Friend.tech’s Battle Against Sniper Bots: A Fairness Debate in the Crypto Market
In the fast-paced world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, Friend.tech (FT) has been making headlines for both its resurgence in user activity and its ongoing battle against “sniper bots.” These sniper bots have been causing significant disruptions in share prices on the FT platform, raising questions about fairness and security. In this article, we will dive deep into the issue, exploring the impact of these bots on popular creators’ shares and the steps FT is taking to address the problem.
The Sniper Bot Menace
A Closer Look at Sniper Bots
Friend.tech, a web3 social token platform, has recently witnessed a surge in user activity. However, this resurgence has brought with it a new challenge: sniper bots. These bots, as analyzed by Castle Capital’s @unexployed_, are utilizing a technique called ‘sniping’ to gain control over high-value profile shares.
Unusual Share Price Manipulation
Intriguingly, sniper bots have been triggering unusual spikes in share prices. For instance, when DappRadar registered on FT, share prices started at an unexpectedly high point of 0.26 ETH. What’s particularly fascinating is that this surge wasn’t initiated by a registered account but by a sniping address interacting directly with the platform’s smart contracts.
The Sniper’s Arsenal
Unexployed’s investigation led to the discovery that the primary sniper, identified as 0x081…951, executed over 20,000 transactions to acquire shares. Initially, the first 46 transactions failed with the error “Insufficient payment,” but the subsequent transactions succeeded, ultimately resulting in a profit of 1.84 ETH.
The Fallout
While the sniper bot’s actions led to profits for some, they also caused a significant reduction in the available supply. Another sniper incurred a loss of 0.5 ETH, underscoring the competitive nature of this bot activity.
Understanding the Impact
Concerns About Fairness
The rise of sniper bots has raised concerns about the fairness of the FT platform, particularly for individual users and high-value profiles. Users are questioning the integrity of the market when such bots can manipulate share prices.
Potential Solutions
To mitigate the effects of sniper bots, Unexployed suggests that FT should consider allowing creators to purchase more of their shares upon registering. This would provide creators with a level of control over their shares, reducing the influence of these automated bots.
FT’s Resurgence Amid Challenges
Despite the challenges posed by sniper bots, Friend.tech continues to make significant strides in the blockchain-based social network space. On September 9, the platform achieved a 30-day high in revenue, surpassing $5.6 million.
Impressive Growth
This remarkable revenue surge is attributed to consistent user growth over the past two weeks. Despite the initial drop in hype following its launch, FT has managed to attract 2,000 new sign-ups on September 9 alone, with a daily active user count of 9,000.
Trading Volume and Fees
On that same day, FT recorded a trading volume of $12.3 million, making it the third-highest trading day since its inception. Additionally, FT collected fees totaling $1.23 million, establishing itself as one of the highest fee-generating dApps in the crypto market.
FT’s Resilience and Adaptability
Despite the challenges posed by sniper bots, Friend.tech’s beta version made a significant impact when it debuted on Coinbase’s layer-2 Base on August 11. Within ten days, the platform’s fees surpassed those of Uniswap and the Bitcoin network, although this success was short-lived.
Conclusion
As the crypto community grapples with the increasing presence of sniper bots on Friend.tech, the platform’s response and ability to safeguard its users remain pivotal. The ongoing battle against these automated adversaries underscores the importance of maintaining fairness and security in the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrencies.
