Base (BTC) Just Saw a Surge in New Tokens, Zora (COIN) Is the Reason Why

New token creation on Base just hit new daily, weekly, and monthly ALL-TIME HIGHS! Over 239k tokens were launched just last week.

Today’s edition is brought to you by Avalanche Summit – a premier crypto event showcasing the latest developments and key announcements from Avalanche.

Buy tickets for the Avalanche Summit happening in London

GM. This is Milk Road, the newsletter that's the Iceman to your Maverick in the world of crypto.

(We’ll be your wingman.)

Here’s what we got for you today:

✍️ Base just saw a surge in new tokens

✍️ 3 takeaways from 72 crypto ETF filings

🥛 Milk Road PRO Portfolio updates

🎙️ The Milk Road Show: Did BASE Rug Everyone? Plus Is Crypto Legislation Moving Too Fast?

🍪 Will a new SEC be good for crypto?

Prices as of 2:00 PM ET. Click here for our Fear & Greed Index.

WHY BASE SAW A SURGE IN NEW TOKENS LAST WEEK 📈

New token creation on Base just hit new daily, weekly, and monthly ALL-TIME HIGHS!

Over 239k tokens were launched just last week. 👇

Source: Blockworks Research

…but the market is in the toilet.

So HOW is this happening?

In a word: Zora.

Lemme toggle the previous chart to show you where most of this new token flow is coming from. 👇

Source: Blockworks Research

Yuh. Zora (a portfolio company of Coinbase Ventures) is printing new tokens like there’s no tomorrow.

Zora = onchain Instagram.

You post content to the feed → Zora mints a token representing that post → instead of ‘liking’ a post, users will buy its token.

And last week, Zora was used to launch the “Base is for everyone” memecoin (which blew up).

Our armchair analysis of what happened here (with timelines):

Apr 16: Base posts “Base is for everyone” image on Zora (minting a token alongside it)

Apr 17: “Base is for everyone” token pumps from $0 to $20M+ in market cap overnight

Apr 18-19: a slew of people decide to try their hand at launching tokens via Zora

Apr 20: Zora announced the coming launch / airdrop of the $ZORA token

Apr 21-22: even more people use Zora in an attempt to qualify for the airdrop

Here’s the math on that:

A whooole bunch of attention + a heavy dose of financial incentives = everyone launching tokens on Zora/Base over the past week or so.

Now, if you’ve been following the story on X/Twitter, you’ll know there are a WHOLE lot more questions around all of this…

(E.g. Was “Base is for everyone” a pump n’ dump orchestrated by Base? Were Coinbase Ventures trying to boost interest in Zora ahead of its token launch? Etc.)

Which is why we just sat down with Laura Shin, host of the Unchained Podcast, to dig deeper on Zora and the “Base is for everyone” debacle, on today’s episode of The Milk Road Show!

Check it out below! 👇

YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

EXCITING TIMES COMING UP FOR AVALANCHE

Last year, we hit up Solana Breakpoint and saw some seriously impressive product announcements.

Big announcements = hype around the ecosystem

Well, we're looking forward to even more excitement and energy coming up at Avalanche Summit London.

On top of massive announcements, Avalanche Summit has also got a killer line up of speakers:

Big crypto voices like Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano

Serious DeFi builders like Stani (Founder of Aave)

Massive crypto institutions such as VanEck and WisdomTree

If you want real-time alpha and front-row access to Avalanche's next chapter, Avalanche Summit is the place to be. 🤝

Buy tickets for the Avalanche Summit happening in London

3 TAKEAWAYS FROM 72 CRYPTO-RELATED ETF FILINGS 👀

The further you read down this list, the WILDER it gets!

There are now 72 crypto-related ETF filings waiting for approval from the SEC, making for one helluva cramped list. 👇

Source: @EricBalchunas

Don’t worry – we squinted real hard at this image, so you don’t have to!

Here are three things you will have missed at first glance:

1/ Ripple and Solana lead the pack

Right now there are 18 applications for ETFs including $XRP and 17 applications for ETFs that include $SOL – giving both tokens a solid lead over the remaining top 5. 👀

Source: @EricBalchunas

2/ Crypto degeneracy is coming to TradFi

There are applications for $DOGE, $PENGU, $TRUMP, $MELANIA,