Did you see Base App’s latest update? You know, the one where they completely removed the Talk Feed and reverted to just a buy/sell screen? Honestly, we should thank them. Because Base App finally slapped us in the face with the lie everyone in the industry has been politely telling each other for years, and it’s actually a relief.

The thing is: Base App stopped pretending to be a social media app. They took off the mask, turned to all of us, and said: "Your writing, memes, or analysis don't make us money. The only thing that makes us money is volume."

That sentence is brutal, but incredibly honest.

This is exactly what Vitalik Buterin has been trying to explain for months, even years. He kept saying, "If you financialize everything, you kill everything social." Base App just proved Vitalik right. The moment they couldn't financialize the social part, they cut it off. For them, a user's value is no longer measured by the depth of their sentences, but by how much commission they left on the table that day.

This is exactly where eyes turn to Farcaster.

Farcaster is in a weird limbo right now. Management passed to Neynar, the team changed, and everyone is waiting, asking, "What happens now?" Previously, Farcaster management was also dangerously drifting toward this "Wallet-First" mindset that Base App has now fully embraced.

Neynar has two paths ahead.

Either they chase after Base App and say, "We’re going to be a financial super app too," which would be suicide. Because the casino is already in Base's hands; they own the chain. Farcaster can't beat them at their own game on their own turf.

Or they will choose the other path Vitalik pointed to: Being a truly social space.

Because there’s something they’re forgetting: People don't just want to transact. People want to brag about the money they made, cry about the money they lost, "shill" a new project, or bury it in the ground. You don't talk about these things inside the casino (Base App); you just push buttons there. We need a "lobby" where we can talk before and after pushing that button.

What Farcaster needs to do is claim those "content creators" and the "conversation" that Base App threw out onto the street.

If Neynar tries to turn Farcaster into just a transaction engine, they lose. Because when the bull season ends and volumes dry up, no one will care about those "Buy" buttons on Base App. But the value of a good conversation, a solid community, doesn't zero out even in a bear market.

I hope Neynar reads this confession from Base App well. We don't need a second exchange terminal; we need a table where our ideas are valuable regardless of the balance in our wallets. Vitalik was right; now someone needs to build that righteousness.

Did you see Base App’s latest update? You know, the one where they completely removed the Talk Feed and reverted to just a buy/sell screen? Honestly, we should thank them. Because Base App finally slapped us in the face with the lie everyone in the industry has been politely telling each other for years, and it’s actually a relief.

The thing is: Base App stopped pretending to be a social media app. They took off the mask, turned to all of us, and said: "Your writing, memes, or analysis don't make us money. The only thing that makes us money is volume."

That sentence is brutal, but incredibly honest.

This is exactly what Vitalik Buterin has been trying to explain for months, even years. He kept saying, "If you financialize everything, you kill everything social." Base App just proved Vitalik right. The moment they couldn't financialize the social part, they cut it off. For them, a user's value is no longer measured by the depth of their sentences, but by how much commission they left on the table that day.

This is exactly where eyes turn to Farcaster.

Farcaster is in a weird limbo right now. Management passed to Neynar, the team changed, and everyone is waiting, asking, "What happens now?" Previously, Farcaster management was also dangerously drifting toward this "Wallet-First" mindset that Base App has now fully embraced.

Neynar has two paths ahead.

Either they chase after Base App and say, "We’re going to be a financial super app too," which would be suicide. Because the casino is already in Base's hands; they own the chain. Farcaster can't beat them at their own game on their own turf.

Or they will choose the other path Vitalik pointed to: Being a truly social space.

Because there’s something they’re forgetting: People don't just want to transact. People want to brag about the money they made, cry about the money they lost, "shill" a new project, or bury it in the ground. You don't talk about these things inside the casino (Base App); you just push buttons there. We need a "lobby" where we can talk before and after pushing that button.

What Farcaster needs to do is claim those "content creators" and the "conversation" that Base App threw out onto the street.

If Neynar tries to turn Farcaster into just a transaction engine, they lose. Because when the bull season ends and volumes dry up, no one will care about those "Buy" buttons on Base App. But the value of a good conversation, a solid community, doesn't zero out even in a bear market.

I hope Neynar reads this confession from Base App well. We don't need a second exchange terminal; we need a table where our ideas are valuable regardless of the balance in our wallets. Vitalik was right; now someone needs to build that righteousness.