Zora, Backed by Coinbase, Announces Token Airdrop Following Controversial Promotional Campaign

Zora, a platform supported by Coinbase, is set to distribute its native token through an airdrop after a week of divisive marketing efforts. The move comes amid heightened scrutiny of crypto promotions and their impact on community sentiment.

Base’s official X account posted about one such token, called "Base is for everyone,” which sent its market cap soaring from a few thousand to over $17 million within hours.

Blockchain sleuths later found three crypto wallets bought the tokens ahead of the official announcement — netting them a profit of $666,000, as reported.

Crypto exchange Coinbase, which develops and maintains Base, told CoinDesk at the time that is for everyone coin is not the official cryptocurrency of Base, and the layer 2 did not directly sell those.

Announcement of a token following such promotions has sent X users erupted with accusations of insider trading and poor communication.

“So it was literally an airdrop shill to create hype and liquidity for a dump of supply controlled by Coinbase Ventures? Got it,” snarked user @DCBcrypto.

Others, like @KienNguyen_NFT, predicted “Day 1 listing + insiders making 8 figs incoming,” while @blknoiz06 gave a backhanded compliment: “good marketing.”

Pollack has since squashed rumors of the Zora promotions being a marketing campaign, however.