Vitalik Buterin Explains What Creator Coins Got Wrong

Over the past decade, crypto has experimented with creator incentives through social platforms and creator coins, promising decentralised ownership and monetisation. However, most of these systems ultimately fuelled speculation rather than durable, long-term value.

With content now abundant due to algorithms and AI, the core challenge has shifted to quality discovery, an area where token-driven models have struggled while platforms such as Substack have succeeded.

• 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?

Early blockchain social platforms such as Steemit, Bihu, and later BitClout were designed to financially reward content creation through tokens. However, most of these systems relied heavily on engagement metrics and market speculation rather than editorial judgement or quality curation.

As a result, token value often reflected popularity, hype, or early-mover advantage instead of content merit. BitClout, launched in 2021, exemplified this issue. Profiles of public figures were tokenised by default, and market prices quickly gravitated toward already well-known personalities.

This created a recursive loop in which fame drove token demand, and token demand reinforced fame, leaving limited room for new or niche creators to emerge based on content quality alone. More recent platforms, such as Zora creator coins, improved infrastructure but not necessarily discovery.

Zora allows any creator to mint a coin tied to their profile, but market outcomes still largely reflect existing social capital rather than sustained creative contribution.

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.

However, markets are optimised for price discovery, not cultural or intellectual judgement. Without an independent quality oracle, creator tokens risk becoming self-referential financial instruments, where value reflects attention cycles rather than sustained contribution.

This dynamic helps explain why many creator coin ecosystems exhibit high volatility, short creator lifespans, and weak long-term retention. The absence of curated standards allows hype to dominate, making it difficult for emerging creators to gain recognition based solely on merit.

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 developed one of the most effective creator monetisation models by combining paid subscriptions with active platform curation. Rather than remaining neutral, it selectively supported writers, offered revenue guarantees, and cultivated an opinionated intellectual environment.

This quality-first approach has enabled creators to build sustainable, reader-funded businesses without reliance on algorithmic amplification or scale.

1. Substack Technology

The Substack Technology Paid Leaderboard highlights writers covering software, AI, crypto, and digital infrastructure. Many of these creators were not mainstream figures before joining Substack, yet they have built substantial paid audiences through consistent, high-signal analysis.

This demonstrates how subscription-based incentives naturally filter for depth and expertise, as readers commit recurring payments only when value is consistently delivered.

2. Substack Culture

The Culture Paid Leaderboard features creators working across literature, media criticism, and social commentary. These writers often operate in niche domains that struggle to survive on advertising-driven platforms.

Despite the leaderboard being dynamic, it consistently reflects creators whose success is driven by originality and audience trust rather than viral reach.

3. Substack World Politics

The World Politics Paid Leaderboard stands out for its ideological diversity. Writers across political perspectives coexist within the same ecosystem, supported directly by readers rather than advertisers or algorithms. This demonstrates how effective incentive design can support pluralism while maintaining quality standards.

Limitations of Token-Driven Creator Economies

One of the core limitations of existing creator coin models is that token value often prioritises social exposure and hype over content merit. Tokens associated with well-known personalities tend to attract speculation, increasing market capitalisation and trading volume without necessarily reflecting sustained cultural or intellectual impact.

This creates a feedback loop in which influence generates token demand, and token demand further amplifies influence, benefiting existing fame rather than genuine discovery. Additionally, most creator coins function as standalone tokens without a shared governance or quality assurance mechanism.

As a result, token value is frequently driven by market sentiment rather than external evaluation of content quality or long-term creator contribution.

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: A small, aligned group of creators governs admissions, ensuring consistency in standards and mission.
• Predictable incentives: Token speculation aligns with DAO decisions rather than broad social momentum, encouraging informed participation.
• Collective branding: The DAO builds a shared reputation that enhances visibility and revenue opportunities for its members.
• Sustainable revenue: By tying token burning to DAO membership and earnings, speculative pressure becomes a predictive signal rather than a self-reinforcing loop.

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