The native token of Web3 social network Friend.tech, FRIEND, experienced a significant downturn today following public statements from the protocol's co-founder, known pseudonymously as Racer. Racer's expressed desire to depart Base, the Ethereum Layer-2 network created by Coinbase that hosts Friend.tech, led to a sharp decline in FRIEND token value.

In a post on X, Racer announced a "system design bounty," offering a reward of $200K to anyone who could devise a method to migrate Friend.tech off of Base without causing major disruptions for users. This statement underscored the strained relationship between Friend.tech and Base, with Racer citing friction with the Base community and feeling ostracized from certain aspects of the ecosystem.

Acknowledging the concerns raised by Racer, Jesse Pollak, head of Base for Coinbase, responded diplomatically, expressing sadness at the prospect of Friend.tech leaving Base while also affirming support for whatever decision the team ultimately makes. Pollak emphasized the decentralized nature of the ecosystem, highlighting the freedom of choice available to projects like Friend.tech.

The announcement from Racer and subsequent interaction with Pollak precipitated a sharp decline in the value of the FRIEND token, which had recently been launched as part of Friend.tech's version 2 rollout. The token experienced a decline of approximately 20%, according to data from The Block's price page, reflecting investor concerns over the potential impact of Friend.tech's departure from the Base network.

As the situation unfolds, stakeholders in the Friend.tech community and beyond will closely monitor developments, recognizing the broader implications for decentralized networks and the interconnectedness of Web3 projects within the Ethereum ecosystem.