Backlash Hits Coinbase’s Base After Meme Token Crashes 95% Post-Launch

In less than an hour, the token skyrocketed in valuation. But just as quickly, the market turned — within hours, the coin had shed over $15 million in value. The token’s price crashed by more than 95%, triggering a wave of angry responses from investors who accused Base of recklessness and market manipulation.

Blockchain sleuths quickly jumped into action. Lookonchain, a prominent analytics platform, identified three wallets that bought significant quantities of the token moments before the Base promotional tweet. These wallets sold after the price spike, collectively netting around $666,000 in profit.

Even more striking, two of those wallets together held 21% of the total token supply — a massive concentration for a token ostensibly created as a meme or community asset. According to on-chain data, one wallet spent roughly 0.34 ETH (about $1,050) to acquire 21% of the token supply and later sold it for approximately 99.5 ETH ($306,000).

This timing and behavior have led many to suspect insider trading or pre-coordinated dumping — allegations that neither Base nor Coinbase has publicly addressed so far.

The fallout has been swift. Crypto influencers and developers alike slammed Base for promoting what they say amounted to a stealth pump-and-dump. Critics argue the platform’s endorsement misled retail traders into buying a token that insiders were preparing to offload.

Some users on X compared the episode to historical rug pulls and called for regulatory oversight. Others defended Base, suggesting the token was more of an experimental engagement with Zora’s automated system than a deliberate investment product. Nevertheless, many agree the optics of the event — and the timing of token movements — were damaging.

The Zora protocol, which facilitated the minting of the “Base is for everyone” token, is also facing questions. While Zora aims to democratize token creation by turning social posts into on-chain assets, this incident reveals the risks of such automation — especially when platforms with large followings, like Base, are involved.

The event underscores a growing concern: that meme coins, while often dismissed as jokes or cultural experiments, can lead to real financial harm when driven by hype, speculation, and lack of oversight.

The incident has revived ongoing debates about the ethics of meme coin promotions, the role of blockchain infrastructure providers, and how decentralized systems should handle issues like transparency and investor protection.

For now, “Base is for everyone” may serve less as a message of inclusivity and more as a reminder of how quickly retail excitement can shift in the fast-moving world of crypto markets.