tech’s Bold Move: Leaving Ethereum Behind

As the socialFi app Friend.Tech takes a bold step away from the Ethereum ecosystem, the crypto community is abuzz with excitement and concern. The introduction of Friendchain, a proprietary blockchain, and the native FRIEND token, marks a significant shift in the platform’s infrastructure. But what does this mean for users, and is it a wise decision?

Strategic Partnerships and Token Utility

Friend.Tech has announced a collaboration with infrastructure provider Conduit to build the new layer-1 blockchain, Friendchain. The FRIEND token, airdropped to the community in early May, will serve as the transferable gas token powering this network. While a concrete timeline has not been provided, the transition from Base to Friendchain is expected to occur within the first half of 2025.

Uncertainty and Concern

The announcement has sparked fears and doubts among Friend.Tech’s userbase, particularly regarding the tokenisation and trading of X profiles. Trader Dr Kojipup directly questioned the team on the value addition of Friendchain, and others have highlighted the higher transaction fees expected on the FRIEND blockchain compared to the low gas costs currently seen on Base.

The Only Plausible Justification

The only plausible justification seems to be that by controlling its own blockchain, Friend.Tech could potentially launch several proprietary ‘appchains’ whose transactions would be processed using the FRIEND token. This would provide the team a revenue stream from collecting fees on the Friendchain network.

A Bold Move into Unknown Territory

Friend.Tech’s venture into a proprietary blockchain ventures into unknown territory. The community is both fascinated by the possible benefits and wary of the risks and expenses associated with departing from Ethereum’s well-established ecosystem. As the ‘Friendchain’ migration approaches, users are expecting more in-depth information and justifications from the team.

Friend.Tech’s bold move into the unknown

The Future of Friend.Tech

The success of Friendchain will heavily depend on whether it can generate meaningful fee revenue to justify abandoning Ethereum’s mature infrastructure. The initial hype for Friend.Tech’s socialFi app peaked at over $1 million in fees in just its second week, outperforming major platforms like Uniswap briefly. But interest had waned until the FRIEND token launch revived it in April 2024.

The future of Friend.Tech hangs in the balance

The article concludes with a sense of uncertainty, as the crypto community waits with bated breath to see how Friend.Tech’s bold move will play out. Will Friendchain be a game-changer, or a costly mistake? Only time will tell.

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