The decentralized social media application Friend.tech built on Anatoly Yakovenko’s DeSo protocol has achieved significant growth, surpassing $50 million in total value locked (TVL) while generating over $17.6 million in revenue.
According to DeFiLlama, Friend.tech currently has around $52 million in TVL. The app launched on August 10, 2022 and rapidly accumulated over $1 million in fees within the first 24 hours.
Per an analytics dashboard of Dune, Friend.tech has also amassed over 10,727 ETH (around $17.6 million) in total revenue so far. It is also nearing 10 million transactions since launch.
The figures demonstrate Friend.tech’s success in gaining rapid adoption and activity for a decentralized social media experience.
Overcoming Early Controversies
Friend.tech has not been without its share of controversies, however. Shortly after launch, a database vulnerability exposed some user profiles.
The protocol also faced backlash when a since-deleted founder’s note referred to users as “products.” But the application has moved past these early stumbles.
After even being declared “dead” at one point, Friend.tech reconstituted itself and saw its TVL quickly rise back up to $20 million.
DeSo Leads Shift to Web3 Social Media
The growth of Friend.tech underscores the momentum behind DeSo and its vision for Web3-powered social media where users own their data and earn from content creation.
In addition to Friend.tech, DeSo is fostering a wider ecosystem of decentralized social apps, with several clones emerging on other blockchains like Friendzy on Solana and Alpha on Bitcoin.
As Twitter, Facebook and other incumbent networks wrestle with content moderation, censorship and data privacy issues, DeSo’s model offers a promising alternative model.
By achieving milestones like $50 million locked and millions in revenue, Friend.tech validates DeSo founder Anatoly Yakovenko’s mission and the appeal of social media owned by users and creators themselves.
As Web3 principles take root across internet applications, DeSo and Friend.tech sit at the vanguard of reimagining social networking via crypto economics and decentralization. Their traction highlights this shift just getting started.
