What is Friend.tech? The Social-Token Driven Decentralized Social Network

Crypto platform Pal.tech, launched in August 2023, has some enthusiastic supporters hailing it as the primary actual success story within the social crypto area. Within the first two weeks after its launch, the platform reportedly gained greater than 100,000 customers and made about $25 million. This was adopted by reviews of its early demise, which was in flip adopted by a sudden surge in recognition. 

Social token-driven platforms enable customers—together with people in addition to manufacturers and companies—to create and monetize on-line communities utilizing blockchain expertise. Supporters view social tokens as a possible key driver of Web3 adoption and an essential method to deliver newbies to the cryptocurrency world into the fold. In brief, social tokens mix elements of conventional cryptocurrencies with patronage programs, permitting influencers, creators, and others to monetize a fan base in alternate for unique presents and content material.

Within the early phases of its beta launch, Pal.tech already has potential customers looking out excessive and low for invite codes. However what is that this new social crypto platform and the way does it work?

Fundamentals of Pal.tech

Pal.tech is a decentralized social community. Customers should purchase and promote “keys”—beforehand referred to as “shares”—which can be linked to Twitter (now X) accounts. These keys provide entry to non-public in-app chatrooms and unique content material from that X consumer. The platform markets itself as “{the marketplace} in your buddies.”

Every consumer on the app has a chat group akin to ones discovered on platforms like Telegram. The catch is that customers should buy keys to be able to enter different customers’ non-public chats. They’ll later select to promote these keys in the event that they resolve to go away the chat.

On this method, Pal.tech could be seen as a social media platform—or, maybe extra particularly, a form of offshoot of X. Well-liked Twitter customers have beforehand discovered success (and generally authorized hassle) by utilizing the platform to promote tokens that they themselves launched or which they’ve been paid to advertise. Typically these customers would incentivize the sale of those tokens by linking them to unique content material.

Pal.tech takes this pre-existing facet of Twitter and fleshes it out with a set of standardized crypto platform options, together with airdropped rewards, payment sharing, and extra. Like many different current social media platforms, it requires that customers have an invitation code to be able to be a part of. This has helped to contribute to a extremely aggressive panorama wherein keen would-be adopters seek for codes, serving to to advertise the platform within the course of. Customers trying to get onto Pal.tech ought to entry the positioning of the identical identify from a cellphone browser, which can enable them so as to add the app to their cellphone. Every member of the platform at the moment is supplied with three invite codes to offer out. As soon as within the app, a brand new consumer hyperlinks their Google and X accounts and bridges ether from Arbitrum to the bottom pockets tackle. At this level, they’re prepared to start shopping for and promoting keys and collaborating in non-public chats.

Pal.tech is a browser-based utility launched on the Base community, an Ethereum scaling community supplied by crypto alternate Coinbase.

Fast Progress

Pal.tech shouldn’t be the primary social token platform to obtain widespread consideration. Late in 2022, a platform referred to as Roll tried one thing comparable, aiming to offer customers the on-chain capability to allow subscriber tiers like the favored Web2 website Patreon.

However Pal.tech’s progress has eclipsed different social token programs. Two weeks after its launch, Pal.tech earned a reported $1 million in charges, equal to five% of the worth of every transaction, in a single 24-hour interval. That interprets to greater than $700,000 in ether income after accounting for gasoline charges and different prices in only a day.

And Pal.tech has already made a few of its prime earners a hefty sum in a equally brief time. Esports influencers specifically have quickly risen by the ranks to turn into among the prime passive earners, gaining tens of hundreds of {dollars} every in a matter of days. Particular person customers make charges every time keys to their non-public chats are purchased or offered.

An added incentive for contributors within the Pal.tech ecosystem is that customers categorized as “creators” (versus “followers”) see key costs enhance as their networks develop bigger. This clearly advantages creators by offering them extra rewards within the type of charges. But it surely additionally advantages their followers in the event that they select to promote their keys, assuming they’ve appreciated in worth because the time they first bought them. The worth of keys is decided based mostly on the idea of a bonding curve.

Potential Considerations

There are a variety of the reason why others within the crypto neighborhood might method Pal.tech with warning. For one, as with all comparatively new crypto platform, the potential for manipulation of varied sorts may very well be excessive. Customers ought to watch out for alternatives that appear too good to be true.

One other facet of Pal.tech that will give some potential customers pause is the truth that it was rebranded and reworked just some months earlier than the beta launch. Beforehand, the platform was referred to as Stealcam, a system permitting customers to promote selfies and different photographs utilizing a “steal to disclose” mechanism.

For the pseudonymous founders of Pal.tech, the larger concern is sustainability. Certainly, a co-founder referred to as Racer informed Decrypt that the preliminary launch was meant for load testing solely, and the truth that the platform went viral got here as a shock. There was a mad sprint to attempt to scale the platform’s infrastructure and repair points as they arrive up during the last two weeks.

Nonetheless others have likened the fast-growing platform to a Ponzi scheme, pointing to the truth that when you purchase (and different individuals additionally purchase) into a specific consumer’s keys, the worth of these keys goes up. By linking appreciation in worth of keys so straight and solely to the variety of individuals investing in these keys, the pondering goes, ultimately the complete system will come crashing down, resulting in a rush to promote keys. Others have instructed the platform might fail as a result of it lacks a compelling purpose for customers to stay round over the long run.