The hype is deafening. ZORA, the favorite on-chain social network, is getting ready to gift their earliest adopters. On April 23, 2025, it will unlock 1 billion tokens—constituting 10% of its total supply of 10 billion. Everyone's scrambling, speculating, and frankly, hoping they've clicked enough buttons, minted enough NFTs, and generally kissed enough ZORA-flavored rings to qualify. Let's cut through the noise. Is this really a sincere attempt to engage the community? Or is it just a wolf in sheep’s clothing marketing ploy meant to increase value for those in the know. I’m hoping for the latter to be true, and here’s why.

Empty Promises or Real Ownership?

1) The obvious statement that the ZORA token is “not for any purpose other than enjoyment.” Seriously? In a world that values decentralization and moves power back to the people, ZORA provides us a thread of optimism. If that isn’t enough, they clearly signal that we’ll have no recourse or input into their decision-making. No governance rights, no ownership stake in the platform we played such a formative role in developing. It's like the company picnic where you get a free hotdog, but can't vote on which way the company is heading.

This is the smell of the old paradigm, not the new one. We’re sold the idea of a change from the ground up, but given a rehashed, newer-looking version of the same old top-down paradigm. It's the equivalent of a benevolent dictator handing out candy – feels good momentarily, but doesn't change the underlying power dynamics one bit.

I was able to talk to a few ZORA users, and the take is definitely a mixed bag. Sarah, a digital artist who's been minting her work on ZORA for over a year, told me, "I'm excited about the airdrop, of course! It's free money. But I'm a little disappointed that the token doesn't actually do anything. I want to have a say in the future of the platform."

Next we have Mark, our jaded crypto-native skeptic of all things. "It's just a marketing stunt," he scoffed. They’re making a market to generate excitement and get more people on-board. Once the airdrop ends, who gives a shit about the ZORA token?

For those lucky enough to be Binance customers, there might be an extra Zora airdrop angle to explore.

  • Minting an NFT
  • Bridging ETH to Zora Network
  • Using the Zora Network
  • Participating in Content Coin mania

Here’s a great article on the explosion of “content coins” in April 2025. Okay, fine. But if we’re being real, how many of those content coins have a chance of surviving even past the initial hype cycle? Because let’s be real here… more than 90% of them are nothing more than glorified pump-and-dump schemes—cashing-in on the FOMO of uneducated investors. It’s the digital equivalent of Beanie Babies — with even less inherent value.

Content Coins: A Fleeting Fad?

ZORA, by enabling this trend, is certainly complicit in it. And all the while, they tell us they are liberating creators. Perhaps they’re just providing a distribution outlet so those creators can continue to take advantage of their fans. It's a question worth asking.

Think about it: the ZORA token has no utility, yet people are scrambling to get their hands on it. Why? All of this, because they believe they can always quickly turn it around and make a short term gain. It’s not so much hype—this is pure speculation, powered by hype and the hope of easy money. It’s no longer about returning social media to the creators or creating a new, improved on-chain version of social. It's about greed, plain and simple.

This reminds me of my experiences in the early days of the internet. Similar to today’s trend toward experiential marketing, creators went all-in on a website that didn’t necessarily add any tangible value. In the process, we created a ton of digital detritus. Now, I’m concerned that content coins are going in the same direction. A lot of noise, not much signal.

Look, I'm not against airdrops in principle. They can be a terrific way to bootstrap a community and reward early adopters. They need to be done right. They must be connected to real use and governance. Most fundamentally, they need to help empower users rather than primarily serving to enrich the insiders.

Can We Build a Better Future?

What if the ZORA token actually did give you voting rights on more substantive platform-wide governance decisions. What if, instead, it enabled users to directly influence how resources are allocated? And what if it did all this while returning creators a larger share of the revenues their content produces?

That would be a game-changer. Now that would be a real demonstration of community empowerment. Now that would be reason to rejoice.

Instead, we’re stuck with a token that’s “for amusement purposes only.” And as much as we love fun, that’s not going to cut it. We need more than just empty promises. What we want is real ownership, real governance, real stake in the future of the platforms we go around our daily business on.

The ZORA airdrop was a potential watershed moment. An opportunity to demonstrate to the world that blockchain is a tool that can be wielded to create a more equitable and democratic future. Instead, it feels like a missed opportunity. A missed opportunity to build brand awareness, let alone value.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the ZORA token will surprise me. Perhaps this will develop into something deeper and more substantive in the future. I remain skeptical. At first glance, it appears to be another meme coin, attempting to cash in on the hype and speculation. That's a damn shame.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the ZORA token will surprise me. Maybe it will evolve into something more meaningful down the line. But for now, I remain skeptical. It looks like just another meme coin, riding the wave of hype and speculation. And that's a damn shame.