App delays and launch sniping: Base co-founder’s token issuance sparks community dissatisfaction

While mainstream altcoins remain weak, Jesse chose this moment to launch a token, and the market may not buy it.

Written by: Chloe, ChainCatcher

 

Yesterday, Base co-founder Jesse Pollak launched the jesse token, with the release scheduled for November 21 at 1:00 (UTC+8). Before the token launch, Jesse tweeted that the token would debut on the Base App, emphasizing that this was to test and promote the creator coin feature of the Base App, allowing users to directly participate in minting and trading through the app. He also promised there would be no presale, internal allocation, or any unfair mechanisms.

However, there was a strong reaction from the community. Many users waited in the Base App but were unable to buy in time due to app crashes and delays. Eventually, Jesse posted the contract address on X, while the Base App update was delayed by about 17-20 minutes, causing retail investors to miss out on low prices. The community complained about being toyed with, calling it "the most failed fair launch in Base history," and some users even spent hours obtaining app invite codes to no avail.

In addition, according to Arkham tracking data, the token was immediately sniped upon launch, with a total of 26% of the supply (about 261.7 million tokens) bought in the same block, mainly through the Flashblocks mechanism on the Base network. Snipers paid high priority fees to compete, with the top two snipers earning about $707,700 and $619,600 respectively, totaling $1.3 million in arbitrage. The community called this a "scientist battlefield," with almost no opportunity for retail participation.

Currently, the price of jesse is $0.01705, with a market cap of $17.05 million.

Jesse's Vision to Return Rights to All Creators

Jesse insists this is not a meme coin, but a "creator coin"—a lasting asset deeply tied to his personal brand and influence. The emergence of creator tokens, combined with "content coins," aims to return ownership and profits to creators and fans.

As early as this April, Base had already sparked controversy over content coins. At that time, the official Base account posted the slogan "Base is for everyone" on Zora, and the post was automatically minted into a tradable token. Base then shared the post on X. The resulting token's market cap soared to $17 million within an hour, but then plummeted by 90%.

This incident triggered much controversy in the community. Many users believed it was a meme coin endorsed by Base. On the other hand, on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain revealed that three crypto wallets bought the Base is for everyone token before the official announcement and quickly sold after the news, earning a total profit of $666,000. After these whales sold, the token's market cap dropped below $2 million, making latecomers the victims and raising suspicions of insider trading.

The Base is for everyone token was essentially endorsed by Base, which severely damaged community trust at the time. Facing controversy over Base allegedly launching tokens to "cut leeks," Base explained that the token was automatically minted by the Zora platform, and Base had only posted a message on the platform.

According to CCN, Jesse later admitted that he personally approved the post and said it was an experiment, while denying allegations of market manipulation. Since then, he has continued to mint "content coins" on Zora.

Celebrity Tokens Are Highly Likely to End in Failure

Although Jesse emphasizes the differentiation of content/creator coins, such token launches tied to celebrities or creators themselves often end in failure.

A study by CoinWire found that among 1,567 meme coins promoted by 377 X platform celebrities, 86% lost at least 90% of their value within three months of endorsement.

Even relatively successful projects like the tokens of Trump and singer Iggy Azalea, which maintained market cap and trading volume over a longer period, are unlikely to reach their previous highs again.

Whether meme coins or content/creator coins, they are essentially attention economy games. Even if retail investors have a chance for high returns, their value is often hard to sustain. Moreover, with mainstream altcoins weak, Jesse's choice to launch a token at this time may not be well received by the market.