When an unknown member named “Basics for All” suddenly launched on Zora and launched a market cap of over $17 million in less than an hour, no one expected it to trigger a small PR crisis at Coinbase, the company led the infrastructure.
While Coinbase quickly denies participating in the controversial token release, the community raises an urgent question: Is this an unexpected misfortune, or is it a sign of blurred lines between Web3 and Financial Meme tools?
Basics – When the largest blockchain is pulled out
The event began on April 16, when the official basic account on X posted a simple Zora creation message: “The basics are for everyone.”
This format allows users to cast interactive content on NFT on Zora. Surprisingly, after the post went online, an automatic launch of a member with the same name was immediately launched, triggering a ripple effect among retail crypto investors.
Source: X
Within minutes, the token “Basic is Everyone” starts, actively trading on the basic network. The Mint’s market value soared to $17.1 million in just 69 minutes.
But after just 20 minutes, the market value fell by nearly 90%, down to below $2 million. Some speculators cashed out early and walked away with hundreds of thousands of profits, while most others ended up with bags.
According to data on the chain, the first three wallets account for 47% of the total token supply, which is very centrally distributed even by monumental standards. These holders threw their tokens at the top, causing the entire market to collapse in minutes.
The price list clearly illustrates the classic pump and rainfall pattern, and the towering green candles then suddenly collapse. There is no doubt that the collapse did not happen because of pulling out the liquidity – it was because the whales quickly accumulate tokens and then poured them onto smaller holders. The initial liquidity was very thin, very thin, very spacious, and spacious, making the token an ideal tool for growing competitors in the short term.
The basis is the price for everyone – Source: dexscreener
“Token content is the future”
Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase’s basic project, did not shy away from controversy. In response on X, he said tokenized content is a key part of the Web3 development roadmap.
“We are heading to a world where every post, video and meme can have real financial value. It depends on the community that determines how they want to be involved in the world.”
From his point of view, recent events are not systems failures, but signs of democratization of ownership and creativity. However, he also acknowledged that “we are still learning” and stressed the need to better articulate the boundaries between official accounts and individual actions within the organization.
Try to oppose the first principle content coins.
If a video about Tiktok has millions of views, it has value.
Why should a platform control this value?
Why shouldn’t it be explicit?
Why shouldn’t creators benefit from that value?It seems to be good to me.
– jesse.base.eth (@JessePollak) April 16, 2025
Nevertheless, for many in the community, this incident reveals a harsh fact.
Pink Brains on X shared on X: “When it comes to economic interests, it’s no longer culture, whether it’s culture or not.”
From this lens, Web3’s creative freedom is increasingly occupying financial speculation – here, everything, even memes and culture, is repackaged as profitable tools.
Coinbase responds – but is it enough?
Shortly after the controversy broke out, a Coinbase spokesperson replied: “Tokens are not formal basic products and have nothing to do with Coinbase.”
They explained that whenever someone creates a post using the “create” format, Zora’s system automatically generates tokens. By default, this ERC-20 token is issued and listed on ZORA or AMM in the base network.
However, one detail that raises further suspicion is that the base-related wallets received 10 million tokens, accounting for 1% of the total supply. Coinbase later clarified that it will not sell the tokens and will redirect all transaction fees to support Base’s developer community.
Still, many in the cryptocurrency community found explanations, especially since Base’s official account directly shared the posts that triggered the token post.
As a listed company, Coinbase has been involved in what many consider “financial accidents”, which greatly obscures the credibility of the basic ecosystem.
The community rebounded rapidly. The famous KOLS in Crypto criticizes Coinbase/Base for irresponsibly appearing to endorse speculative memorials. From Kirby to Chain analysts like Lookonchain, waves of Tweets, memes and stern comments spread quickly. Some even tagged “Roll pulls promoted by Coinbase.”
result? Basically, the main reputation name is based on, positioning itself as a layer of user-friendly transparency for the masses.
Read more: Is Coinbase safe and trustworthy in 2025?
The incident also drew serious concerns about the content approval process on official accounts, especially in an environment where a single tweet could result in millions of users’ losses.
Ultimately, Coinbase goes beyond making mistakes – it warns all Web3 infrastructure builders: In a world where link actions quickly become financial, projects need to define clear boundaries between official products and personal experiments from the outset.
in conclusion
The meme incident of “Base for Everyone” goes far beyond the typical speculative fanatic case – it reveals deeper flaws in how Web3 organizations, especially regulated entities like Coinbase, manage their OnChain Onchain Ondings and Communications. In a space where a single tweet can trigger millions of dollars inflows or losses, the line between creative freedom and financial responsibility becomes increasingly dangerous.
For the basics, it’s more than just a short-term PR trip. This is a wake-up call. As the Web3 ecosystem continues to blur the boundaries between content and capital, infrastructure projects must make clear distinctions between official plans and experimental user-generated actions, otherwise it could undermine the trust they are designed to build.
Read more: Coinbase vs Binance 2025: Which swap is better?
