Bankless: Why are we focusing on Base?

Original Title: Unpacking the Base Narrative

Original Author: David C

Original Compilation: Luccy, BlockBeats

Editor's Note: This article explores the significant position of Base in the on-chain ecosystem and its close integration with Coinbase. As a representative that has rapidly grown into an important player within just a year, Base showcases its uniqueness through collaboration with Coinbase, an active developer and user ecosystem, and key partnerships with important collaborators like Stripe.
The article delves into how Base leverages its unique advantages, including technological innovation, strategic partnerships, and industry leadership, as well as Coinbase's key role in driving its position in the on-chain ecosystem. This piece not only highlights Base's growth journey and its potential in the DeFi space but also emphasizes the challenges and opportunities it may face in the future.

Coinbase's L2 solution Base has quickly become one of the most notable hotspots in this round of on-chain activity, firmly establishing itself as one of the most innovative corners of Ethereum.

The rise and ongoing development of Base have become a hot investment story that is hard to ignore.

Launched in July 2023 and built on the OP Stack, Base aims to enable cheaper and faster Ethereum transactions, a key feature that has propelled its success. Since its launch, Base has created a vibrant ecosystem encompassing DeFi, NFTs, and user-friendly applications, placing it at the forefront of all on-chain trends. It partnered with Stripe to launch stablecoin services, becoming a hub for the rollout of Layer 3 (L3) solutions, and has consistently been at the center of liquidity rotations that spark calls for a "Base season," even surpassing Optimism in terms of on-chain TVL!

This article will explore what makes Base unique among other L2 platforms, how it gains momentum from Coinbase, and the rumored token airdrop, all of which contribute to making Base an unmissable destination on-chain. Let's get started!

What Makes Base Stand Out?

Base is notable for its deep integration with the Coinbase ecosystem and its reputation as a consumer chain.

The integration with Coinbase brings the exchange's vast consumer base closer to the chain, laying the groundwork for building a community of builders and users.

Ecosystem initiatives like Onchain Summer have helped developers and creators focus, making the chain a popular place for attracting users. Base continually demonstrates its commitment to creators and fosters an experimental atmosphere, leading to many unique activities on-chain, including trading AI music with Crate, private conversations on friend.tech, and competitive play in WorldPVP.

Moreover, Coinbase provides a wealth of tools that make life on-chain more convenient, the most notable being their recently launched smart wallet, which simplifies the login process, eliminates lengthy recovery phrases, and allows dApps to pay gas fees on behalf of users.

These innovations collectively build a supportive ecosystem that rewards builders trying new things, thereby maintaining user engagement and creating a casual, consumer-friendly atmosphere—something that is extremely rare in the high-stakes arena of DeFi.

Can Coinbase Propel Base to New Heights?

Coinbase's support brings several key advantages that lay the foundation for Base's success.

Trust: As one of the most recognized and trusted names in the industry, Coinbase adds credibility to the chain, aiming to assure potential users that the chain will operate with integrity. This is crucial not only for attracting Coinbase's 110 million users, providing a friendly and secure on-chain adventure, but also enables Base to establish important partnerships with major collaborators like Stripe.

Partnerships: The collaboration with this financial services giant will have a dual effect, positioning L2 as a payment highway, potentially competing with Solana, which benefits from large-scale stablecoin transactions in this cycle, and signaling to other Web2 companies that Base is a reliable place to scale on-chain businesses. The backing of a mature global enterprise provides financial support, allowing Base to continue innovating and offering various services to its community, such as cloud access, institutional portals, and integrated development platforms.

Marketing: Their strong financial reserves also serve as a powerful marketing machine, bringing Base and the entire industry closer to the public, thanks to the company's support for regular television advertisements that make your parents stop and say, "Oh, I never thought of it that way."

Political Influence: Finally, no company has actively developed relationships with regulators like Coinbase to push for clear and effective regulation. From funding the "Support Crypto" initiative to regularly meeting with senators and congress members, this exchange continues to represent the entire industry. Although they are currently facing lawsuits themselves, the reputation they gain from this may serve as a shield for Base when facing legal complexities. Additionally, this means that the chain will be committed to enhancing security and compliance as an extra safeguard against potential issues.

In summary, the collaboration between Coinbase and Base not only provides credibility and financial support but also enhances its potential for partnerships with major collaborators, gaining regulatory support, and broad market coverage, making it a formidable competitor on-chain.

What’s the Situation with Base Tokens?

Despite Base's rapid growth and success, it is still under development.

The platform's anti-fraud system is still in progress, meaning that Base has not yet fully decentralized. However, the team is actively pushing the decentralization process.

Unlike other major L2 chains, Base currently does not have its own token and has not released any official announcements indicating that a token will be launched in the future. Nevertheless, many believe that the chain will find a way to introduce a token. While this currently means there is no direct way to invest in the network's current success, the potential for the future makes using the chain more attractive. Additionally, more direct incentives may come from Optimism's next retroactive airdrop, considering that the last airdrop rewarded creators across the Superchain, including Base.

In the meantime, investing in tokens launched on L2 may provide an alternative route to exposure to the Base ecosystem.

Advantages of Base

In just one year, Base has rapidly grown into an important on-chain player thanks to its integration with Coinbase, an active developer and user ecosystem, and key partnerships with important collaborators like Stripe.

Coinbase's support not only provides Base with credibility, financial backing, and regulatory support, which are crucial for its growth and stability, but also enables it to operate initiatives like Onchain Summer that reward on-chain activities and experimentation, ensuring there are always new things to do on the network.

Furthermore, the potential future launch of a token by Coinbase also increases the incentive to operate on Base, an experience that is increasingly simplified with features like the smart wallet.

As Base expands and innovates, its user-centric approach, advanced technology, and strategically partnered support from Coinbase make it one of the preferred destinations on-chain, potentially even the primary destination.