Coinbase’s Base bets big on viral content coins with plan to hold every collected token forever

Coinbase’s Layer 2 network, Base, has announced it will start collecting coined content as part of its push to support creators in a new digital economy.

In an Aug. 7 post on X, the Ethereum layer-2 said it will hold these tokens indefinitely, with no plans to trade or sell them. It also stressed that the move aims to reward creativity rather than make investment gains.

Base stated:

“We believe creators should be directly rewarded for creativity, and we want to showcase how creators can earn from their content.”

The network will collect these tokens through its Base App, where creators can now earn a fee every time their content is bought or sold. Payments will be sent directly to their wallets.

Content coins

Over the past months, content coins, digital tokens representing a single piece of content, have gained significant momentum on Base thanks to the network integration with Zora, a content creation-focused platform.

Base founder Jesse Pollak describes the tokens as merging content and coin into one entity, with value stemming from cultural impact, virality, or meme appeal rather than traditional utility.

However, critics have dismissed the idea as simply another form of memecoin.

In reaction to these claims, Pollak argued that content holds intrinsic worth. He points out that creators generate trillions of dollars in business value globally, yet capture little of it.

In his view, content coins give creators the most powerful tool the industry has for enabling the free flow of value.

He stated:

“The content itself is fundamentally valuable. In a repeated game (like all these coins are), the fundamental value of any individual asset is downstream of the way the participants behave. just like in a traditional art market.”

Zora’s co-founder, Jacob Horne, also explained that this new model allows creators to earn from their work every time it goes viral, unlike traditional social platforms, where viral posts often generate little to no revenue for the creator.

As a result, the explosion of these content coins has helped Base briefly surpass Solana as the leading blockchain for daily token creation. Much of this growth has been driven by Zora, a protocol that allows users to turn digital content into tradable tokens.

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