Coinbase faces backlash after viral Base token crashes within minutes

Coinbase is distancing itself from a controversial memecoin that recently caused chaos on its blockchain network. The token, named "Base is for everyone," had a sudden surge and crash, and millions were lost in a matter of minutes, leading to fierce condemnation across the crypto ecosystem.

Coinbase Reacts After $15M Token Crash

On April 16, Base’s official X account posted an image with its usual slogan, “Base is for everyone,” and linked to a post on Zora, a social media platform where content becomes tradeable tokens. That post was quickly turned into a token on Zora — and within just over an hour, it reached a market cap of $17.1 million.

But in a shocking turn, the coin's value crashed by almost 90% in the next 20 minutes, falling to $1.9 million. It has since recovered slightly and now trades around $7.7 million. The total trading volume has crossed $35 million.

Source: Base

Coinbase Responds: “We Did Not Launch This”

Facing backlash, a spokeswoman of the coinbase exchange clarified that the company had nothing to do with the creation of the token. She explained that Base posted content on Zora, and Zora’s system automatically created the token.

The post came with a disclaimer saying that the tokens were not meant for profit and there would be no development or promise of future value. Coinbase also received 10 million tokens from the 1 billion total supply but claimed it would never sell them. So far, the project has made over $61,000 from fees, which Coinbase says will be used to support developers on the network.

Crypto Community Slams the Move

Despite Coinbase’s explanation, many in the crypto space were not pleased. Some users called the move a credibility killer. Former Riot Platforms researcher Pierre Rochard said the currency was “terrible for the industry,” while Abhishek Pawa from AP Collective accused the platform of poorly trying to turn memecoins into “contentcoins.”

Pawa did say the idea had potential but slammed how Base handled the rollout, calling the effort clumsy and confusing.

Jesse Pollack, the creator of Base, defended the experiment. He said on X that putting all content onchain is the future and that someone had to take the lead. He believes creators should earn from their content through tokens, but admitted that this shift will need a complete mindset change in how people see online content.

Whales Sniped the Token Early

Adding to the drama, a crypto developer known as “Pop Punk” discovered two wallets bought 21% of the token’s supply early on, paying just 2 ETH (about $3,200). They later flipped those tokens for a total profit of nearly $300,000.

Shortly after the chaos, Base shared another Zora post for an upcoming event in New York, which also created a new coin — but this one flopped fast. It only reached a peak of $987,570 before crashing to around $230,000.

Final Thoughts

As coinbase tries to distance themselves, the event demonstrates how rapidly matters take different turns in the crypto industry. What began as a simple idea quickly turned into a mess of quick profits, big losses, and blame. Only time will tell if “contentcoins” are the future or just another short-lived trend.