Why Base Chain Has Potential to Lock the Next Generation of Crypto Users

In the year 2024, Bitcoin will turn fifteen. At this point, cryptocurrencies are experiencing a transition akin to the 1990s when the internet was moving from being an innovative novelty to becoming widely accepted. This shift is largely due to advancements in blockchain technology that make crypto more accessible and efficient for mass adoption.

The crucial move for bringing in the next billion users hinges on blockchains’ capacity to draw and keep users. Notably, Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution created by Coinbase, has gained significant traction this year with remarkable growth.

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Why Base Chain Has Potential to Lock the Next Generation of Crypto Users

What Factors are Driving Base’s Success?

Leveraging Coinbase for user acquisition: Base is developed by Coinbase to seamlessly bridge their users to the crypto economy. It is integrated into the Coinbase mobile and web applications, with easy fiat on and off ramps from the exchange. With 110 million users at Coinbase and 7 million on Base, there is much room to grow.
User experience: Coinbase is launching major UI improvements addressing the biggest hurdles for mainstream adoption. The Smart wallet simplifies the login process without the need to remember lengthy recovery phrases while Magic Spend uses smart contracts to abstract away the complications of gas payments, allowing dApps to pay gas fees on behalf of their users. Furthermore, Coinbase is going to store more customer USDC balances on Base, making it easy to deploy cash on-chain.
Strong community: Jesse Pollack, the creator of Base is also the biggest influencer within the Base community. We have also seen early success in social dApps building on Base such as Friend.Tech and Farcaster, demonstrating the benefits of Web3 social and building a loyal community.

In simpler terms, while Base does not have a native token of its own, it relies on Ethereum (ETH) for transaction fees and governance through the use of OP tokens. Additionally, AEVO, the token associated with the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) on Base, serves as the incentive token within the ecosystem due to its vote escrow mechanism. The Base ecosystem’s fund is purchasing AERO to distribute as rewards for projects that commit to keeping AERO locked in order to encourage liquidity.

On Base, a number of well-known DeFi projects have been launched, and the native projects on this platform have gained a substantial market presence. Among these, Aerodrome, the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) on Base by total value locked (TVL), has earned nearly as much in fees as Uniswap did recently. This is an impressive feat, given that Uniswap operates on 16 different platforms.

Moonwell, the top lending and borrowing platform on Base, boasts a Total Value Locked (TVL) that is almost as large as those of Aave and Compound on Base combined. Since the start of the year, Moonwell has experienced a user growth of over 4 times the original number. The USDC Anywhere program allows Moonwell to access USDC deposited on any blockchains supported by Circle, as well as USDC held on Coinbase.

Degen, which was originally just a meme token and is now used as the primary currency inside Farcaster’s app, has seen a remarkable surge in users over the past month, with new sign-ups increasing fivefold. This growth rate surpasses that of BONK, a well-known meme coin on the Solana network, which previously held the record for the most rapid user expansion.

Using Coinbase’s backing and the fast growth of its platform and user base, Base is well-positioned to pave the way for bringing blockchain tech closer to widespread use.

2024-04-24 19:20

Why Base Chain Has Potential to Lock the Next Generation of Crypto Users

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