Zora co-founder Dee Goans takes over as CEO after revenue plummeted 98%.

Zora co-founder Dee Goens takes over as CEO and faces the challenge of transforming the token economy.

Zora co-founder Dee Goens announced on Wednesday that he has taken over the position of CEO of online Social networks from Jacob Horne. Goens 'appointment comes at a time when Zora faces serious challenges as its creator token business has fallen sharply since reaching its peak in 2025.

Zora's terminology system is confusing.$ ZORA tokens are native tokens to the platform, which is different from the agreement activity token "Zora Coins" tracked by DefiLlama, and from the tool tokens "Creator Coins" and "Post Coins" that users use for transactions.$ ZORA tokens are mainly used to pay rewards and provide liquidity for projects, but the holder does not gain any governance or ownership rights.

This distinction is crucial. Zora's recovery depends on its ability to reignite enthusiasm for trading Creator Coins and Post Coins, while providing $ZORA holders with clear incentives to promote Zora's expansion. This is part of Goens's responsibility to demonstrate that a token-based attention mechanism can create long-term trading activity, generate significant revenue for creators, and strengthen the connection between Zora's business and its native tokens.

Quarterly revenue from US$5.6 million to negligible

The data reveals the extent of the difficulties faced. DefiLlama's data on ZORA Coins shows that the agreement generated revenue of $5.64 million in the third quarter of 2025. However, it fell to US$3.06 million in the fourth quarter of the same year, further to US$279,810 in the first quarter of the following year, and only US$106,540 in the second quarter, a decrease of nearly 98.1% from the previously announced third-quarter revenue. As of now, the current figure for the third quarter of this year is $46,810, although the quarter is not yet over.

In contrast, recent activity appears to be very sluggish. DefiLlama data shows fees over the past 30 days were $14,971, agreement revenue was $6,165, and decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume was approximately $551,284. The total cumulative fees are US$10.43 million, and the overall DEX transaction volume totals approximately US$399.47 million.

Why momentum stagnates

Zora's original strategy was to have tokens serve both the creator and his work. Creator Coins represent individuals, and Post Coins represent their posts. According to 0x's case study of Zora, Creator Coins are associated with $ZORA, while Post Coins are associated with creator's tokens.

Distribution mechanisms play a huge role in the prosperity of 2025. According to 0x, when Coinbase integrated Zora into the information stream of the Base App, its daily token creation increased significantly from 6,000 in early July to nearly 50,000 at the end of the month. Subsequently, with the help of Zora Coins, its Swap API successfully completed transactions worth US$59 million, with a total of 352,000 transactions.

However, the signs of success this year are no longer as obvious. As Cryptopolitan reported in February, although Base App has invested more than $450,000 creator rewards for more than 17,000 creators, it is shutting down its Creator Rewards program and Farcaster-driven social streaming and shifting its focus to the transactional space.

Bet pairing and multi-chain coverage

Goens is now trying to push Zora towards a broader trading infrastructure. "Pairing and social transactions will create a new wave of adoption for cryptocurrencies," he wrote on the X platform, adding,"Zora is committed to helping make the big cake."

In fact, the product has taken steps in this direction. Custom Pairs allows creators to choose which asset the token will be paired with. On networks such as Base, Robinhood Chain and Solana, this can be ETH, USDC, Robinhood stock token or Solana token. These pairings charge a 1% transaction fee, of which 0.70% goes to the creator.

Trend Coins charge a 0.01% fee. In the August update, Zora added support for Robinhood Chain and native Solana deposit capabilities, and provided Gas fee support for redemptions across these three chains.

What Goens needs to prove

The issue of tokens is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid. Although Goens mentioned buybacks or rewards as one of his goals, aiming to connect the business more closely with $ZORA holders, he has not disclosed the amount, source, timing or mechanism of the funding. This is significant because currently $ZORA holders do not have any legal rights to the income generated by the agreement or their treasury assets.

However, the real test lies in persistence. Galaxy Research points out that new token markets tend to be highly concentrated, often attracting only short-term attention, generating bursts of liquidity rather than long-term activity.

So, Zora needs more than just another cycle of viral transmission. Goens 'biggest challenge is: Will quarterly revenue grow? Is this growth due to continued multi-chain transactions, or is it just a one-time surge in distribution?