Jesse Pollak says Base wont manipulate token prices ‘behind the scenes’
Coinbase Head of Protocol Jesse Pollak has claimed that Base will never “support the chart behind the scenes” and use funds to manipulate a token’s price after users pleaded for the firm to support tokens on its platform.
Pollak specified that the Base team wouldn’t participate in privately “coordinating and deploying capital to actively drive the price of an asset up in an attempt to get to a specific outcome.”
As for why he wouldn’t, he said doing this would “actively disadvantage other assets,” “not be repeatable or long term,” “violate our values around free and open markets,” and “likely be against the law.”
Read more: Zora updates coin guidelines after ZachXBT calls out Sahil collab
Pollak’s “quick thought” was made in response to Base user “Bill The Bull” who hosts their own podcast covering the Base App, Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 that allows users to build apps and earn crypto.
Bill The Bull argued that Base should pick a token community that has the potential to proliferate and “support it behind the scenes,” as they believe Base isn’t pushing any tokens to million-dollar figures.
“The Base trenches are starving for a real runner, yet the people at the top don’t seem to care,” they said.
Base users want more support from Coinbase
Some onlookers praised the clarification, and Bill The Bull also noted that he respects Pollack’s stance. Others, however, yearned for Coinbase or Base to publicly support more of the tokens launched on their platforms.
The Enterprise Research Manager for Messari claimed this should be happening and compared it to investing in private markets through their venture wing. They said, “If Coinbase thinks an asset on Base is undervalued, they 100% should be buying said asset, but in a public manner.”
Users also called out Pollak for launching his own creator coin and giving it support despite his most recent statement.
Read more: 90% of Jesse Pollak’s Base tokens are down bad
Zora user Kien Nguyen said they don’t want behind-the-scenes support, but rather “acknowledgement and public support on X when there are good coins come along.”
One crypto trader took offense at the sum of money used to burn the UpOnly podcast NFT and claimed that Coinbase won’t spread $1 million across 25 Base projects to promote them.
The NFT cost $25 million and gave Coinbase ownership of future seasons of the UpOnly podcast. It was part of a $375 million deal to acquire Echo, the investment platform founded by UpOnly host Cobie, aka Jordan Fish.
It’s been three months since the deal and there’s been no sign of UpOnly’s return.
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