Creator tokens are emerging as a compelling alternative to meme coins, attracting retail investors and offering new revenue models.

Creator Tokens Gain Traction as Meme Coin Mania Fades

With the fervor surrounding meme coins showing signs of cooling, creator tokens are gaining momentum, potentially reshaping the Web3 landscape. These tokens offer content creators a new avenue for revenue generation and community engagement, attracting retail investors seeking alternatives to speculative meme assets.

The Rise of Creator Tokens

Creator tokens are digital assets that represent a content creator or their work, allowing fans to directly support their favorite creators and participate in their success. Platforms like Pumpfun and Base are competing to become the go-to platform for creator tokens. According to Jesse Pollak, founder of Base, these tokens merge content and coin into one entity, with value stemming from cultural impact, virality, or meme appeal rather than traditional utility. Coinbase's Base network has announced it will start collecting coined content as part of its push to support creators, and will hold these tokens indefinitely, with no plans to trade or sell them.

Pump.fun's Innovative Fee Model

Pump.fun has introduced a dynamic fee structure that ties creator earnings directly to a token's market capitalization, reducing fees as value grows. Tokens with a market cap between 0–420 SOL incur a 0.300% creator fee, while those above 98,240 SOL face just 0.050%. The model generated $2 million for creators in 24 hours, contrasting traditional platforms' fixed revenue splits. This approach incentivizes creators to focus on long-term, sustainable projects.

Pump.fun's Dynamic Fees V1 ties creator earnings to token market caps, reducing fees as value grows. The model generated $2M for creators in 24 hours, contrasting traditional platforms' fixed revenue splits.

Base's Surge in Token Issuance

On July 31, 2025, blockchain data platform Sealaunch announced token issuance on the Base blockchain exceeded Solana for four consecutive days starting July 26. Between July 26 and 29, Base issued up to 100,000 tokens daily, far exceeding Solana's average of around 25,000 tokens per day. As of July 2025, Base had over 3 million monthly active users, nearly $1 billion in daily trading volume, and more than 500 decentralized apps (DApps).

The Future of Creator Economics

The success of creator tokens hinges on creators with proven track records and a willingness to engage with crypto-native communities. Platforms like Zora, Pumpfun, and LetsBonk are vying for market dominance, and their future success will depend on their ability to achieve sustainable development amidst speculative fervor, creating genuine value for users and creators.

Animoca Brands' MocaPortfolio program represents an evolution in how communities are rewarded, offering an ongoing, structured opportunity to share in the growth of promising projects across the Web3 landscape, rather than focusing on singular airdrop events.

As the market evolves, investors should evaluate tokens based on factors such as market capitalization, trading volume, number of holders, token age, developer activity, and verified social media presence. High trading volume indicates active market participation and easier entry/exit for traders, while low volume can signal reduced interest or potential price manipulation risks.