Since its launch in 2020, the Zora platform has been focused on the NFT market, but later switched to tokenizing digital content. The project received the support of major investors, and its development went hand in hand with the growth of the Base ecosystem.
The launch of its own token was expected, but a specific reason for it arose after the Base team publicly (not without scandal and reproaches) supported the idea of so-called content coins — tokens issued from regular posts.
What is Zora?
The Zora team was founded by people from Coinbase and other major technology companies. Co-founder Jacob Horn worked at Coinbase and the Variant Foundation before launching the project.
Other participants include Diane June, who previously worked on product design at Instagram, and James Kramer, also with experience at Coinbase.
At an early stage, the team focused on tools for NFT, but in early 2024, Zora shifted its focus towards simpler and more accessible tokenization of user content. One of the founders of the project described it as "a social network where every post is a memcoin."
The platform operates on the basis of the second—level Base-blockchain network, launched with the support of the Coinbase exchange. Among the investors of the project are Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm and other large funds. According to public data, Zora has raised more than $50 million in venture capital.
The project is initially focused on authors and creators: Zora provides them with tools to produce digital objects that can be sold or transferred to other users. All actions are recorded on the blockchain, and the content itself becomes part of a decentralized digital environment.
Tokenomics of ZORA
On April 23, Zora launched its own token, ZORA. At the same time, there will be an airdrop for users who have interacted with the platform. The allocation will cover two periods: from January 1, 2020 to March 3, 2025 and from March 3 to April 20. Actions such as publications, purchases, sales, and interaction with the protocol via Uniswap on the Base network are taken into account.
The total volume of the issue will amount to 10 billion tokens. According to the published tokenomics:
45% is distributed among the team, strategic partners and investors;
29.4% is allocated to initiatives for creators, collectors and developers;
25.6% is reserved in the treasury of the Zora Foundation.
Pools for the team, partners, and investors will be unblocked gradually over 36-48 months, starting six months after TGE. Tokens distributed through airdrop, as well as funds for future user incentives, are not subject to blocking.
The project team emphasized that ZORA does not give the rights to manage or participate in the company's share. Its main purpose is to stimulate activity within the platform and support ecosystem initiatives.
Expectations around the launch have increased amid speculation about the token's listing on major exchanges. Although there were no official announcements from trading platforms at the time of publication, the participation of Coinbase Ventures in the early rounds of Zora gave rise to speculation. Coinbase has participated in at least two investment rounds.
Content coins and a surge of interest in Zora
Activity around Zora increased dramatically in early April after a series of posts from Jesse Pollack, head of the Base project at Coinbase. He started posting images on Zora, each of which automatically turned into a token.
This became an impulse to promote the idea of so-called "content coins" — tokens issued on the basis of digital posts. According to Pollack, this model gives authors the opportunity to earn directly, without the participation of centralized platforms.
The campaign received wide coverage and mixed reactions. One of the first tokens released against the background of Pollack's activity, called Base is for everyone, reached a capitalization of $17 million in a few hours, and then collapsed by 95%.
Despite the high volatility, tokens continued to appear, and Pollack himself actively promoted the idea of a "content economy" through interviews and social media.
At the same time, activity on the platform itself increased dramatically. According to the corresponding dashboard on Dune, the daily number of traders on Zora has grown from 40,000 to almost 285,000 in a few days. This coincided with the publication of the second airdrop snapshot.
Some users felt that the token campaign was launched to increase reach and engagement before the launch of ZORA. Pollack denies such accusations, claiming that the actions of the Base team and the future launch of the token were not coordinated.
Zora remains one of the most prominent platforms on the Base blockchain. The project continues to develop tools for the issuance and circulation of tokens related to digital content.
The Zora ecosystem has already launched partner companies with projects such as Azuki (Arbzuki), Song camp and Drakula. Uniswap used the platform to conduct sales; one of them raised more than $300 thousand. Individual initiatives allocated part of the proceeds to grants, including to the Arbitrum Foundation.
Formally, Zara remains an independent project, but its close relationship with Base and support from Coinbase Ventures make it part of the infrastructure being formed around the network.
