Vitalik Buterin Explains What Creator Coins Got Wrong

With the prospect of decentralized ownership and novel revenue streams, cryptocurrency has attempted to reimagine creator incentives over the last ten years through social media and creator currencies. However, in reality, a lot of these initiatives served to foster speculation rather than provide enduring, significant value.

Nowadays, discovering excellent material has gotten more difficult as a result of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) saturating the internet. Platforms like Substack have acquired popularity by emphasizing discovery, trust, and direct interactions between producers and audiences, whereas token-based models have mainly failed in this regard.

• Why Early Creator Coin Experiments Fell Short?
• The Quality Discovery Problem in the AI Era
• Substack as a Working Creator Incentive Model
• Limitations of Token-Driven Creator Economies
• A New DAO-Based Model for Better Incentives
• Why This Model Could Work Better?

Why Early Creator Coin Experiments Fell Short?

The concept behind early blockchain-based social media sites like Steemit, Bihu, and subsequently BitClout was to give content creators tokens in exchange for their work. Actually, rather than using careful editorial judgment or true content curation, the majority of these systems mostly relied on interaction metrics and market speculation.

Because of this, token values frequently followed hype, early access, or popularity rather than the quality of the content. The 2021 debut of BitClout made this issue very evident. Public figures were automatically tokenized, and celebrities and well-known individuals soon became the focus of market activity.

Because of this, there was limited room for new or specialized artists to flourish based solely on the caliber of their work. Instead, fame drove demand for tokens, which in turn increased token values. Although they enhanced the underlying infrastructure, newer platforms such Zora creator currencies didn't completely address the discovery issue.

Even though Zora lets anyone make a coin that is associated with their profile, market results nevertheless frequently show current social influence rather than sustained innovation or regular participation.

The Quality Discovery Problem in the AI Era

The structural weakness across most creator coin models is the assumption that financial incentives alone can surface quality. In practice, tokens amplify signals, but they do not determine which signals matter.

In an environment where content volume is effectively infinite and increasingly automated, discovery mechanisms matter more than production incentives. Crypto-native systems typically rely on markets to make these decisions.

The purpose of markets is to find prices, not to assess intellectual or cultural worth. Since creator tokens lack an impartial metric for evaluating quality, they frequently become self-referential financial instruments whose values reflect attentional patterns rather than genuine, sustained innovation.

This contributes to the explanation of the high volatility, transient creative success, and low long-term engagement observed in many creator currency ecosystems. Without carefully considered criteria, buzz often takes control, making it more difficult for up-and-coming artists to succeed on their own.

How I would do creator coins

We've seen about 10 years of people trying to do content incentivization in crypto, from early-stage platforms like Bihu and Steemit, to BitClout in 2021, to Zora, to tipping features inside of decentralized social, and more. So far, I think we have…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 1, 2026

Substack as a Working Creator Incentive Model

Substack has combined active platform curation with paid subscriptions to create one of the most effective creative monetization strategies. It has promoted a unique, opinion-driven intellectual culture, provided revenue guarantees, and purposefully supported specific writers rather than remaining impartial.

By prioritizing quality above quantity, this strategy has enabled authors to build dependable, reader-supported businesses without relying on algorithmic boosts or scale-chasing.

1. Substack Technology

The Substack Technology Paid Leaderboard highlights authors who specialise in fields such as digital infrastructure, software, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency. Even though many of these producers were unknown prior to joining Substack, they have been able to develop sizable, paying audiences by continuously providing insightful, superior analysis.

Subscription-based businesses inherently reward depth and knowledge, as demonstrated here. When readers believe they are receiving genuine, continuous value, they are more likely to commit to regular payments.

2. Substack Culture

The Culture Paid Leaderboard showcases producers in genres that frequently struggle to thrive on ad-supported platforms, including as literature, media critique, and social commentary. Although the scoreboard is subject to change over time, it regularly highlights authors who, rather than pursuing viral fame, find success via their uniqueness and the trust they earn from their audience.

3. Substack World Politics

One notable feature of the World Politics Paid Leaderboard is the variety of perspectives it offers. With direct reader support rather than that of advertising or algorithms, writers from various political backgrounds coexist in the same area. It's a perfect illustration of how thoughtfully crafted rewards may support a range of viewpoints while maintaining high levels of quality.

Limitations of Token-Driven Creator Economies

The fact that token value frequently prioritizes publicity and excitement over actual content quality is one of the primary issues with today's creator currency schemes. Coins associated with well-known individuals frequently attract speculative interest, increasing market capitalization and trading activity without always demonstrating enduring intellectual or cultural influence.

This leads to a vicious cycle in which demand for tokens is driven by influence, which is then further boosted by rising token values, rewarding existing renown rather than true discovery. Furthermore, the majority of creator coins are independent assets without any common governance or quality requirements.

Because of this, market sentiment typically determines prices more so than any external evaluation of the caliber of the content or the long-term impact of a creator.

A New DAO-Based Model for Better Incentives

An alternative approach gaining attention among crypto designers is a creator DAO model inspired by principles seen in projects such as Protocol Guild, where governance is small, curated, and non-token-based. Under this framework:

• A DAO with a limited membership base (for example, around 200 participants) governs creator admission and removal.
• Membership is opinionated, focused on a specific style, genre, or mission, and initially curated to align with a high-quality vision.
• Rather than operating as a universal DAO, these collectives are niche, quality-driven communities centred on particular forms of creative output.

In this model, anyone may still mint a creator coin, but the DAO serves as the quality filter. When a creator is admitted to the DAO, a portion of DAO revenue is used to burn a share of that creator’s tokens, linking token economics to quality signals rather than hype.

Speculators, in turn, become predictors of DAO curation decisions instead of participants in self-referential market cycles.

Why This Model Could Work Better?

This DAO-centric approach offers several advantages:

• Quality curation: In order to preserve unifrom standard and a common goal, admissions are handled by limited, like-minded team of creators.
• Predictable incentives: Participation is encouraged to be more deliberate and educated since token activity is dictated by DAO decisions rather than general social excitement.
• Collective branding: The DAO builds a reputation among its members, increasing visibility and improving revenue prospects.
• Sustainable revenue: Instead of being a self-feeding cycle, speculation is transformed into a forward-looking signal by connecting token burning to DAO membership and earnings.

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