Top US Journalist Minting on Base, Attention Completes Monetization Loop
Original Title: "The Man Who Hit the Pulse of American Social Sentiment, Issued a Coin"
Original Author: Azuma, Odaily Planet Daily
Who is the most popular person in the United States right now? The answer may not be the well-known Trump or Musk, but a man named Nick Shirley.
Who is Nick Shirley? He is an independent investigative journalist currently stirring up the social sentiment in America. On December 27, Nick Shirley posted multiple of his investigative videos on X, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms, accusing rampant fraud and corruption in the state of Minnesota, USA.
In the video, Nick Shirley visited a daycare center in the state, which was supposed to be open at the time, but it was closed, and the publicly listed 99 registered students were nowhere to be found. Nick Shirley interviewed a local resident who had lived in the area for 8 years, and the interviewee said, "I have been living here since 2017, but I have never seen any children."
Nick Shirley said in the video, "This is one of the 'daycare centers' that are among hundreds that have received millions of dollars in funding from the government. This daycare center, which even misspelled 'learning' this way, received $1.9 million in tax-free funding... And this is just one case of the thousands of businesses in Minnesota suspected of operating fraudulently... Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is aware of these fraud cases but has never reported them."
Nick Shirley's video has sparked massive attention and discussion in the United States, with the total video views reaching hundreds of millions in just two days. The 42-minute full investigation video on X alone has received over a billion views.
Prominent figures from various sectors have also actively engaged with Nick Shirley. American Vice President Vance has retweeted and replied multiple times, stating that Nick Shirley's investigation is more valuable than all the Pulitzer Prize-winning works of 2024; Musk has also followed Nick Shirley's account, highly praised Nick Shirley for demonstrating media value, and referred to 'learning' as the 'vocabulary of the year.'
Here is an additional note on the U.S. political background: Minnesota is usually considered a traditional Democratic stronghold in American politics. However, in recent years, the political landscape has changed significantly, showing characteristics of a swing state. More importantly, the current Governor, Tim Walz, was Harris' running mate in the 2024 election, with a chance to become Vice President under Harris.... So it's not surprising why Walz would personally come out firing.
For such a highly trending topic, especially one with social and political attributes that Memes love, the online world naturally didn't delay.
First, the community spontaneously hyped up the most abstract misspelling in this survey, focusing on 'learing'. On the Solana blockchain, the market capitalization of this meme token is currently at $3.34 million.
Next, the community discovered that Nick Shirley had seemingly registered on the Zora creator platform and issued a personal creator token, $thenickshirley, on Base. Subsequently, interactions between Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong and Nick Shirley confirmed that the token was indeed created by Nick Shirley himself.
As of the time of writing, the market capitalization of $thenickshirley is currently at $5.65 million (having reached a peak of $9.02 million at one point), and Nick Shirley himself has earned $41,646 in creator revenue through royalties.
Brian Armstrong commented that this proves the monetization effectiveness of content on Base is superior to other platforms. Nick Shirley also didn't forget to thank Brian Armstrong after making money, praising Base and Zora as 'legendary'.
In addition, the prediction market Polymarket promptly followed up with speculation on the 'handling' of this topic, with the current odds as shown below:
An hour ago, Nick Shirley posted his Venmo and crypto addresses on X, openly inviting 'tips'.
From the emerging meme hot topic of $thenickshirley to Nick Shirley's token issuance itself, and then to launching 'omnichannel crowdfunding' and the continued catalysis in the peripheral markets, we have witnessed a performance where network media and open finance dance together.
This is by no means a simple Meme speculation, but more like a real-world experiment on "Creator Economy + On-chain Content Monetization" — an individual with significant reach and influence on public discourse, who, without sponsors, platform fees, or advertisers, directly monetized attention through on-chain tools.
What it validates is not "how high this token can rise," but another more fundamental question, whether content can really be monetized on a decentralized platform in a lower-friction, more transparent manner. Within this lies perhaps the future direction of the media industry.
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