@tldr

I have always liked the swing at creator coins (even though I don't like using them personally - they strain my attention in way that's not enjoyable). But the strong negative reactions you mention have crossed into something that feels unproductive, and frankly dangerous. That's because they are coming from Base builders and core community members. For example, this weekend I ran what should have been a super fun event on the Base App for the top 200 holders of $BRACKY (we're a sports prediction market, the most used AI agent on Farcaster and possibly all of Base). So: we're running this fun new game, that is essentially about giving out a significant amount of money in a way that's fun and social, and we located it on Base App, bc of some genuine superpowers we have there via the XMTP team. It's really cool stuff. And then: about 50% of our community – our top and most active holders with collectively millions invested in our product – are saying or seeming like locating our game on the Base App makes them more hesitant to play. And about 10% decided to sit out from the experience rather than use Base at all. This was alarming to me. I have always supported creator coins, because I support Jesse as an entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur myself, I understand how hard it is to make big bets and lead people into a frontier, and that sometimes not anyone except the leader has anything close to all the information. I believe in supporting leaders through committed, positive action. This is all to say, I trust Jesse, still do, and have wanted to see this specific shot on goal. I don't even have my own verdict on creator coins. It doesn't matter what I think, and I may not be a target audience. But the way that people in crypto are starting to feel – almost as if they would *like* to see it fail rather than succeed – makes my alarms go off. Somehow, creator coins are at the very center of this vibe. My observation is that they are not hated by outsiders (who hardly know about them), but rather by a plurality of our own believers. And the truth is that even if Jesse is actually right about creator coins themselves (I mean, he could be, there's some interesting traction) the dynamic around *perception* has reached a level that feels no longer about stated preferences, but about revealed ones. Creator coins – or, to be accurate here, important people's perception of creator coins – are beginning to feel like a liability to me as a builder on Base (maybe they have been for awhile, or maybe this is a recent change?) and I think that I am among the most reluctant to say that. I don't have answers, but I wanted to report my experience in the spirit of constructive data. LETS FUCKING WIN IN 2026.

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