Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 solution, Base, recently launched the “Base is for everyone” token. This announcement triggered a flurry of consequential market actions and activity. The token—minted on the on-chain social network Zora—enabled three wallets to generate a $500,000+ gain before the announcement was even made. At the same time, the overall market capitalization struggled with extreme downward pressure. This has led to a cry for greater fairness and more transparent execution across the crypto world.
The “Base is for everyone” token minted by Jesse, the creator of Base, who had originally greenlit the project.
The goal is to “normalize putting all content on-chain.” - Jesse
The token became one of the most popular launches ever, but the first day of its debut was filled with negativity. Scalpers and people who front-ran on this poorly-launched, poorly-implemented launch were able to make a killing off multi-front-running campaigns.
In particular, three wallets—0x0992, 0x5D9D, and 0xBD31—bought up a significant quantity of the token prior to Base’s announcement.
3 wallets bought a large amount of "Base is for everyone" before @base posted and sold them, making a profit of ~$666K," - Lookonchain
These wallets were said to have earned a total of about $666,000 in profit through the savvy purchase and sale of the tokens.
In the wake of the announcement, the market capitalization of the token immediately dropped to under $2 million. It has since staged a recovery, surging all the way back to above $18 million as of writing, per DEX Screener data.
Base also called attention to the creative assets associated with the token. Even in the face of that controversy, it doubled down on its promise to bring culture on-chain. The fluctuations in valuation reflect the speculative nature of the cryptocurrency market and the challenges of ensuring equitable access during token launches.
