$1 Million Bid Sends Struggling Crypto App Soaring 1600% as Trader Seeks to Salvage Losses

Machi Big Brother's $1 million bid for Friend.tech has sent the token soaring by over 1,600%. The trader, also known as Jeffrey Huang, offered the money to revive the struggling social media app and take control of its existing Base contract. In a post on X, Huang stated that Friend.tech was trading below a $300,000 market cap and wanted to acquire it for community takeover.

However, despite the offer, no deal has been announced yet. The market's reaction is likely due to the trader's large position in FRIEND, which he purchased earlier this year at around $5,200 ETH (around $16.7 million) only to see it collapse. His wider trading record shows significant losses, including a reported $74 million to $75 million over six months.

The app itself has been struggling since its launch on Coinbase's Base network in August 2023. Despite initial hype, the project raised a seed round from Paradigm but failed to gain traction after its first surge. The developers transferred control of the platform's smart contracts to Ethereum's null address in September 2024, making future changes unlikely.

A real relaunch would require significant work, including a new front end and added contracts. For now, trading the token is essentially betting on Machi's ability to turn an abandoned name into a second act.