Crypto News– Within hours of the Friend tech airdrop launch on May 3, blockchain data revealed that the largest whale, identified as Murphys1d, swiftly offloaded over 55,000 of the newly-issued Friend tokens. This move triggered apprehension among investors regarding the token’s price trajectory.
Major Friend tech Whale Offloads Tokens Amid User Airdrop Claim Challenges
Adding to the turmoil, some users encountered difficulties claiming their airdrop, as highlighted by crypto investor Luke Martin in a May 3 post on X. Martin expressed frustration as he watched the value of his airdrop plummet from seven figures to five figures within a mere two hours, all while being unable to successfully claim it. To exacerbate matters, Martin noted that the whale wallet in question appeared to be associated with a fake X account, allowing it to accumulate over 500,000 Friend.tech points without any apparent risk.
The newly-launched Friend.tech (FRIEND) token experienced a sharp decline of over 52.5% since its inception, plummeting from $3.26 to just $1.32 as of 9:50 am UTC. Moreover, the token’s price recorded a staggering 32% drop within the last hour, as per CoinGecko data.
While the recent selling activity by the largest Friend.tech whale may trigger short-term market fluctuations, it doesn’t necessarily determine the token’s long-term trajectory, according to insights from Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain expert and author of ‘NFT: From Zero to Hero.’ Lian emphasized to Cointelegraph:
‘While it might cause a short-term dip in price due to increased supply and potential panic selling, it doesn’t always mean a long-term downtrend. To me, it is a good thing… The sell-off would mean a more decentralized distribution of tokens. A broader distribution reduces the risk of a single entity having excessive control over the project.‘
However, Lian also acknowledged that the token’s value will largely hinge on the community’s confidence in Friend.tech and the effectiveness of the team’s response to the current challenges.
Token Launches Persistently Plagued by Airdrop Farmers
The enigmatic Friend tech whale serves as yet another illustration of a professional airdrop farmer, commonly referred to as a squatter, who engages with nascent protocols primarily for the sake of airdrop rewards. These individuals often utilize multiple wallets to maximize their rewards.
One of the primary concerns associated with airdrop farmers is their propensity to swiftly market sell all the airdropped tokens they receive. This creates substantial sell pressure within the market, exacerbating panic selling among legitimate protocol users.
A recent example of this phenomenon occurred at the end of April, when the Omni Network’s OMNI token experienced a staggering 55% decline in less than 18 hours following its airdrop, resulting in the loss of over half of its market capitalization.
In March 2023, it was revealed that airdrop hunters consolidated $3.3 million worth of tokens from Arbitrum’s ARB airdrop, originally distributed across 1,496 wallets, into just two wallets under their control.
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