Creator coin experiment faces rejection after 66% drop in Nick Shirley's token

Source: Yellow Original Title: Creator Coin Experiment Faces Rejection After 66% Drop in Nick Shirley’s Token

Original Link: The Base by Coinbase network faces growing criticism after the collapse of Nick Shirley’s creator token on Zora.

The token briefly reached a market capitalization of $9 million on December 28, before falling 66% to $3 million in two days.

The rapid collapse has reignited the debate over whether creator coins can sustain significant on-chain activity.

Shirley gained massive attention with viral videos documenting an alleged scam at daycares in Minnesota, accumulating over 100 million views.

What happened

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong promoted Shirley’s token launch on social media as proof that content is better monetized on Base.

The token generated $7.9 million in trading volume but failed to maintain its initial valuation.

Trader notthreadguy argued in a widely shared critique that if Shirley couldn’t make creator coins work, no one could.

Several developers and community members from Base have reported that official support has been very narrowly focused on initiatives linked to Zora.

A Base builder questioned why projects should stay on the network if you’re not part of the favored narrative.

Why it matters

Base has positioned creator coins as a key strategy following previous experiments with Friend.tech and Farcaster.

Market studies project that SocialFi will reach $10 billion by 2033, with an annual growth rate of 17.5%.

However, most of the trading volume came from existing cryptocurrency traders, rather than new users entering the ecosystem.

Armstrong responded to the criticism by stating that he had a great conversation with community members and received many good ideas.

The incident highlights the ongoing challenges of turning viral moments on social media into sustainable blockchain-based monetization.