Friend.Tech User Dumps Keys Worth $1.5M on Ethereum Just to Move to a Bitcoin-Based Alternative

In the dynamic world of SocialFi, where the battle for supremacy is relentless, a certain Friend.Tech user made waves by dumping 850 ether (ETH) worth of keys on Monday.

This move was followed by a switch to a rival platform, New Bitcoin City (NBC), a social app built on the Bitcoin blockchain.

NBC Surges as Friend.Tech Sees Outflows

This development comes at a critical point for Friend.Tech, which, while initially a trailblazer in the SocialFi space, is now facing stiff competition as newer opportunities emerge, with applications like New Bitcoin City rapidly gaining ground.

Over the past two days, several prominent users, including NFT influencer Pranksy and the user Vombatus, once the holder of the platform’s most valuable key, decided to liquidate their assets on Friend.Tech and make the transition to NBC.

https://t.co/1jbIeGsrEo

Shameless shill… i like @NewBitcoinCity the best of all the SocFi apps right now and the vibes are fun. I think we see a new meta where https://t.co/HgSc6IDYWN and NBC are the leaders of the SocFi space.

— Vombatus (@Vombatus_eth) October 19, 2023

According to wallet data, Vombatus, known by the same name on both platforms, pocketed approximately $1.5 million after selling 176 keys. Notably, Vombatus still holds ownership of 150 keys.

The mass migration to NBC has brought about significant changes in the landscape. NBC experienced an influx of approximately $1 million in the past day, pushing its total value locked (TVL) above $3 million, according to DeFiLlama – meanwhile, Friend.Tech saw outflows totaling around $2 million over the past two days.

Friend.Tech Faces Growing Threat as New Opportunities Emerge

Friend.Tech, known for enabling users to grant access to closed group chats through keys, saw rapid growth after launching in August. Within three weeks, it generated millions in revenue from over 100,000 users, inspiring imitations on other networks as newer opportunities surfaced. As such, Friend.Tech’s initial growth wave has stalled. Platforms like NBC are emerging as formidable contenders.

New Bitcoin City, a gaming and commerce platform that operates on Bitcoin, was launched in early August. It hosts a variety of casual, board, and strategy games accessible on web and mobile platforms. The platform also features a native marketplace and an auction house for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

A developer from New Bitcoin City, known as @punk3700, declared their intention to expand Bitcoin’s usability beyond just being a currency, expressing ambitions of venturing into Art, AI, and DeFi.

Despite Bitcoin’s limited use in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications, primarily through tokenized versions on other chains such as Ethereum or Solana, the recent “Bitcoin Request for Comment” (BRC-20) standards have allowed developers to issue tokens and build DeFi applications on Bitcoin. This has led to digital artwork and meme coins based on Bitcoin in recent months.