Friend.Tech User Dumps Keys Worth $1.5M, Switches to Bitcoin dApp

A popular Friend.Tech user dumped 850 ether (ETH) worth of keys late on Monday before apparently switching over to New Bitcoin City, a similar social app built on Bitcoin.

X user @Vombatus_eth, who goes by the same name on Friend.Tech, pocketed some $1.5 million after selling 176 keys, wallet data shows. Vombatus, who was one of the biggest key holders on the platform, continues to hold 150 keys.

Friend.Tech, lets X (formerly Twitter) personalities issue ‘keys’ on its app for access to a closed group chat and was one of the fastest-growing crypto platforms shortly after its August launch. It attracted millions of dollars in revenues from over 100,000 users in under three weeks after going live – spurring clones on other networks.

Newer opportunities have stalled Friend.Tech’s initial growth wave and applications, such as New Bitcoin City, are quickly emerging as one of the biggest bets. Users such as Vombatus are drawing their followers to the platform – helping it break through $3 million in locked value on Monday.

New Bitcoin City, which went live in early August as a gaming and arcade platform on Bitcoin, released its social application in late September, targeting the social application market.

Developer @punk3700 previously told CoinDesk that bitcoin’s usage in DeFi applications has so far been limited to tokenized representations of bitcoin on other chains, such as Ethereum or Solana, but that the New Bitcoin City believed a gap remained for wealthy bitcoin holders to use their assets on interactive applications.

The introduction of “Bitcoin Request for Comment” (BRC-20) standards earlier this year allowed developers to issue tokens and build DeFi applications on Bitcoin.

New Bitcoin City’s appeal comes at a time when bitcoin prices are on an uptrend, jumping some 20% in the past week on hopes of a [possible spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in the U.S., which traders say may drive demand for the asset.