Coinbase clarifies Base has no official token after memecoin drop

Coinbase has publicly distanced its Ethereum layer-2 network Base from a controversial memecoin that experienced a rapid surge and collapse in value, following criticism from the crypto community.

On April 16, Base’s official X account posted an image with the tagline “Base is for everyone” and linked to a token of the same name on the Zora platform, where social posts can be tokenised and traded.

Within just over an hour, the “Base is for everyone” token reached a market capitalisation of $17.1 million before plunging nearly 90% to $1.9 million in the next 20 minutes, according to DEX Screener data.

The token has since partially recovered, trading at around $7.7 million, but the episode sparked widespread backlash and questions about Base’s involvement.

“Base did not launch a token. This is not an official Base token, and Base did not sell this token. Base posted on Zora, which automatically tokenises content,” Coinbase spokeswoman said.

She pointed to a legal disclaimer on the Zora page, clarifying that Base’s posts are similar to those already shared on X, and that there should be no expectation of profits or ongoing development to increase the token’s value.

The disclaimer also stated that Base would receive 10 million out of a total 1 billion tokens, with a pledge never to sell them, and that fee proceeds would support grants for network developers.

Despite these clarifications, the crypto community voiced strong criticism.

“Any credibility this chain had is now gone,” user Pierre Rochard wrote, a former Riot Platforms researcher, described the token as “terrible for the industry, very short-term transactional extraction.”

“Base tried redefining memecoins as ‘contentcoins’ and completely botched the execution. The core innovation actually has potential, but Base utterly fumbled execution, optics, and trader expectations, resulting in justified backlash,” commented Abhishek Pawa, founder of AP Collective.

“Someone has to normalise putting all of our content onchain. I’m not afraid for it to be us,” stated Base creator Jesse Pollack, defending the move.

He argued that tokenising internet content could help creators earn from their work but acknowledged it would require significant changes in how people think about and use these products.

The incident has renewed debate over the risks and responsibilities of blockchain networks when engaging with experimental tokenised content, especially as platforms like Base seek to expand decentralised finance and Web3 adoption.