Updated Apr 18, 2025, 6:28 p.m. Published Apr 18, 2025, 3:55 p.m. 4 min readSummaryFriends With Benefits (FWB) has evolved from a trendy crypto community into a serious organization focused on building practical products in music, film, and culture.FWB's new initiative, Friends With Builders, partners with major tech companies to support creative technologists in developing innovative projects.The program emphasizes utility over crypto hype, aiming to create products with mainstream appeal and practical applications.When Friends With Benefits burst into crypto consciousness in 2020, it was the kind of FOMO-inducing project that immediately had people talking. With a wink-wink, sexy name and members including musicians Erykah Badu and Azealia Banks, it was a club that many wanted to be a part of.Emerging at a time when everyone was locked down and hankering for connection, it filled a void and showed that crypto could bring people together for real. About 6,000 bought into the token (becoming members) and chapters sprouted up all over the world, centering on hipster-tech hubs like LA and New York City. The New York Times, as it tends to do with crypto, gently mocked the idea. A 2022 profile opened with an anecdote about members developing a “flavored, sparkling yerba maté” with a coffee company. “It makes your soda $6 instead of $2,” said one member. The inference was clear: this was crypto kids with ideas, disposable income, plenty of time on their hands and not much to show for it. Still, the New York Times hit on what was definitely new about FWB. It called the group — which was mostly formed on Discord — a “decentralized Soho House” and “a V.I.P. lounge for crypto’s creative class.” It was tokenizing a community (with a DAO) in a way that proved that you could create something valuable IRL as much as online. The NYT said the group had raised $10 million from investors and that, after a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, it was valued at $100 million.It was