Coinbase\u2019s Layer-2 (L2) Network, Base, has faced intense backlash over rug-pull allegations after it promoted an unofficial memecoin that crashed by over 90%, sparking a debate about the future of memecoins and on-chain content.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Base\u2019s official X account posted an image with the text \u201cBase is for everyone.\u201d Moments later, they shared a link to the on-chain social protocol Zora and the caption \u201cCoined it,\u201d sparking a speculative frenzy<\/a> among investors.<\/p>\n The protocol allows users to make social media posts into tradable tokens<\/a>, automatically minting them. After Base\u2019s post was turned into a token, the crypto community quickly skyrocketed its market capitalization to $17 million.<\/p>\n However, online reports showed that the memecoin collapsed by around 92% after the top holders, who owned 47% of the supply, sold the memecoin just over an hour after launching.<\/p>\n Some community members noted that the token was \u201cHORRIFICALLY sniped,\u201d while on-chain data analytics platform Lookonchain highlighted<\/a> that \u201c3 wallets bought a large amount of \u2018Base is for everyone\u2019 before Base posted and sold them, making a profit of ~$666K.\u201d<\/p>\n As a result, the community criticized the network\u2019s team for the memecoin, calling the incident a rug pull and asking them<\/a> to \u201cstop launching worthless tokens that will all inevitably go to 0. You are diluting your brand and the value of real base assets.\u201d<\/p>\n Zora data shows Base has earned around $81,000 from the memecoin, which has recovered from the initial sell-off with a peak market capitalization of $26 million before retracing to the $9 million-$10 million range.<\/p>\n Base responded<\/a> to the backlash, clarifying they will never sell their holdings, but they weren\u2019t an official network token either. The team explained that they posted on Zora because they believe everyone should bring content on-chain and use the tools that make it possible.<\/p>\n Memes. Moments. Culture. If we want the future to be onchain, we have to be willing to experiment in public. That\u2019s what we\u2019re doing. To be clear, Base will never sell these tokens, and \u200b\u200bthese are not official network tokens for Base, Coinbase, or any other related product. The content we share is creative, and we\u2019re going to keep bringing culture onchain.<\/p>\n The public on-chain experimentation opened a debate about memecoin culture<\/a> and on-chain content, with Base\u2019s creator, Jesse Pollak, weighing in.<\/p>\n In a series of X posts, Pollak explained that \u201cnot all coins are the same,\u201d outlining the differences between these two types of tokens.<\/p>\n Is On-Chain Content The Future For Creators?<\/p>\n According to his posts<\/a>, a contentcoin is one piece of content with singular value and no expectations. Additionally, multiple of them can be created by the same person, with \u201cbig ones\u201d potentially turning into memes.<\/p>\n On the contrary, a memecoin is an \u201caggregation of content,\u201d with aggregated value and high expectations, where the creator \u201cshould\u201d only create one. He also noted that big ones turn into projects.<\/p>\n Pollack considers that \u201csomeone has to normalize putting all of our content onchain. and i\u2019m not afraid for it to be us. why? because in the wake of the chaos, we\u2019ll normalize the behavior and create a better future for creators.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonetheless, many users remain skeptical, with community<\/a> members also criticizing Base\u2019s post announcing investors can mint a deleted scene of the \u201cVitalik: An Ethereum Story\u201d documentary, where the project\u2019s founder, Vitalik Buterin, shows what\u2019s in his backpack.<\/p>\nBase\u2019s Public Experiment<\/h2>\n