Base's favoritism strategy angers builders, and the creator coin ecosystem faces a trust crisis

Base has gained attention due to the prosperity of the creator coin ecosystem, but behind this hype lies an increasingly prominent problem: extreme concentration of ecosystem resources in specific projects is triggering strong pushback from builders. On this once considered inclusive Layer 2 chain, favoritism has become a core contradiction tearing the community apart.

Zora Dominates, Base Ecosystem Shows “Bipolarization”

Base’s promotion of creator coins mainly revolves around close integration with the NFT marketplace Zora. This strategy has been quite effective in recent times — in August, it set a record for daily token minting volume surpassing Solana, and on-chain activity metrics once drew significant attention.

But at what cost? Aside from Zora-related initiatives, other mature native projects on Base are being deliberately or unintentionally neglected. Marketing and social media support are increasingly focused on the Zora ecosystem, and builders are beginning to feel an invisible favoritism — official channels’ attention, promotion, and recognition seem to serve only a select few “chosen” projects.

This phenomenon has sparked widespread disappointment within the community. Supporters once believed that creator coins represented a new on-chain revenue stream for creators and provided a cultural gateway into crypto. But now it appears more like building a “closed club” rather than fostering an inclusive ecosystem.

Builders Speak Out, Centrifugal Force Grows

Jacek, head of the degen ecosystem, voiced the opinions of many Base builders on social platforms. He bluntly pointed out that Base’s push for creator coins is creating a narrow, biased ecosystem — projects that truly brought growth and liquidity to the chain are being sidelined.

“I am very disappointed with @base’s forced promotion of creator coins,” Jacek said. “We can’t even get attention from the official Base X account, let alone recognition through retweets or mentions.” This isn’t just an isolated voice — many other builders share the same feeling: if your project isn’t part of the favored narrative, it essentially doesn’t exist.

Ironically, when degen tokens bridged to Solana, they immediately gained support from Solana’s official accounts and Helius CEO. This stark contrast deeply stings the Base community — why does a project that moves to a competing chain receive more recognition?

This phenomenon exposes a key issue in Base’s ecosystem management: official resource allocation logic is seriously misaligned with builders’ expectations. When some projects are marginalized for not fitting the “official preferences,” it not only harms those projects but also damages the overall inclusiveness of the ecosystem.

Competitors Watch Closely, Base Must Change

Although Base performs well in transaction throughput — according to Basescan data, it continues to handle over 10 million transactions daily, maintaining substantial on-chain activity — whether these numbers can be sustained depends on whether builders are willing to stay.

Critics warn that worsening builder sentiment could be a key factor driving projects to switch to competitors like Solana or Sui. Jacek’s degen has already made the move, and his experience may inspire more projects to follow suit. When builders feel they are being favored or ignored by the official channels, they will naturally seek more friendly and fair ecosystems.

The broader tension facing Base reflects a deeper issue: Can Base maintain fairness to all builders while pursuing adoption and growth? The balance between these goals has been broken, and short-term growth metrics mask long-term concerns.

In the coming months, whether Base can adapt to these emotional shifts and adjust its ecosystem governance remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: if Base continues to favor specific tracks like creator coins without correction, competitors will simply watch and wait — and the loss of builders on Base could become a real threat. Ecosystem fairness is not only a moral issue but also a strategic one that determines whether Base can sustain its competitive edge long-term.