Introduction to friend.tech

Introduction

In the fast-paced realm of crypto and emerging tech, an innovative app called friend.tech has recently captured widespread attention across crypto social media. Though not officially released yet, it has already achieved impressive growth, with over 84,000 members and deals amounting to 35,000 ETH traded so far, as per data from Dune Analytics.

Uncovering The Origins and Concept

friend.tech originates from the creators of Stealcam, two Web3 developers known as Shrimp and Racer. The conceptual basis of friend.tech stems from their previous work, Stealcam.

Stealcam, softly introduced in March, presents a novel idea: it turns selfies and photos into pixelated NFT images, which can be “seized” for a fee. The first person who snaps a photo gets it free, while later “seizers” must pay 0.001 ETH, with the cost rising 10% per seize. Once all seizers participate, the full image emerges.

In its current form, friend.tech seamlessly unites social media with crypto. It enables influencers and individuals on Twitter to profit from their networks via social tokens built on Base.

Navigating The friend.tech Landscape

To begin on friend.tech, users need to link their Twitter accounts, which are tokenized into social tokens that others can obtain using ETH. These tokens epitomize shares in the user’s popularity and participation on friend.tech.

Buying shares of someone is straightforward. You select a person, purchase a designated number of shares at a defined price per share. The shares exemplify your interest in that person’s sway and activity on friend.tech.

Like other digital assets, share values fluctuate. If you acquire shares at one value and the base value rises soon after, you can opt to sell at a profit. If the base value drops below your buy value, you can hold or sell at a loss.

All deals are meticulously documented and transparently viewable on-chain. Notably, the protocol has produced over 1,600 ETH in income so far, with a 10% cut on each deal – 5% to the protocol, 5% to the person whose shares were traded.

The price of the next batch of shares is determined through a quadratic equation based on current share count. The formula is S^2 / 16000 * 1 ether, where S represents current share count.

For influential personalities on Twitter, possessing their shares provides access to exclusive content, chatrooms, and messaging. This mirrors the fan engagement model where token ownership bestows privileges.

Starting Your friend.tech Journey

Get started on your friend.tech journey with these simple steps:

1. Open friend.tech in your browser, tap Share and “Add to Home Screen” to create an icon.
2. Launch friend.tech and obtain an invite code from someone on social media.
3. Fund your account with BASEchain ETH via the Base Bridge.
4. Claim your free share to enter friend.tech.
5. Engage in exclusive chats to connect with other users.
6. Withdraw to cash out funds using the Base Bridge back to ETH mainnet.

When selecting shares, remember earlier buyers pay lower prices. Look for affordable shares of users that fit your budget. Share values vary based on popularity and participation. Consider this when purchasing and exchanging shares.

Concerns about privacy and security

The recent revelation of a friend.tech data breach has raised serious concerns about privacy and security on the platform. According to reports, user data including linked Twitter profiles and wallet addresses was leaked and made publicly accessible on GitHub. This significant breach exposed sensitive information related to over 101,000 individuals without their consent.

While friend.tech stated that the information was already publicly available, experts argue that users did not intentionally authorize the platform to access and release their data. This hypothetical breach underscores the risks associated with linking web2 and web3 identities and granting third parties access to social media accounts.

It serves as a cautionary tale for users of new crypto platforms to exercise discretion in sharing personal data. The friend.tech situation remains controversial, but it highlights the need for enhanced security and privacy safeguards on emerging social crypto networks.

Conclusion

The introduction of friend.tech brings a novel dimension to social media and crypto. Through its unique fusion of social tokens and engagement, friend.tech enables users to take part in a new form of investing and interaction.

As interest around friend.tech expands, an important question materializes: will friend.tech remain a fleeting phenomenon or establish a lasting imprint? Like any Web3 creation, its future depends on the ability to evolve, adapt and consistently offer value to users. Striking the balance between social interplay and investment potential will likely play a pivotal role in determining its durability.

As this dynamic platform continues to mature, the convergence of social and crypto is poised to reshape how we connect and take part in digital communities.