Vitalik Buterin criticizes the speculative approach to creator coins

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, recently expressed serious concerns about the current state of creator coins. According to NS3.AI, he pointed out that the very mechanism of creator tokenization does not address the industry’s main problem — quality control over content. Instead of simply incentivizing the production of increasing amounts of material, the ecosystem should focus on curation and comprehensive support for creators.

Why content filtering is more important than incentivizing creation

Buterin emphasizes that the key issue with current creator coins lies in misaligned priorities. The system rewards quantity of content rather than quality, leading to a decline in overall material standards. The main challenge is learning to select worthy works from a vast flow, rather than just funding the production of more and more content.

The Substack model as a practical example

The Ethereum co-founder highlights the successful experience of the Substack platform, which employs a combined approach: curation methods to assist creators are complemented by practical tools to grow their audience. This balance between quality selection and creator support demonstrates that tokenization is not always necessary to build an effective content reward ecosystem.

DAOs and prediction markets instead of speculative creator tokens

Vitalik proposes an alternative approach: instead of traditional speculative creator tokens, consider using small, non-tokenized DAOs for selecting and supporting creators. In this model, creator coins would serve as prediction markets — tools for forecasting content success, rather than mere assets for trading. This model would shift the entire system from financial speculation to genuine incentives for high-quality creativity.

Buterin’s position reflects a growing awareness in the crypto community that tokenization alone is insufficient to create a sustainable ecosystem. True progress requires a comprehensive approach where technology functions as a tool for management and quality assessment, not as an end in itself.