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{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"e01f247f-7dc3-43e4-83d2-2f1078b35a6a","kind":"publish","page_slug":"friend-tech","published_at":"2026-05-16T03:56:00.618Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Friend Tech","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"Friend.tech was a SocialFi application launched on Coinbase's Base L2 in August 2023 that allowed users to buy and sell tokenized 'keys' (shares) of social media influencers. The platform suffered a wave of SIM-swap attacks draining at least 343 ETH from users, exposed wallet addresses of 101,000 users via an API data breach, launched its FRIEND token in May 2024 which collapsed 98% within months, and was ultimately abandoned by its pseudonymous founders in September 2024 after they extracted approximately $44 million in protocol fees.","timeline":[{"date":"2023-05-19","event":"Friend.tech completes seed funding round with participation from Paradigm.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.coincarp.com/fundraising/friendtech-seed/"},{"date":"2023-08-10","event":"Friend.tech officially launches on Base (Coinbase's Ethereum L2), created by pseudonymous founders 0xRacerAlt and shrimppepe.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.coingecko.com/learn/friend-tech-social-app-base"},{"date":"2023-08-18","event":"Paradigm confirms participation in Friend.tech seed investment round.","source":"","source_url":"https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/35b52-friend-tech-secures-seed-round-funding"},{"date":"2023-08-21","event":"Banteg (Yearn Finance contributor) publishes scraped Friend.tech API data on GitHub, exposing wallet addresses and Twitter usernames of approximately 101,183 users. Friend.tech disputes the characterization as a breach.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/246529/friendtech-leaked-database-ethereum-addresses"},{"date":"2023-10-02","event":"Friend.tech surpasses $50 million TVL and 10,000 ETH in cumulative protocol revenue.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2023/10/02/friend-tech-surpasses-50m-tvl-reaches-10000-eth-in-revenue/"},{"date":"2023-10-03","event":"First wave of SIM-swap attacks publicly reported; approximately 109 ETH drained from four Friend.tech users.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/10/03/friendtech-users-targeted-by-sim-swap-attack-several-ether-drained"},{"date":"2023-10-05","event":"ZachXBT documents a single attacker stealing 234 ETH (~$385,000) within 24 hours via SIM-swapping four Friend.tech users. Total documented SIM-swap losses exceed 343 ETH.","source":"","source_url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/friend-tech-sim-swap-attacks-continue-four-targeted"},{"date":"2023-10-05","event":"Friend.tech introduces optional feature allowing users to change their login method away from phone numbers in response to SIM-swap attacks.","source":"","source_url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/friendtech-adds-security-password-feature-amid-sim-swap-attacks"},{"date":"2024-05-03","event":"Friend.tech launches FRIEND token via airdrop alongside platform version 2 and Money Club feature. Token briefly trades above $3 before collapsing 90%+ within hours. Bloomberg reports 98% decline from launch.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/05/03/friendtechs-native-token-tanks-to-25-after-debut"},{"date":"2024-09-09","event":"Friend.tech team transfers admin and ownership rights of all protocol smart contracts to a null address, permanently revoking the ability to upgrade or collect fees. FRIEND token drops 21-30% on the news.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/defi/friend-tech-shuts-down-after-revenue-and-users-plummet/"},{"date":"2024-09-09","event":"DL News reports founders extracted approximately $44 million (half of ~$90 million in total protocol fees) before abandoning the project. Founder Twitter accounts deleted or made private.","source":"","source_url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/defi/friend-tech-shuts-down-after-revenue-and-users-plummet/"}]},"v":1}