Today’s edition is brought to you by Phemex - a top crypto exchange that just launched a 100 ETH raffle for their traders. Try your luck today!

GM. This is Milk Road, we turn the complex world of crypto into child's play - minus all the playground politics.

Today, we’re gonna talk about what everyone is talking about… Friend.Tech.

It’s the new social media dApp taking crypto by storm. And it’s everywhere.

**Scrolls through social media**… sees posts about Friend.Tech.

**Hops into Discord**… sees messages about Friend.Tech.

Even the Amazon delivery guy asked me about it yesterday.

So we decided to dig deeper and visit distant parts of the internet (aka the Land of Page 8 Google Search Results) to find out everything we could.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• Wtf is Friend.Tech

• What everyone is saying about it

• Milk Road Take: Sh*t or Legit?

WTF IS FRIEND.TECH? 👀

First, let’s start with the basics…

What is it? Friend.Tech is a new decentralized social media app built on Coinbase’s new blockchain, Base.

It calls itself “the marketplace for your friends”.

• It integrates with Twitter and lets users trade tokenized shares (called “keys”) of other users.

• Tokenized shares are priced using a bonding curve, so as more shares get bought → the higher the price goes up (and vice versa).

• Ownership of “keys” grants access to a gated chat room with that specific user and other keyholders. And many more features are expected in the near future, such as images and media.

• Right now, chatting is a one-way street: keyholders can direct message the user they bought shares for, but the user can only send messages to the entire group of keyholders.

• Users earn weekly points for their activity on the app (P.S. - there are rumors these points will convert to a future token airdrop.)

• There’s a 10% fee on every transaction - 5% goes to the platform and the other 5% goes to the users whose shares are being traded.

• It’s invite-only, so you need a code from an existing user in order to join.

Friend.Tech only launched 12 days ago but has generated a ton of hype.

It’s even attracted some big names - including athletes, pro video gamers, and OnlyFans creators. (aka The 3 Horsemen of Influencers™)

According to Dune Analytics, Friend.Tech has:

• 1M+ total transactions

• $62.5M in total trading volume

• 90,000+ unique traders

• The top creators have made $100,000+ in revenue

(The crypto rookie is putting up seasoned vet numbers.)

But, a few people have also pointed out some red flags…

🚩 The founding team is anonymous and has ties to previous crypto projects that launched, got traction, and then…*poof*... disappeared into thin air.

🚩 When users link their Twitter accounts, it gives Friend.Tech certain permissions - like the ability to post and repost. (If you use the app, we recommend revoking these permissions in your Twitter settings.)

🚩 Even though it’s an app, it can’t be installed from the App Store and bypasses all of the privacy and safety requirements. Some think this puts users at risk.

The biggest red flag people see is the pricing model. Early investors can get cheap shares, pump the price up with the hype, and then dump on later investors.

And when you draw it out, it kinda looks like…

So, now for the million-dollar question…is Friend.Tech sh*t or legit?

**static noise**

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you a quick word from our sponsor…

YOUR CHANCE AT 100 ETH

It feels like Christmas morning over at Milk Road.

Morale is high, we’re loaded up on milk n’ cookies and a big giveaway is right around the corner. So big, it might not even fit down the chimney.

What’s happening? Phemex is hosting a 100 ETH on-chain raffle on August 31st.

And all you need to enter is a Phemex Soul Pass.

Here’s what you need to know:

• 10 raffle winners will take home 10 ETH each

• The Phemex Soul Pass is a soulbound token that traders can mint after reaching $10,000 of 30-day trading volume

• In addition to raffle entry, the pass grants holders reward tokens every time they trade contracts on Phemex

And the raffle is done through Chainlink VRF, so you know it’s fair game and anyone can track the result on the blockchain.

Start trading and join the raffle today!

FRIEND.TECH - SH*T OR LEGIT?

**static noise**

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming…

The Million-Dollar Question: Is Friend.Tech sh*t or legit?

Let’s take a look at what others are saying:

Milk Road’s Take: Crypto investors are a lot like cats…they get attracted to shiny objects.

Right now, Friend.Tech is the shiniest one.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the next big thing. We’ve seen other projects (like BitClout) try this in 2021. It drummed up a bunch of hype and then died down.

• In the short term (next 6 months), we see the Friend.Tech mania continuing. Weekly airdrops will incentivize trading and more and more non-native crypto users will join once they see their fellow influencers making thousands of dollars a day.

• In the long term (6-18 months), the future is foggy. Once the weekly airdrops stop, it’ll come down to how good the app actually is, and with the current state of features (one-way chat, crappy user interface, etc) we don’t see the app's hype being sustainable.

Crypto apps are hard. Social media apps are harder.

Combine the two, and you almost have the sequel to the next Mission Impossible.

With all that being said - whenever a new hype train comes through crypto, it’s always a good idea to try it out.

It’s like hearing a party next door, and you’re just sitting in your house playing Scrabble. Put the boring stuff down and go check out the party.

But remember the golden rule: only invest what you can afford to lose.

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The FBI has seized about $2M worth of crypto from scammers over the last 3 months. Even the FBI has its own *federal* bag of crypto.

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*This is sponsored content.

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.