Momentum accelerated after Elon Musk amplified the narrative around citizen journalism.
Nick Shirley’s creator coin ($THENICKSHIRLEY) on Zora, which was built using Coinbase’s Base network, soared to an estimated $9 million market cap after his viral video exposing childcare fraud in Minnesota went mainstream — and then plunged more than 60% to about $3 million on Tuesday. Shirley was credited for exposing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for allegedly defrauding $9 billion in childcare funding and policy.
According to many market watchers, Shirley said he earned approximately $65,000 in royalties from creator coins as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong applauded the new on-chain model for content monetization.
Zora listed $THENICKSHIRLEY on its leaderboard not long after as being among the top creator coins. Momentum accelerated after Elon Musk amplified the narrative around citizen journalism. The token later fell more than 60% from its peak, highlighting both the revenue potential and volatility of creator-led crypto experiments. As of writing, the coin has a market cap of nearly $3 million on Zora.
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