US crypto exchange Coinbase is best known as a centralized powerhouse—but that narrative is set to change in 2023. basisThe company's Ethereum layer-2 network.
Baez's startup has done more than anything to establish Coinbase, not just an organization that enables crypto commerce, but decentralized commerce and activity on par with the world's largest blockchain networks. Its launch is not only one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world; For the industry, it has redefined what crypto exchange means – and that's why it's our project of the year.
Made over Ethereum Elastic solution OptimismBase serves as an on-chain ecosystem not only for Coinbase's own products, but also for millions of other decentralized applications – which Coinbase doesn't own and are free to build wherever they want.
“In the first few months that we've been live, we're seeing that it's a base. In advance It's much broader than Coinbase.” said founder Jesse Pollack. Decrypt. “There are hundreds of apps that people use regularly that aren't built by Coinbase. [And] Millions of users, many of them through non-Coinbase products, are interacting with Base.
That diversity, combined with Coinbase's support, makes Base particularly attractive to third-party developers, said Avishal Garg, founder of the crypto venture firm. Electric capital.
“A lot of people don't realize it, but Coinbase is as much a developer tools company as it is a consumer company,” Garg said. Decrypt. “Between their security, wallet and Coinbase Cloud, they have a lot of expertise in how to work with developers and partners and build an ecosystem.”
At the time of writing, the base boasts a total value locked (TVL) of $419 million DeFi call-Placing in the top 10 blockchain networks in terms of size.
In the weeks after entering the base Launching in AugustThe chain bladder Almost double the amount of daily activity seen on Optimism – the network on which Base built itself. In 11 days, the network hit one million addresses The fastest layer -2 Never do that.
In September, Bez Solana won At TVL (a big hit that was eventually reversed by Solana). Recent revival). At several points in August, September, and October, Beth saw more daily activity. Even from Ethereum.
Much of that early momentum came from politeness. Friend. Tech, a monetized social networking concept built on Buzz. That traffic source collapsed in October, once the hype around Friend.tech all but collapsed. But the chain has since steadily broadened its appeal by attracting popular Diffie projects, including a decentralized exchange aggregator. 1 inchblockchain platform Chain linkand credit infrastructure provider Maple Finance.
Baez has established itself as a decentralized finance (DeFi) hub, which is causing frustration meme coin movementAnd even controversial rugged token Inspired by the bald head of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Analysts contacted. Home to Sam Bankman-Fried, who was incarcerated at the time.
On the move, Base Coinbase netted a profit of $5.8 million, a gain of nearly 49%. That's nearly double the profit margin of Arbitrum (26%) and Optimism (28%) and much higher than zkSync (37%), the compiled data shows. Dune analysis.
For what it's worth, the base is built on. OP Stack in partnership with Optimism. It means a few things to Coinbase: It started building its'.Package agnostic superchain” on a stack that used to have a large community of Web3 developers and is now a major Optimist developer.
That helped Base quickly solidify its reputation as a hub for decentralized finance and applications—not just a great productivity tool for Coinbase customers. Base offers cheaper and faster on-chain transactions than Ethereum Layer-2is still working safely on the backend network.
In an exclusive interview with Decrypt Earlier this month, Coinbase CEO Armstrong said the goal is “not to [Base] Coinbase thing, but something much broader.
“We're trying to do it in a way that's consistent with the rest of the crypto community,” Armstrong said. “It will have the full support of Coinbase, which will hopefully give it some sense of stability and confidence.”
The goal seems to be to use Coinbase's core reputation to attract millions of new users to the chain—all while putting Coinbase at the core of that seismic shift.
Pollack, the founder of Base, says the ultimate goal for Base is to get a billion users on board. To attract those masses, he believes that the network should not only provide financial services – it should be the starting point for the entire creative economy.
“It's really all about increasing the things people can do, so people have more opportunities to use Coinbase,” Pollack said. Decrypt In July. “It's not just speculation and commerce, but also art, music, games, and other consumer products.”
Indeed, the base has attracted domestic brands Coca-Cola, Showtime and AtariAnd features enough Art inspiration And Cultural projects In addition to DeFi protocols.
Catering to consumers interested in such brands and projects, who may have less tech-native experience, is a key part of Base's broader culture-focused strategy.
“Our North Star makes it possible for someone to deploy crypto from anywhere to a cash-backed wallet or contract in less than 60 seconds,” Pollack said.
The chain's backers also seem intent on avoiding crypto regulations that could threaten its standing with regulators and thus its ability to target retail customers: Armstrong recently They spoke Decrypt That said, Coinbase has no plans to launch a potentially lucrative base token, which could easily run afoul of US regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
All in all, it looks like Baez has found a successful recipe for a crypto exchange to both find a sustainable path forward after last year's turmoil and at the dawn of mass (fingers crossed) adoption on-chain.
Other crypto exchanges have taken note: last month, Coinbase rivals Kraken And all right Both have unveiled plans for their own Layer-2 networks.
But first-mover advantage is everything, and this year has given Coinbase a big head start on its soon-to-be key competition.
“It makes sense for exchanges to try to build their ecosystem,” said Electric Capital's Garg. But only a few exchanges are able to command sustainable ecosystems, so there may be some kind of consolidation or attachment.
Edited by Andrew Hayward and Stacy Elliott
