Base Creator Coin Crashes 67% in Hours – Nick Shirley’s $9M Token Proves “It Just Didn’t Work”

The rapid rise and collapse of a creator token tied to YouTuber Nick Shirley is fueling renewed debate over whether “creator coins” can deliver lasting on-chain activity, even when backed by viral attention and major platforms.

The token, launched on Coinbase-backed Ethereum layer-2 network Base through the Zora creator platform, lost roughly 67% of its value within hours, falling from a peak valuation near $9 million to about $3 million by Jan. 1, 2026.

Shirley’s Creator Token Surged on Hype, Then Lost Momentum

Shirley’s token, traded under the ticker $THENICKSHIRLEY, emerged in late 2025 after a 42-minute investigative video he published went viral across X, drawing hundreds of millions of views and attention from high-profile figures.

The video, centered on alleged childcare fraud in Minnesota, pushed Shirley into the center of a political and media storm after the claims were amplified by Elon Musk and figures tied to the Trump administration.

The allegations later became part of broader discussions cited when federal officials announced a freeze on childcare funds to Minnesota.

Against that backdrop, Shirley’s creator token was promoted as a real-world test of decentralized content monetization.

The initial surge was swift as the trading activity drove the token’s fully diluted valuation to roughly $9 million, with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly praising the launch as an example of on-chain creator monetization.

However, the rally faded almost as quickly as it began. Within days, the token had dropped more than 60%, with most trading volume coming from existing on-chain traders rather than new users onboarding to Base or Zora.

Despite the price decline, on-chain data showed that Shirley earned an estimated $41,600 to $65,000 in creator royalties tied to trading activity.

Critics argue that this outcome highlights a structural imbalance, where creators and early traders benefit from short-term speculation while broader adoption fails to materialize.

Several traders described the episode as a missed opportunity for Base and Zora to convert viral attention into sustained user growth.

One of the most widely shared critiques came from a trader and content creator known as notthreadguy, who argued in a video that Shirley’s launch represented the strongest possible test case for creator coins and still failed to show durable demand.

He pointed to the lack of follow-through from platforms and the absence of meaningful new user onboarding, noting that profits and losses were largely confined to speculative traders already active on-chain.

Additionally, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong acknowledged having a “chat” with notthreadguy.

Creator Coins Cool as Base Pushes Deeper Into SocialFi

The backlash landed amid broader frustration with creator-focused experiments on Base.

Other Zora-linked tokens have followed similar patterns, marked by sharp price spikes followed by rapid declines and thin liquidity.

A separate Solana-based meme coin, $LEARING, created by third parties to capitalize on a spelling error spotted in Shirley’s video, briefly reached a market capitalization above $3.3 million before also fading.

The episode comes as Base continues to position itself as a hub for decentralized social applications, following earlier experiments such as Friend.tech and newer platforms like Farcaster and Zora.

Industry forecasts project the SocialFi sector could exceed $10 billion by 2033, yet user retention has remained uneven.

Friend.tech, often cited as an early success, saw daily active users peak near 80,000 before falling below 10,000.

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