Friend.Tech’s explosion in popularity, explained + more

Everything you need to know in crypto this week.

GM! This week: Web3 social network service Friend.Tech is the talk of the crypto world, having racked up tens of thousands of users and millions of dollars in trading fees. But how does the platform work? And what might the SEC have to say about it? 

In Friend.Tech…

The pitch is simple: Friend.Tech allows for anyone to monetize their following by issuing “shares” to their followers. Buy a creator’s share and you can message them on a private platform. It’s a classic crypto pitch: what if we took something like OnlyFans and added a market?

Users responded to the pitch in droves — over 80,000 have bought a share in a profile according to the latest metrics. This activity has launched Friend.Tech into the #3 slot for fees on Ethereum, after Lido and Ethereum itself, according to DefiLlama. 

Yet, despite an investment from Paradigm, crypto lawyer Ariel Givner, Esq. told us "I've never seen something look so much like a security in my life.” Its database has already leaked as well. Plus, did the creators previously abandon another project? We’ll continue to follow the story as it develops.

Coinage’s newsletter is brought to you by BitGo - the most secure and scalable wallet solutions for the digital asset economy. 

In NFT Royalties…

OpenSea recently announced it plans on sunsetting creator royalties by March 2024 for all existing projects and the end of the month for new projects. This lead to a backlash across the ecosystem from voices like Mark Cuban and Yuga Labs, who have argued that royalties are what make the NFT business model special. Cuban himself is an investor in OpenSea. Yuga plans on abandoning the exchange for its blue-chip NFT collections. 

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The latest updates from our Coinage Investigation: Inside SBF’s Defense

Wednesday, August 23, is the final day for SBF’s defense to declare its intention to argue an advice of counsel defense. But what would that mean, and why is SBF trying to blame his lawyers for the collapse of his empire? 

SBF has accused lawyers attached to Sullivan & Cromwell, which worked with FTX before its collapse and is now managing the bankrupt estate, of pressuring him to sign his company over into bankruptcy in order to maximize its fees. We dug into that argument on our latest episode, which you can check out here. 

To watch our latest episode, mint one of our Digital Membership Passes and head over to our website.

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In Other Headlines…

• UK moves towards regulating crypto, seeks to become global hub

• Terra warns users after hackers turn domain into a ‘phishing site’

• Ether falls as Vitalik Buterin moves funds worth $1 million to Coinbase

• ​​NFT Platform Recur to Shut Down Despite $50M Raise and Big Name Backers

• Maple Finance returns to Solana after weathering $36m loan default linked to FTX blowup

• Tornado Cash Sanctions Affirmed by Federal Court

• NYTimes: How Nvidia Built a Competitive Moat Around A.I. Chips

That’s everything we’re taking a look at this week!

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