Zora Shifts Attention‑Markets Launch to Solana, Sparking Debate in Base Community
February 17 2026 – Crypto news desk
Decentralised SocialFi platform Zora announced the rollout of its “attention markets” on the Solana blockchain, allowing users to trade on the future virality of hashtags, memes, topics and cultural trends. The move follows a period of heavy involvement with Coinbase’s Base network, where Zora previously migrated much of its activity and released its first native token.
What the platform does
Zora’s new product enables traders to create “Trends”—on‑chain representations of any keyword or theme that could gain online traction. Deploying a Trend costs a flat fee of 1 SOL (approximately $85 at the time of writing), a pricing model designed to curb spam while offering no direct creator rewards.
Within each Trend, participants can launch “Pairs” that do generate rewards for their creators, providing an incentive structure for community‑driven content. In promotional material, Zora highlighted pairs such as $redlight and $coldplunge under the broader $longevity trend, illustrating how niche sub‑topics can be monetised.
Early trading activity has already shown a diverse set of tickers—ranging from “attentionmarkets” and “longevity” to popular culture nodes like “cats,” “dogs,” “bitcoin,” and “aigirlfriend.” A real‑time dashboard tracks profit and loss for each position, mirroring the experience of conventional token trading.
Market reaction
The announcement gave the ZORA governance token a short‑term boost, rising roughly 6 % to $0.022 in the 24‑hour window after the news broke, while the broader cryptocurrency market slipped about 1 % in the same period. The price lift suggests investor optimism about Zora’s expansion into prediction‑style markets, a sector that has recently exceeded $10 billion in monthly volume.
Zora’s launch comes at a time when prediction and sentiment‑based markets are gaining mainstream visibility, with projects such as Polymarket and Augur reporting sustained growth. By anchoring its offering on Solana’s fast, low‑cost infrastructure, Zora positions itself to capture a slice of this expanding niche.
Community pushback
The decision to launch on Solana has drawn criticism from members of the Base ecosystem, where Zora had previously deepened its footprint. After moving a significant portion of its product suite to Base in 2023 and supporting the creation of “Creator Coins” tied to Base profiles, Zora’s shift is perceived by some as a retreat.
- Jacek Trociński, developer behind the Base memecoin Degen, described the pivot as “disappointing,” accusing Zora of abandoning a year‑long partnership once market conditions changed.
- Apex777.eth, a builder in the Base community, echoed the sentiment, calling the move a “pump‑clone” on Solana after extracting value from Base’s nascent creator‑economy model.
Conversely, Jesse Pollak, a Base creator, noted that Zora’s creator tools remain functional on Base and praised the project’s willingness to experiment across chains, suggesting the shift does not necessarily signal a complete disengagement from Base.
Zora’s X profile now lists “Solana” as its primary location, and the team has not posted about Base in recent months. While the company has not issued a formal statement addressing the criticism, the platform’s broader strategy appears focused on multi‑chain experimentation rather than exclusive allegiance to a single L1.
Additional developments
In a parallel move, Zora posted a job listing for an “Attention Economist,” a role tasked with surfacing emerging cultural signals across short‑form video platforms such as TikTok, Reels, Shorts and X. The position underscores Zora’s commitment to data‑driven trend identification, a core component of its attention‑markets product.
Key takeaways
- Solana launch: Zora’s attention‑markets are now live on Solana, leveraging the network’s low fees and high throughput for rapid market creation.
- Cost structure: Deploying a Trend costs 1 SOL (≈ $85) and does not reward creators, while Pairs under a Trend offer creator incentives.
- Market impact: ZORA token rallied 6 % post‑announcement, contrasting with a modest dip in the wider crypto market.
- Community reaction: Base supporters expressed disappointment, viewing the shift as a withdrawal after a year of collaboration; however, some developers remain neutral, noting continued tool support on Base.
- Strategic focus: The move reflects a broader industry trend of diversifying across multiple blockchains to capture niche markets such as on‑chain prediction and sentiment trading.
Zora’s attention‑markets could become a barometer for cultural momentum on the blockchain, provided the platform can sustain liquidity and avoid the spam pitfalls that prompted its 1 SOL deployment fee. Its success may hinge on how well it balances creator incentives with trader interest in a rapidly evolving social‑finance landscape.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/zora-launches-attention-markets-solana?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
