Concerns have arisen over the price of the Friend.tech token after the largest recipient of the airdrop, known as “Murphys1d,” sold all their tokens just hours after receiving them. According to blockchain data, Murphys1d sold over 55,000 Friend tokens shortly after the airdrop went live on May 3.
In addition to this sell-off, some users, including crypto investor Luke Martin, were unable to claim their airdrop tokens. Martin pointed out that the wallet belonging to the whale seemed to be connected to a fake account with no activity, allowing it to accumulate over 500,000 Friend.tech points without any risk.
Since its launch, the Friend.tech token has experienced a significant decline in value. It has dropped by over 52.5%, falling from $3.26 to just $1.32 as of 9:50 am UTC. CoinGecko data shows that the token’s price fell by more than 32% in the last hour before publication.
While the actions of the largest Friend.tech whale may have short-term implications for the market, Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain expert and author, believes that it does not necessarily determine the long-term trajectory of the token. Lian emphasizes that the value of the token will depend on the trust the community has in Friend.tech and how the team handles the current situation.
The mysterious whale on Friend.tech is an example of a professional airdrop farmer, someone who engages with emerging protocols solely for the purpose of collecting airdrop rewards. These farmers often have multiple wallets to maximize their rewards and tend to sell all their airdropped tokens, which creates significant selling pressure and leads to panic selling among legitimate users of the protocol.
This is not the first instance of such behavior. In April, the OMNI token of the Omni Network experienced a 55% decline in less than 18 hours following its airdrop, losing more than half of its market capitalization. In another case, airdrop hunters consolidated $3.3 million worth of tokens from Arbitrum’s ARB airdrop from 1,496 wallets into just two wallets they controlled.
As investors navigate the volatile market, it remains to be seen how the Friend.tech token will recover from this setback and regain the trust of its community.