Zora, the on-chain social media platform backed by Coinbase, announced that its ZORA token will officially launch on April 23, following a wave of attention generated by a promotional push from the Base network. The airdrop will be based on two snapshots: one covering user activity from January 1, 2020, to March 3, 2025, and another from March 3 to April 20, 2025. Snapshots are a common method for recording blockchain activity at specific times, allowing users to receive tokens based on their interaction with the platform during those periods.

The spotlight on Zora intensified after Base creator Jesse Pollack highlighted the platform’s ability to create “content coins”—tokens representing images or phrases that are tradable on the blockchain. This promotion resulted in a record number of new users, with over 230,000 new traders interacting with Zora on Sunday. One such token, “Base is for everyone,” saw its market cap soar from a few thousand dollars to over $17 million within hours, after it was promoted on Base’s official X account. However, blockchain investigators discovered that a handful of wallets had bought the tokens ahead of the public announcement, resulting in a $666,000 profit.

Coinbase, the creator of Base, clarified that “Base is for everyone” was not the official cryptocurrency of Base and that the project had not sold those tokens directly. Despite this clarification, the promotional campaign ignited a storm of criticism, with many accusing Coinbase and Zora of insider trading and poor communication. Some users expressed frustration, claiming that the promotion was a deliberate strategy to hype up the token for a controlled sell-off, while others speculated that insiders would profit heavily once the token hit exchanges.

Jesse Pollack responded to these accusations by denying that the promotions were part of a marketing campaign. He dismissed the idea that there was any manipulation behind the token’s success, although the controversy around the promotions continued to stir debate in the crypto community.