Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen just dropped the mic on token launch expectations faster than Base's "Content Coin" dumped on its holders.

The memecoin kingpin made it crystal clear that Pump.fun won't be following Base down the "let's tokenize random stuff" rabbit hole anytime soon.

This comes hot on the heels of one of the most controversial token launches we've seen coming straight from the Base Twitter account.

Base's Content Coin Catastrophe

Base, Coinbase's L2 darling, thought it would be a great idea to promote a "Base is for everyone" token through their official Twitter.

The token, minted on Zora, pumped to a significant $17 million market cap in about the time it takes to order a coffee.

Then it crashed 90% in the next 20 minutes, leaving behind a graveyard of underwater positions and some very angry degens.

On-chain sleuths quickly discovered that three wallets conveniently bought massive bags right before the announcement and walked away with $666,000 in profit – nothing suspicious there at all.

Meanwhile, the top three wallets controlled nearly half the supply, which is definitely the hallmark of a healthy, decentralized project.

Pump.fun Says "Hell No" to Token Dreams

Alon Cohen wasted no time distancing himself and Pump.fun from the whole circus, posting a direct response on Twitter.

His message was about as subtle as a sledgehammer: no token launches, no stealth drops, not even from employees.

"I'm a huge advocate for the vision of 'tokenizing everything' but you can't change current market realities – if you launch a coin AND have social influence, that comes with responsibility," Cohen wrote.

He laid out the unwritten rules that apparently Base skipped reading: don't launch tokens, don't shill tokens, don't talk about price, and don't set unrealistic expectations.

These aren't rules created by some central authority but by "users that are in the trenches every single day" – which makes the Base move even more tone-deaf.

Content Coins vs Reality

Base's team, including creator Jesse Pollak, tried to frame this as some kind of noble experiment in "content coins" rather than a speculative rug pull.

They insisted these tokens are meant to be "collected, not traded for profit" – which is a bit like saying a Ferrari is just for looking at in your garage.

"Content coins are not built on speculation. They're built on meaning. You're not buying into a project, you're collecting a moment. A vibe. A piece of culture," wrote Base contributor Nkechi.

That "vibe" apparently included watching your investment evaporate into nothing, all while inside wallets made six figures.

Base swears they would never sell these tokens themselves – how thoughtful of them to let others do the dumping instead.

Crypto's Growing Pains

Cohen's critique cuts to the heart of crypto's current identity crisis: everyone wants to tokenize everything, but nobody wants to admit that tokens almost always equal speculation.

While Cohen supports the broader vision of on-chain content, he's realistic enough to admit that the current market isn't ready for these "experiments" – especially when promoted by platforms with millions of followers.

Pump.fun continues to walk the line between social media and tokenization but without the false promises of a native token that would inevitably lead to the same kind of fiasco.

Totally Off Base

Base's content coin disaster is a case study in how not to launch a token in 2025.

Even with all the fancy language about "cultural moments" and "vibes," a token pump and dump by any other name still leaves retail holding the bag.

Pump.fun's founder took the high road by explicitly rejecting token expectations, proving that sometimes the best token to launch is no token at all.

As the dust settles, one thing is clear: if your experiment ends with a 90% dump and on-chain evidence of insider buying, maybe it wasn't about the "culture" after all.