Base creator Jesse Pollak is dealing with rising criticism after publicly selling what gave the impression to be a meme token linked to rapper Soulja Boy.
This case reignites long-standing issues about movie star involvement in speculative crypto tasks.
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The controversy unfolded over a collection of posts on X (Twitter) in mid-December. On December 13, Soulja Boy shared a comparability of creator payout schedules throughout main platforms, arguing that newer apps provided quicker monetization.
“Twitch pays you as soon as a month. TikTok pays you as soon as every week. Favorited pays you as soon as a day. Select your poison properly,” the rapper wrote.
A day later, Pollak appeared to amplify the message whereas positioning Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer‑2 community, as a brand new creator-focused monetization layer.
With this comment, Jesse Pollak framed on-chain instruments as a superior different to conventional social platforms.
The state of affairs escalated when Pollak straight replied to Soulja Boy. The crypto government acknowledged that he had simply backed Soulja Boy on Base and had “immediately earned,” describing the dynamic as “new web” conduct.
Notably, Pollak didn’t explicitly promote a selected token by title. Nonetheless, many customers interpreted the alternate as an endorsement of a Soulja Boy–linked meme token and, extra broadly, of the rapper’s crypto exercise.
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ZachXBT Calls Out Soulja Boy’s Crypto Historical past
That notion triggered a swift response from blockchain investigator ZachXBT. The sleuth publicly questioned Pollak’s determination to have interaction with Soulja Boy in any respect.
“Why give SouljaBoy the platform to rip-off new folks?” ZachXBT posed, referencing his prior investigations into the rapper’s crypto historical past.
ZachXBT pointed to analysis he revealed in April 2023 documenting what he described as a sample of exploitative conduct.
In keeping with that investigation, Soulja Boy was concerned in 73 crypto promotions and 16 NFT launches. Many allegedly resulted in collapses, deserted tasks, or rug pulls.
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The analysis detailed repeated situations by which promoted tokens misplaced worth shortly after heavy advertising and marketing, adopted by the deletion of promotional posts.
The investigator additionally highlighted alleged regulatory and authorized points surrounding the rapper’s previous exercise. Amongst them are previous SEC costs associated to Tron promotions and a lawsuit related to SafeMoon.
Past tokens, the analysis described quite a few NFT drops that marketed future utility however had been later deserted, with some collections reportedly faraway from marketplaces on account of issues over mental property.
For critics, the difficulty extends past any single token. They argue that when distinguished builders like Pollak, who performs a key position in shaping Base’s public picture, interact with controversial figures, it dangers undermining belief within the broader ecosystem.
Base has positioned itself as a mainstream-friendly, compliant Layer‑2 community backed by Coinbase, making reputational threat significantly delicate.
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The episode has reignited a well-known debate in crypto. Accountability lies when influential builders amplify celebrity-driven tasks with troubled observe data.
“Even when intentions had been lighthearted, credibility threat compounds quick when severe builders mingle with serial promoters. Markets decide alignment, not tone. Sign erodes when consideration shifts from innovation to spectacle, and liquidity follows notion,” one consumer expressed.
Supporters of open networks argue that permissionless methods shouldn’t police who can construct or promote on‑chain.
Critics counter that visibility from senior ecosystem leaders capabilities as implicit validation, particularly for newcomers.
The backlash dealing with Pollak highlights the rising scrutiny on how main platforms steadiness openness with due diligence. It additionally exhibits how shortly previous controversies resurface when belief is at stake. That is as crypto as soon as once more experiments with creator monetization and meme-driven distribution.