Solana decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Friktion is shutting down its user interface and urging customers to withdraw their assets from the protocol, according to a statement on Jan. 26.ย
The projectโs website will no longer deliver the same services, operating in withdrawal-only mode for all Volts and making deposits unavailable. Friktionโs Volts are structured products for DeFi investments that allow investors to earn a share of the revenue of investment pools, according to the companyโs page.
Friktion has made the difficult decision to sunset its user platform, a process beginning with moving all Volts into Withdrawal-Only mode on Friktionโs User Interface https://t.co/zrRbHgr6FV starting 25 Jan 2023.
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โ Friktionโก (@friktion_labs) January 27, 2023
The underlying protocol, however, will remain accessible on chain. As cited by the company, the โtough market for DeFi growth in recent monthsโ was the driving force behind the stakeholdersโ decision:
โThis decision was not made lightly, as Friktion has successfully navigated a number of challenges in the past, including Luna, FTX, and network outages. The company remains a strong believer in the future of Solana DeFi and will continue to support the ecosystem where it can.โย
Friktionโs application reached nearly 20,000 user wallets, passing $3 billion in traded volume and achieving over $160 million in total value locked (TVL) in the first half of 2022 before being impacted by the crypto winter. In November 2022, the company even launched an undercollateralized lending targeting institutional investorsโ demand for DeFi.ย
The decision to shut down its user interface comes nearly a year after the company announced it raised $5.5 million in a funding round in January 2022. Investors in the round included Jump Crypto, DeFiance Capital, Delphi Ventures, Solana Ventures and Tribe Capital among others.
Among the names on the platformโs board was Alameda Research, FTXโs sister company that played a crucial role in the exchangeโs collapse in November 2022. Other board members included Genesis Trading, LedgerPrime, CMS Holdings and Orthogonal Trading.
Friktion did not immediately respond to Cryptoxโs requests for comments.
