Market Watch

Zora Airdrop Went Unannounced For Two Hours and Crashed BaseScan

The block explorer BaseScan apparently crashed earlier today at the same time web3 social network Zora rolled out its airdrop program in chaotic fashion. The ZORA token and airdrop went live shortly before 2pm without any fanfare.  Indeed, the company’s last pre-launch communication about the project was an X post from two days ago that simply said, “$ZORA will be live on April 23, 2025.” Zora finally got around to making an official announcement two hours after it launched, and even then, its first tweet was quickly deleted before the current one was uploaded

X users noticed that BaseScan had crashed during the launch, and that blocks on the Base blockchain hadn’t been created for at least 15 minutes. Blockscout also went down. ZORA’s market cap fell 64% from a $461 million high to a low of $167 million over these two hours, resulting in upset users and accusations of insiders selling their allocated tokens in advance.  

One user noted that Jesse Pollack, the founder of Coinbase’s Base chain, received 2.1 million ZORA tokens as part of the airdrop. Pollack has been promoting ZORA and has had to repeatedly apologize and clarify his actions while marketing the token.  Zora has allocated 45% of the airdrop for its team and strategic contributors and 25% for its project-controlled treasury and liquidity pools. The token will also give holders no voting rights, as Zora is essentially claiming the token and airdrop are just for fun. BaseScan is working again at the time of writing.

Terron Gold

Recent Posts

Elon Musk’s xAI Sues Minnesota Over First U.S. AI Nudification Law

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Minnesota's landmark law banning AI-powered "nudification" technology, arguing…

6 days ago

Bitcoin Nears $65,000 as Treasury Yields Outperform Carry Trade in Rare Market Signal

Bitcoin climbed toward $65,000 as an unusual shift in traditional financial markets created one of the rarest conditions…

7 days ago

Hyperscale Data Sells 100 Bitcoin to Fund Michigan AI Campus as GPUS Stock Surges

Hyperscale Data has sold 100 Bitcoin to accelerate development of its planned artificial intelligence campus in Michigan, sending shares…

7 days ago

PIPEDOG Explodes 140x on Robinhood Chain as Memecoin Frenzy Intensifies

A newly launched memecoin called PIPEDOG ($PIPEDOG) became the latest breakout token on Robinhood Chain, surging more than 140x within…

1 week ago

BNY Brings $8.6 Trillion Fund Business On-Chain in Major Wall Street Blockchain Expansion

BNY, the world's largest custodian bank, is bringing one of its core financial businesses onto…

1 week ago

Senators Strengthen Crypto Ethics Rules in CLARITY Act After Trump Negotiations

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has reportedly reached a new compromise on the ethics provisions of…

1 week ago