There’s a real problem in the creator economy: Creators don’t capture enough of the value their content generates.

One solution has been to “coin” content – tokenizing content so they can be bought, sold, and traded like assets.

That idea has never sat right with me. Until now, I haven’t fully articulated why.

Then I saw this tweet from Jesse Pollak (Base): https://x.com/jessepollak/status/1912327150159688178?s=46&t=qlxg0vngPXLDPzs4aUmZLw

It got me thinking… so I sat down and wrote this out.

Coining content turns posts into financial instruments.

It creates “content financial markets,” where people can speculate on content like stocks, regardless of disclaimers about it “just being for fun.” That might feel like a breakthrough, but I think it breaks more than it fixes.

1. It encourages gambling over creation.
   You’re not buying access – the content is already public. You’re buying because you think the price will go up. That’s not support, it’s a bet. Some users will act altruistically, but most will treat it like a casino.

2. It fragments creator value.
   Every piece of content becomes a separate coin with its own liquidity pool. There’s no natural way for value to flow from one post to another. That’s bad for creators trying to build long-term value across their body of work.

3. It forces people into financial mindsets.
   Market cap. Slippage. Liquidity. These aren’t native concepts for most people. Even if you understand them, they turn creative expression into financial engineering.

4. It’s psychologically dangerous.
   The “like” button already rewired how people see themselves online. Coined content takes that to the next level – now your worth is reflected in a public price chart. That’s a brutal loop for creators to get stuck in.

Yes, some experiments here are worth watching. But content-as-financial-asset is not the future. The problem is real, but we need a better answer.

Let’s go back to first principles.

• Attention ≠ value. Attention is potential.

• Value is created by doing something with that attention – often monetized via ads.

• Platforms help create, amplify, and monetize attention. They do provide value. Creators should still have more control and more upside.

So what’s the solution?

It’s not clear yet, but it has to respect:

• The complexity of value creation

• The psychology of creators

• And the need for more direct participation in the value they help generate

I don’t believe coining content is the fix. But the desire behind it – giving creators more agency – is the right goal.