After a week of heated promotions, Coinbase-supported Zora is set to airdrop its token.

Zora, the on-chain social media platform backed by Coinbase, is set to launch its ZORA token on April 23, following a surge of attention generated by Base’s involvement in promoting the platform. The token drop follows two snapshots, the first from January 1, 2020, to March 3, 2025, and the second from March 3 to April 20, 2025. These snapshots record blockchain activity during those periods, allowing users to receive rewards based on their participation.

Zora attracted significant hype last week after Jesse Pollack, the creator of the Base network, highlighted its ability to create “content coins”—tokens that represent images or phrases in tradable form. This promotion brought a wave of new users to the platform, with over 230,000 new traders engaging on Sunday alone. One notable token, “Base is for everyone,” saw its market cap skyrocket from just a few thousand to over $17 million after it was promoted through Base’s official X account. However, blockchain investigators later discovered that a few wallets had purchased the tokens ahead of the official announcement, profiting by $666,000.

Coinbase, the creator of the Base network, clarified that “Base is for everyone” was not the official cryptocurrency of Base and that the project did not sell the tokens directly. Despite this clarification, the promotion triggered accusations of insider trading and a lack of transparency. Critics flooded X with sarcastic comments, with some claiming the hype was orchestrated to inflate liquidity for an eventual dump of supply controlled by Coinbase Ventures. Others speculated on profits for insiders, predicting “Day 1 listing + insiders making 8 figures incoming.”

In response to the backlash, Pollack denied that the promotions were part of a marketing scheme, dismissing rumors of manipulation.