The Base ecosystem woke up to a surprise development: Jesse Pollak, the person who helped build the network, has now become the product.
Key Takeaways:
Coinbase’s Base creator Jesse Pollak launched his own token, JESSE.
Scammers rushed in immediately, prompting safety warnings.
Pollak says JESSE is meant to power a new creator-driven economy.
Instead of announcing a new partner, launchpad, or app, Pollak released a token named after himself – JESSE – and listed it directly inside the Base App.
The move instantly set off discussion across the crypto world because it pushes a question nobody expected so soon: what happens when people tokenize themselves?
Not an Airdrop – a Statement
Pollak didn’t pitch JESSE as a typical altcoin or as a corporate asset tied to Coinbase or Base. His announcement framed the token as a way to rewrite the relationship between creators and their audiences. The idea is simple but controversial: if blockchains represent value, why shouldn’t individuals become issuers too?
What Pollak is proposing is not a fan token or a meme coin -it’s a model where creative control and financial participation converge.
Community Rush, Scammers Rush Faster
Within minutes of the reveal, the Base community lit up with excitement, curiosity, and speculation. And within minutes of that, scammers showed up too. Fake X accounts, phishing pages, and misleading token lookalikes spread fast, forcing Pollak to interrupt the celebration and warn users that the only authentic information flows through his verified X profile and the Base App.
The launch wasn’t even a full day old, and already the ecosystem saw both the potential and the danger of creator-backed assets.
Identity as Currency – the Bigger Trend Behind JESSE
Explaining the purpose of the token, Pollak argued that the traditional online economy leaves creators underpaid and platforms overpowered. A tokenized identity flips that relationship – supporters don’t just follow a personality; they can benefit from their success.
Pollak suggested that models like JESSE could give communities partial ownership in the cultural and economic impact of the creators they support.
This marks a major shift from the influencer economy many are used to: instead of using platforms to monetize an audience, the audience literally becomes part of the creator’s economy.
A New Kind of Creator-Fan Contract
What happens next is unpredictable. Creator tokens could open the door to new models of loyalty, membership, collaboration, sponsorship, and investment – all based on personal branding rather than corporate branding. And because JESSE launched on a major network like Base, the experiment is now playing out in public.
Whether JESSE becomes a blueprint or a cautionary tale depends on how the project evolves – and how the community responds.
The Future Starts With One Person
No roadmap, no promises, no milestones have been outlined. The only clear idea is that JESSE isn’t just a token – it’s a test of what happens when individuality intersects with crypto economics. A founder turned himself into a digital asset, and the entire Base ecosystem is now watching closely.
If creator coins become the next wave of adoption, books and tutorials won’t point to celebrity influencers or artists as the first example – they’ll point to Jesse Pollak, a network builder who decided to tokenize himself.
