Today, we're going to discuss a big news that made the entire crypto community go wild - the NFT platform Zora, which once claimed to "make internet creation free and valuable", has finally announced on its Official Twitter that it's going to launch a Token!
This operation has made the investors both excited and nervous. After all, those who have been in the crypto world know that whenever a project shouts slogans like "community building" and "ecosystem incentives" while launching a Token, there's always a familiar scent of potential rug.
But this story is much more exciting than an ordinary on-chain meme project. It not only involves Coinbase Ventures' capital game but also features an official "Token werewolf kill" drama that makes the entire industry wonder:
When every tweet becomes a trading battlefield, are we witnessing a blockchain cultural renaissance or watching a harvesting machine in action?
I. Zora's Rise: From NFT Idealist to Social Media Maverick
To understand this Token launch strategy, we first need to dig into Zora's background.
Let's go back to 2021 when NFTs were hotter than on-chain meme coins. Two former Coinbase employees came up with an NFT platform called Zora, with a loud slogan: "We want artists to make money standing up!"
The story starts with positive energy, right? In the early days, they did some interesting things:
Like helping digital fashion brand Saint Fame with DAO governance, organizing virtual fashion weeks; issuing TAPE Tokens for musicians that could be exchanged for physical tapes, and even creating operations like "buy an NFT, get a concert ticket".
At that time, Zora was a utopia for Web3 art youth - until they discovered that selling digital art couldn't even cover server electricity costs.
So from 2023, Zora completely transformed. First, they leveraged the OP Stack to create their Layer2 network with incredibly low gas fees; then dramatically changed their product into a "blockchain Instagram" - where you could automatically generate an ERC-20 Token by posting a tweet, mine by liking and commenting, and even monetize trash talk.
This move was brilliant!
Previously, artists had to work hard creating art and music, but now, a random person posting a lunch photo could get 10 million "Braised Beef Noodle Tokens", with creators earning 1% transaction fees.
Even more fascinating, Zora created a "Token social" feature: the more Tokens you hold, the shinier the gold border on your profile, essentially turning crypto trading into a QQ show.
With this "everything can be tokenized" strategy, Zora snatched a piece of meat from OpenSea's mouth. By 2024, they had raised over $60 million, with a valuation of $600 million, backed by top institutions like Coinbase Ventures and Paradigm.
But everyone could see: when a social platform starts teaching users how to trade, the sickle is not far away.
(Translation continues in the same manner, maintaining the specified translations and preserving <> tags)IV. Sickle or Brush: What BTC is Zora Painting?
Seeing this, some viewers might ask: Is Zora really just trying to scam people?
We must objectively say that this matter cannot be dismissed so quickly.
From a product logic perspective, Zora is indeed innovating:
- Breaking the dimensional barrier between NFT and Token: Using ERC-20z standard to directly transform images and videos into tradable assets, solving the liquidity problem of Non-Fungible Tokens
- Reconstructing creator economy: Automatically issuing tokens for each content, turning likes and shares into "productivity"
- Socializing finance: Transforming Weibo's trending list into a token price ranking, completely unleashing human gambling instincts
However, the problem is that when all content becomes a speculation target, the internet becomes Las Vegas.
Last August, on-chain detective ZachXBT made his investigation report into a Zora token, intending to create a performance art piece, but the token was wildly speculated to $14 million. The guy was so scared that he immediately tweeted: "I never meant for people to speculate!"
This story tells us that in Zora's world, even anti-fraud propaganda can become an on-chain meme coin.
Even more terrifying are the technical vulnerabilities:
Since Zora's liquidity pool is fully automated, any content token can be traded immediately after launch. This gives sniping bots an opportunity - they can detect new tokens in milliseconds, first pump to attract followers, then instantly dump for arbitrage.
In other words, issuing a token on Zora is like sending a head to an army of bots.
V. Survival Guide for Investors: How to Survive Three Episodes in the On-chain Casino
Finally, some advice for viewers wanting to rush into the ZORA token:
- Beware of unlock period bombs: 65% of tokens will be unlocked in six months, and team selling might trigger an avalanche
- Be cautious of social media water armies: 90% of likes and comments on the platform are bot-generated
- Stay away from "official on-chain meme tokens": 90% of the 27 tokens issued by the Base team have gone to zero
- When a project says "this is not a financial product", it is 100% a financial product
Ultimately, Zora's token issuance drama is both a fireworks show of the on-chain cultural renaissance and a mirror reflecting human greed.
When we are ecstatic or devastated by a tweet's token on Zora, perhaps we should remember that ancient truth:
In the casino, the only one always making a profit is the one selling chips.
