Why Is Base App Killing Creator Rewards to Bet Big on Trading?
Ever wonder what happens when an “Everything App” decides it’s time to trim the fat and laser-focus on what truly matters? Coinbase’s Base App, initially brewing up a vibrant social space with its Creator Rewards program and a Farcaster-powered feed, is dialing it back to hone in exclusively on tradable assets. It’s like hosting a wild party and then suddenly realizing the real fun’s on the trading floor—not the sidelines. While the Creator Rewards program dished out a modest $450,000 to about 17,000 creators, translating to roughly $26 each, Base’s creator Jesse Pollak hints at a strategic pivot: less chaos, more clarity, and a singular obsession with trading. Sure, it’s a shift that might leave some social butterflies fluttering back to Farcaster’s native app, but this move places Base App right smack at the heart of Coinbase’s grand vision to become the ultimate crypto marketplace hub. Bold? Absolutely. Necessary? Time will tell. LEARN MORE.
Coinbase’s “Everything App,” Base App, is sunsetting its Creator Rewards program and Farcaster-powered social feed as part of a strategic shift to focus entirely on tradable assets.
The Creator Rewards program was launched in July and was intended to make the Ethereum layer-2 Base a more social ecosystem, where activity and engagement translate into earnings.
The Base App X account said on Monday that it distributed around $450,000 to 17,000 creators over seven months, with data suggesting that creators earned an average of $26.
“As we’ve rolled the app out, we’ve realized we need to do less, better. And by focusing on tradable assets, that’s exactly what we can do,” Base creator Jesse Pollak said, adding:
“The app needs to have one primary focus, and that thing is trading.”
The Base App’s Creator Rewards program will wrap on Sunday, with final payouts on Feb. 18.
As for the Farcaster, Pollak said Base App wasn’t a perfect fit for its talk feed feature, though he plans to continue supporting the decentralized social network and its developer ecosystem.
“…candidly, I think the truth is that the base app was always an imperfect farcaster client,” said Pollak.
“With this change, I expect those users to flow back to the farcaster app (myself included) and inject more energy into the economy there, with a best in class interface.”
Base App is at the center of Coinbase’s future
The shift in focus to tradable assets aligns with Coinbase’s broader mission to become an “Everything App” across spot crypto and derivatives trading, stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization, prediction markets and more.
Base App, which officially launched in December after several months in beta, is the self-custody wallet and all-in-one app facilitating part of that trading experience.
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Coinbase also previously touted the idea of launching a Base token. However, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Pollak have been relatively silent on that plan in recent months.
The sunset of Creator Rewards does not affect Base App’s Creator Coins program, which allows users to create ERC-20 tokens linked to their Base App profile and decentralized social media platform Zora.
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