On-chain social platform and decentralized protocol Zora is making a decisive pivot beyond its non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and creator roots with the launch of “attention marketplaces” on Solana, a product that allows users to trade tokens tied to internet trends, memes, and cultural moments.
The feature, introduced on February 17, allows anyone to create a new market for 1 SOL. Once live, users can buy and sell positions on whether a topic will gain or lose traction on social media.
Instead of betting on elections or macroeconomic data, traders speculate on rumors themselves, such as hashtags, viral narratives, and even broad topics like “AI girlfriend” or “bitcoin.”
The design leans heavily on the Solana’s strengths. Fast block times and low transaction costs make it easy to support quick price updates and frequent trading, which are essential for markets built around fleeting online momentum.
However, initial activity was limited. The flagship “attention markets” token briefly reached approximately $70,000 in market capitalization, with around $200,000 in trading volume. Most other trending markets struggled to attract significant liquidity, with few crossing the $10,000 mark on their first day.
The percentage swings were pronounced, although largely driven by tight order books rather than sustained demand.
Zora has been among the most prominent applications on Coinbase’s Layer 2 core network in recent years. It launched its ZORA token there in April and helped implement Creator Coins tied to Base profiles in July, a push that briefly helped Base surpass Solana in daily token creation.
Creator Coins are tokens tied to an individual creator’s online profile, brand, or community. Think of them as tradable “shares” of a person’s Internet presence.
On platforms like Zora and Base, a creator coin could be automatically generated from a user’s profile. Fans could purchase the coin to indicate support, gain social influence, or speculate that the creator’s popularity would grow. As more people bought, the price could go up and interest would fade, it could go down.
As such, some members of the Base community saw the new “attention marketplaces” product as a pivot away from that momentum.
Jacek Trociński, the developer behind Base memecoin Degen, called it “really disappointing” to see Zora move to Solana. Veil Cash builder Apex777.eth was harsher, accusing Zora of “extracting” value from Base before switching networks.
Meanwhile, Base creator Jesse Pollak said Zora’s creation tools remain “fully operational” on the network.
As speculation moves beyond price charts and into cultural data, platforms like Zora are testing whether attention itself can become memetic and deeply tied to the real-time financial pulse of the Internet.
