Vitalik Buterin Calls Creator Tokens Broken, Pitches DAO Fix

Key insights

• Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said creator tokens rewarded popularity, not content quality.
• He proposed curated DAOs and prediction markets to screen creators.
• He linked token burns to DAO admission to curb speculation loops.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a new creator tokens model on X. He combined curated creator DAOs with prediction markets to surface quality content. He said current creator token systems rewarded social status over merit.

As per the Ethereum news, Buterin framed creator tokens as a quality problem, not a supply problem. He said the internet already produced abundant content at low cost.

Vitalik Buterin said creator tokens failed because they incentivized output volume instead of quality.

Vitalik Buterin Shifts Focus to Creator Tokens

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reviewed a decade of creator incentives experiments in crypto. He cited early platforms like Steemit and BitClout as reference points.

The co-founder said these systems did not consistently elevated high quality creators.

He contrasted creator tokens with Substack as a working example. Buterin said Substack elevated writers who lacked prior distribution. He also said Substack curated its early supply through hands-on onboarding.

Vitalik Buterin criticized top creator coins lists on platforms such as Zora. He said rankings concentrated among people who already had large audiences. Besides, he noted that creator tokens often priced social capital instead of content value.

He also pointed to speculation driven dynamics in SocialFi products. The material in this conversation referenced Friend.tech as an example critics targeted. It said activity dropped and its token fell 95% from its high.

That criticism matched Buterin’s broader claim about attention games. He said creator tokens could become recursive speculation loops. He said creators without status struggled to compete inside that loop.

Creator Tokens Used Curated DAOs As A Quality Gate

Vitalik Buterin proposed a creator DAO structure that avoided token based governance. He referenced Protocol Guild as inspiration. He described a members list that voted new members in and out.

According to the Ethereum news, Buterin said the DAO should stay opinionated and niche. He recommended dominant formats like long-form writing or music. He also accepted a geographic or political focus if aligned.

Buterin argued that small scale governance stayed tractable. Buterin suggested splitting groups once membership climbed beyond about 200. He said the DAO should build a brand that could bargain for revenue.

In addition, he also linked creator tokens to DAO admissions. He said any creator could launch a token and apply for admission. He said admission would trigger token burning funded by a portion of DAO proceeds.

That mechanic aimed to tie creator tokens value to creator acceptance. It also aimed to reduce supply through burns. Buterin said speculators would predict which creators DAOs accepted.

Creator Tokens Met Prediction Markets And Oracle Risk

Vitalik Buterin also discussed prediction markets in separate remarks shared here. In an interview with Foresight News, he described a Polymarket approach he called crazy mode. Buterin also warned against extreme outcomes when sentiment ran hot.

Notably, he shared investment of about $440,000 on Polymarket. He said he earned about $70,000 profit after a 2025 bet. He framed that return as a result of fading hype.

The same material included reactions from industry figures. Loxley Fernandes said rational traders helped correct emotional pricing. Dastan echoed that view and credited flawed assumptions.

Buterin also warned about oracle security. Notably, he described a market tied to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and city control. He said an oracle relied on maps shared on X.

On the other hand, he said a hacked account altered those maps briefly. He said that a single update could have influenced payouts. He used the example to argue oracles needed stronger security.

Vitalik Buterin Shares Outlook

The creator tokens proposal of Vitalik Buterin shifted the burden from crowds to curated groups. It asked creators to earn admission from peers, not speculators. It also asked markets to predict DAO decisions, not popularity alone.

The framework also carried operational risk. DAO membership decisions could still favor insiders without transparency. Prediction market oracles could still fail during contentious disputes.

The Ethereum co-founder positioned the model as a response to low-cost artificial intelligence content. He said systems should reward quality selection and pluralism. He treated creator tokens as a mechanism that only worked with active curation.