Zora Faces Criticism Over Token Supply and ‘For Fun’ Label

Legal Shield or Market Gimmick？

The phrase “for fun only” might seem harmless, but many in the industry see it as a tactical shield against regulatory scrutiny. Karbon and blockchain sleuth ZachXBT speculated that Zoras legal framing could be an attempt to sidestep classification as a security. However, they argue that releasing a token with no function, while concentrating power among insiders, sets a dangerous precedent.

ZachXBT emphasized that if Zora truly intended the token to be just “for fun,” it shouldve been fair launched—distributed openly without special access for the team or investors. “Either build something of value or launch fairly,” he said, calling the current model a credibility risk for an industry trying to rebuild trust.

why does the token need to exist at all if it serves absolutely zero purpose？

this type of vapor for a project that raised $60M+ in total at a $600M valuation is just embarrassing for the space.

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 21, 2025

Investor Concerns: Lack of Utility, Excessive Hype

Kevin Mills, head of research at Triton, joined the chorus of critics by stating that marketing a token with no clear purpose, then hyping it with insider allocations, sets up small investors for disappointment. He warned that this structure enables teams to generate pre-launch hype and inflate valuations while providing no tangible benefit to public participants.

This is exactly the problem. Zora launching a token – and simultaneously claiming it is just ‘for fun’ and does not confer any rights or claims on flows, but then allocating ‘just for fun money’ to its treasury and investors.

What does that mean？

They are willingly letting

— Kevin Mills (@__kfm__) April 21, 2025

Given Zoras history of raising over $60 million at a $600 million valuation, the community questions whether the “fun” narrative is an authentic ethos or a smoke screen for insider enrichment.

Base Network Timing Sparks Coinbase Speculation

Zora‘s token launch coincides with Base network activity surpassing Solana, raising eyebrows about potential alignment with Coinbase’s broader narrative. Social media users speculated that Coinbase might be indirectly leveraging its Base infrastructure to boost Zoras visibility and token demand.

Some compared Zora‘s $12.7 million token market cap to memecoin platform Pump.fun’s $3.1 billion, suggesting the tokens real appeal lies in narrative manipulation rather than fundamentals. As KOL Jesus Martinez sarcastically noted, “Base is for everyone” may have been a clever PR move for a token they backed early on.

Zora faces criticism not merely for launching a token but for how it chose to do so, masking insider-heavy allocations behind a “just for fun” label. In a market desperate for credibility and transparent tokenomics, such a strategy has left many wondering: Is this just poor optics, or deliberate misdirection？ One thing is clear—the community is no longer amused by “fun” tokens when real capital and centralized control are involved.