The founder of the Base service at Coinbase, Jesse Pollak, has become the center of discussions in the cryptocurrency community after commenting on the popularity of so-called ‘viral’ tokens. In his tweet, he praised the success of tokens from the Zora platform, which reached a record number of active users on April 20, 2025, but this sparked outrage from crypto analyst ZachXBT.
This is reported by Business • Media
Pollak and the Critique of ‘Viral’ Tokens
In his post, he wrote:
“all these ‘viral’ coins — and not a single one even has a market cap over $5 million.” This provoked a sharp response from ZachXBT, who noted in his reply that “most content is worth almost nothing, and a large percentage is worth something. How often do Instagram or TikTok make $5 million profit from a single video?”
Pollak responded that overestimating the significance of large market capitalizations harms the understanding of the nature of crypto content. He emphasized: “Most content is worth almost nothing, a small percentage is worth something, and an even smaller percentage is worth a lot. How often do Instagram or TikTok make $5 million profit from a single video?”
Exchange of Views on the Role of Traders and Creators in the Crypto Economy
The same ZachXBT complained that a $5 million market cap does not correspond to the level of liquidity, and top creators earn significant amounts from promotional posts, so they do not need to «dilute their brand with a bunch of coins.» To this, Pollak replied that his main goal is to help creators and developers realize their ideas. He stressed that he aims to create a global on-chain economy where creativity and ownership take precedence over speculation.
Moreover, he expressed his support for traders, although he believes that assisting creators and developers is key to the industry’s growth. Pollak stated: “I love traders, but I think the North Star is helping creators and developers bring their dreams to life.”
It is worth noting that after the launch of the Base token through the Zora platform, its market cap quickly rose to over $21 million, but within a few hours, it plummeted by 50%, further confirming the high volatility in the cryptocurrency space.