Base-Endorsed 'Base is for Everyone' Meme Coin Crashes 90% in 5 Minutes on April 16, Sparking Manipulation Fear

By CryptoDavid

Edited and Translated by Cheryl L.

The Base blockchain, a key component of Coinbase's ecosystem, found itself at the center of controversy after a meme coin it promoted, "Base is for Everyone," crashed 90% in just five minutes following a meteoric rise.

On April 16, 2025, at around 19:00 UTC, Base posted on Zora, a chain-based social media platform that automatically converts posts into tokens, with the slogan "Base is for everyone."

The post, amplified by Base's official X account with nearly 900,000 followers commenting "Coined it" and a direct link to the "Base is for Everyone" memecoin. Base's founder, Jesse Pollak, further boosted the post, fueling market excitement. The endorsement, perceived as a strong signal by speculative traders, triggered intense buying activity. According to DEXSCREENER, the token's price surged from $0.0001 to $0.012 within an hour, a 120-fold increase, pushing its market cap from tens of thousands to $20 million.

However, the token's rapid surge and subsequent collapse have sparked accusations of market manipulation and eroded community trust. At approximately 20:30 UTC, the token's market cap plummeted from $14 million to $1.4 million in five minutes, a 90% drop. Community sentiment shifted from enthusiasm to outrage, with users reinterpreting Base's slogan as "Base is for everyone, including those rug pulls."

The incident significantly harmed Base's reputation. Some users directly accused Base of "significantly damaging community trust," arguing that a token explicitly endorsed by Base crashing so quickly undermined public confidence. Given Coinbase's status as a regulated public company, this led to highly negative public perceptions, with Jesse Pollak and Base's leadership facing sharp criticism. As Base pursues a compliance-focused path, the community believes this negative event could attract further regulatory scrutiny.

Despite the crash, the token did not fully collapse. By 21:00, the token's price began a slow recovery, reaching a market cap of $13.3 million by press time, with 24-hour trading volume hitting $35.7 million. The number of buyers grew from roughly 4,000 post-crash to 9,257, suggesting speculators were re-entering, possibly viewing the dip as a buying opportunity or large holders repurchasing to stabilize prices.

Who Triggered the Crash?

Onchain analysis by @dethective revealed a key clue behind the crash: a mysterious address (0x099246ca997acf47ada682c9c60f9ed0954ad960) purchased $2,400 worth of the token (1.5 ETH) just one minute before Base's post. This address then sold at the peak price of $0.012, netting a $200,000 profit.

Transaction records show part of the profits were transferred to an address named "bandemic.base.eth". Further analysis via GMGN indicates this address is a frequent trader of Base meme coins, often marked as "smart money" with typical profits ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. This incident, however, yielded an unusually high return, raising questions about potential insider activity.

Community Backlash and Base's Response

The crash severely damaged Base's reputation, with X users accusing the platform of undermining community trust.

Base's spokesperson responded to the incident, clarifying that the token was automatically created by Zora's platform instead of Base. The only thing Base did was post on Zora. In an email to The Block, they stated, "Base did not launch a token, this is not an official Base token, and Base did not sell this token," adding that such details were covered in legal disclaimers.

This explanation was far from satisfying the community. However, Base's subsequent X posts avoided addressing the token's crash, instead elaborating on the "contentcoin" concept and framing "Base is for Everyone" as an experiment to bring content on-chain. "Base is posting on Zora because we believe everyone should bring their content onchain, and use the tools that make it possible," Base interpreted in the official statement, "If we want the future to be onchain, we have to be willing to experiment in public. That's what we're doing."

Jesse Pollak, the founder of Base, also posted extensively about contentcoin and Zora, a topic he had publicly discussed for over a month.

AP Collective founder Abhi commented on X, "Jesse's defensive stance post-collapse came off dismissive, framing retail losses as misunderstanding innovation rather than Base's severe miscommunication."

Lessons from the Incident

This event offers several insights for Web3 participants. First, official endorsements do not guarantee safety. Even meme coin projects backed by established platforms like Base can involve insider trading or rapid sell-offs. Second, when trading, monitoring large holders' activities is crucial to avoid becoming exit liquidity. For instance, tracking token holder concentration (e.g., the share held by the top 10 addresses) and unusual trading volumes can provide valuable signals.

At a deeper level, the controversy may stem from Base's strategic missteps. Base aimed to attract users and energize its ecosystem through meme coin promotion, an approach rooted in bringing cultural elements on-chain. However, during execution, Base overlooked the community's core demands for transparency and fairness. As a key partner in Base's ecosystem, Zora's token generation event (TGE) mechanism may have played a significant role in the incident. While unconfirmed, community speculation about a "Base-Zora coordinated pump" suggests Base should disclose details of its collaboration with Zora to address doubts. Base's failure to adequately disclose risks or communicate with the community beforehand led to a trust crisis. Subsequent explanations of the promotion as experimental appeared insufficient.

Ultimately, the lesson is not "Base is for everyone" but "Risk is for everyone." Caution and risk awareness are essential in navigating the crypto space.