What Is Base? The Ethereum Layer-2 Network Launched by Coinbase

Main American crypto change Coinbase ventured deeper into the on-chain economic system with the launch of its Ethereum layer-2 network Base in 2023.

Initially billed as “a ‘bridge’ for users into the cryptoeconomy,” Base was designed to accommodate Coinbase’s present on-chain merchandise and supply an open ecosystem for thousands and thousands of latest decentralized apps.

Since its launch, Base has developed into one of many main Ethereum layer-2 networks, representing a major chunk of on-chain tradition and exercise.

Study all the pieces else it is advisable find out about Base under.

What’s Base?

Base is an Ethereum layer-2 network that was created by American crypto change Coinbase in 2023. Constructed on open-source requirements and the OP Stack, Base makes use of optimistic rollups, a know-how that batches transactions collectively for processing to assist customers save on gasoline charges.

Because of this, transacting on Base gives customers considerably cheaper and sooner transactions in comparison with these on the Ethereum mainnet, all whereas using the safety of the layer-1 blockchain.

Why did Coinbase launch Base?

Coinbase launched Base to assist resolve the crucial concern of onboarding new customers and builders to crypto, within the hope of at some point bringing “billions of users to the cryptoeconomy.”

With that in thoughts, the corporate wanted to discover a approach to offer builders and customers with safer, cheaper, and sooner purposes and merchandise. To take action, Base’s layer-2 blockchain was designed to be open supply, decentralized, and interoperable—leveraging the transparency of open-source code, performing as a “bridge instead of an island,” to different main crypto ecosystems, and sustaining its dedication to chopping out pointless middlemen.

Does Base have a token?

Not like many different layer-2 networks, Base doesn’t have a local token and as a substitute makes use of Ethereum because the gasoline token to facilitate transactions on the community.

Whereas many crypto customers have speculated that the chain may finally get its personal token, the change has—till lately—remained adamant that it has no plans to launch a Base token.

“We’re not planning to make any token for Base,” the corporate’s CEO Brian Armstrong told Decrypt in 2023, a line that the corporate stuck to for 2 years—although the agency’s Chief Authorized Officer let slip that it was “not one thing we’ve dominated out solely.”

In September 2025, Base pivoted from its previous messaging, stating that it’s “starting to discover a community token” in a tweet. Nonetheless, Coinbase reiterated that it has “no definitive plans” to launch a token for the Base community.

Although no native token rewards are at the moment supplied to these constructing on the chain, the community does supply builders grants and funding opportunities for his or her efforts in bringing customers and purposes to the layer-2 community.

What are you able to do on Base?

Base is dwelling to dozens of apps and protocols that help on-chain actions throughout gaming, social, and DeFi, providing customers a variety of potential actions.

DeFi

House to 617 DeFi protocols in keeping with information from DefiLlama, Base homes greater than $5.1 billion in total-value-locked (TVL), or the sum of money held in smart contracts on the chain.

The checklist is headed by decentralized lending platform Morpho, with $1.89 billion in TVL on the chain.

Different conventional DeFi gamers like Uniswap and AAVE have a big presence on Coinbase’s L2, with smaller protocols like Moonwell and Pendle holding greater than $100 million in TVL as nicely.

Gaming

Base has a strong gaming ecosystem, highlighted by gaming-centric layer-3 community B3, which claims to host some 244 games and over 7 million wallets. The ecosystem, constructed by former members of the Base crew, has attracted notable Web3 gaming publishers like Parallel Studios and Nifty Island.

Different video games like Frenpet, Aavegotchi, and Heroes of Mavia additionally name Base dwelling.

Shopper purposes

Past video games and DeFi, the layer-2 community is the host to an array of client purposes starting from neighborhood artwork to restaurant loyalty packages.

One of many main examples with ties to Base is decentralized social media protocol Farcaster and its in style Warpcast consumer, which give a blockchain-based different to in style social media websites like X or Fb.

Base can also be dwelling to token launchpads like Flaunch, restaurant loyalty platform Blackbird, and collectible sticker platform Sofamon among hundreds of others.

How does Base evaluate to different blockchains?

Coinbase’s scaling community is the biggest layer-2 community within the cryptoeconomy at this time, internet hosting practically $1.6 billion extra in TVL than Arbitrum, the subsequent largest layer-2 community according to DefiLlama.

However it doesn’t solely rank nicely amongst layer-2 blockchains when it comes to monetary efficiency, when evaluating Base to all different blockchains–together with layer-1 networks like Solana and Ethereum–it ranks #7 in each day lively addresses during the last 12 months in keeping with information from TokenTerminal, with just shy of a million active addresses daily.

Moreover, the chain ranks fifth amongst different layer-2 networks in core builders, trailing Optimism, Arbitrum, Linea and zkSync Period, in keeping with information from TokenTerminal.

What’s the way forward for Base?

Base’s overarching aim has at all times been to carry billions of shoppers on-chain, finally increasing the crypto ecosystem past its present set of customers.

As a part of its objectives for 2025, the community goals to achieve 25 million customers, 25,000 builders, and $100 billion in belongings on the platform–milestones that it claims are “big, hairy, audacious goals.”

To attain these objectives and past, the chain is targeted on enhancing the developer expertise by embracing AI brokers and past, leaning into app distribution to assist promote its rising suite of merchandise, and decreasing onboarding to lower than 60 seconds as it really works on its Good Pockets.