Base’s big bet on “creator coins” — and its tight embrace of NFT marketplace Zora — is drawing sharp criticism from builders who say the network is favoring a narrow slice of the ecosystem and sidelining projects that helped bootstrap Base’s early momentum.
Why it matters
Creator coins—tokens tied to individual creators, posts or pieces of content—have become a defining narrative on Base in recent months, with Zora positioned at the center of that push. Supporters say the model creates a new on‑chain revenue stream for creators and a cultural on‑ramp to crypto. On‑chain metrics back the activity: daily token mints on Base reportedly overtook Solana in August, and Base continues to handle strong traffic, averaging more than 10 million transactions per day, according to Basescan.
What builders are saying
Despite the traffic and token activity, community sentiment is fraying. Builders on X (Twitter) argue Base’s marketing and social support increasingly spotlight Zora‑linked initiatives while ignoring other Base‑native projects with established communities and track records.
“I’m genuinely disappointed by @base's forced push around creator coins,” wrote Jacek, who runs the degen token ecosystem on Base. “We still can’t even get the official Base X account to follow us, let alone acknowledge launches with a retweet or mention. It’s also not just us. Plenty of other projects feel the same way: that if you’re not part of the favored narrative, you effectively don’t exist. At that point, what is the incentive to build on Base?”
Jacek pointed to a contrast with Solana’s support: when degen bridged to Solana, he says the project received immediate amplification from the official Solana X account and Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius.
Broader implications
The backlash highlights a tension Base must manage: how to scale adoption by spotlighting new use cases (creator coins) while keeping the developer and builder community engaged. In the short term the chain’s fundamentals look healthy, but if sentiment continues to sour, builders could look to rival L1s and L2s — Solana and Sui are often cited — to host new projects and liquidity.
What’s next
Base, built by Coinbase as an OP‑Stack Layer 2 atop Ethereum, is still navigating how to balance ecosystem curation and broad builder support. Whether the team adjusts its approach — or whether rivals pounce on any exodus — remains to be seen.
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