coindesk.com
Non-fungible token (NFT) collection Friendsies is in hot water after announcing a “pause,” and deleting its Twitter – sparking rumors that the project is a rug pull. The initial drop of the NFTs in 2022 raised roughly $5 million.
The popular collection, featuring whimsical avatars, said on Twitter on Monday night that they would pause developing the collection, citing market conditions as the catalyst for the collection’s hiatus.
“We had the best intentions to make a true digital companion for the future,” Friendsies said on Twitter. “However the volatility and challenges of the market have made it very difficult to move this project forward in a way we can be proud of.”
According to Friendsie's website, the project set out to mint 10,000 Friendsies, partnering with auction house Christie’s in March, 2022 to sell nine early-access mint passes to the collection on secondary marketplace OpenSea to help enthusiastic collectors mint the rarest Friendsies.
Shortly after the collection's tweet, users who replied with questions found their accounts blocked and not long after that, Friendsies deleted their Twitter account. Twitter users also pointed fingers at Farokh, host of Web3 show Rug Radio, and generative artist Jen Stark and who both promoted the collection on Twitter in its early days.
According to data from OpenSea, the collection’s floor price is currently 0.011 ETH, or about $18, with a trading volume of 3,774 ETH or about $6.3 million. When the collection’s mint kicked off, its Dutch auction opened with a starting price of 3.33 ETH, which at the time was about $12,000 per token.
Friendsies had big ambitions from the start – according to a Discord post, the collection set out to allow holders to access a play-to-earn game. It also laid out plans for a community treasury and upcoming blueprint to expand the brand’s IP – none of which came to fruition.
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