Base Chain: The Rapidly Rising Layer 2 Star Project

Base chain is a Layer 2 project incubated by Coinbase, aiming to become part of the Optimism superchain. Since its launch, Base chain has developed rapidly, surpassing several established Layer 2 projects and becoming the top-ranked Layer 2 in terms of TVL.

Introduction to Base Chain

Base chain is built on the OP Stack of Optimism and utilizes Optimistic Rollups technology. Compared to other Layer 2 solutions, Optimistic Rollups are more compatible with Ethereum, allowing many dApps to migrate directly. Base plans to enhance decentralization through the OP Stack by introducing multiple ordering nodes, reducing reliance on a single ordering service.

As the second core development team, Base has joined the development of OP Stack and Superchain, committed to enhancing the activity of the superchain and promoting the growth of the developer ecosystem. Base aims to create a highly integrated chain network to provide users with a seamless experience, allowing protocols built on Base in the future to be smoothly integrated into the superchain.

Base Chain Data Representation

TVL

The TVL of Base chain surged significantly after September, increasing from $1.419 billion to $2.388 billion, a rise of 68.28%. Among all ETH Layer 2s, Base's TVL growth rate ranks first, indicating its rapid development.

On-chain address count

The number of addresses on the Base chain has significantly increased after August, rising from 24.55 million to 74.88 million, a growth of 205.01%. This indicates that the number of on-chain users has more than doubled in the past three months, reflecting users' optimism about the development prospects of Base.

Base chain income

Base chain revenue increased from 19.78 million USD in March to 76.55 million USD now, with a total increase of 287% from March to October, averaging 41% per month. As the number of on-chain users and activities increases, Base revenue continues to grow rapidly.

weekly trading volume

The weekly trading volume of the Base chain has increased from 13.45 million in May to 47.06 million now, with a total increase of 249% from May to October and an average monthly increase of 49%. The trading volume continues to grow rapidly.

On-chain performance

The TPS of Base reached 66.28, surpassing other chains, making it the best performing in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Weekly Active Addresses

The number of active users on the Base chain last week continued to grow, reflecting an increase in the activity level of the on-chain ecosystem.

In summary, the Base ecosystem is currently experiencing vigorous development. From the perspective of two key indicators: funding and traffic, Base performs the best among ETH-Layer2. TVL, transaction volume, and chain revenue are all growing rapidly, with a monthly growth rate exceeding 40%. The number of users and activity levels continue to rise. Coupled with excellent on-chain performance, Base has a broad development prospect in the ETH-Layer2 track.

Circle(USDC)'s support for Base

The number of stablecoins on the Base chain has rapidly increased, rising from $319 million in March to $3.771 billion, with a total increase of 1082.13% from March to October and an average monthly increase of 216.42%.

Circle officially announced support for the Base chain, issuing native USDC on the Base chain. Through CCTP, native burning and minting of USDC on the Base chain is achieved. Coinbase has partnered with Stripe to bring USDC to the Base platform, enabling faster and cheaper cross-border transfers and quick conversion from dollars to cryptocurrencies.

USDC plays an important role in the Base chain. As of October 2024, the trading volume of USDC on the DEX of the Base chain has exceeded 20 billion USD, making a significant contribution to the prosperity of the ecosystem. The number of holders of USDC on the Base chain is also continuously increasing, and its popularity is steadily rising.

The comprehensive cooperation between Circle and Base simplifies the user operation process; the strategic collaboration between Coinbase and Stripe expands the application scenarios of USDC in the Base ecosystem, building a bridge that connects traditional finance and the crypto economy.

The ecological situation of Base Chain

The Base chain ecosystem is comprehensive, covering multiple tracks including Wallet, Bridge, Defi, Gaming, Onramp, Dao, Infra, Social, Security, NFT, etc., with a total of 323 Dapps.

Defi track

In the DeFi space, projects with TVL exceeding 200 million USD include Aerodrome, Uniswap, and Morpho Blue.

Aerodrome is the first DEX on the Base chain, utilizing the Ve(3,3) model. Its innovative incentive mechanism encourages long-term holding and governance participation, with 90% of veAERO locked, providing strong support for the ecosystem.

Morpho Blue is a decentralized lending protocol that allows for the permissionless creation of independent markets. It adopts a singleton contract design, simplifying the protocol and reducing gas consumption.

Extra Finance provides leveraged lending, farming strategies with up to 3x leverage, and other financial tools, integrating multiple mainstream DEX.

Meme Coin track

Meme coin projects have become a major force driving funds and user participation on the Base chain. Projects like TYBG, Degen, and Brett attract a large amount of market traffic. The meme coin craze brings both opportunities and challenges, requiring rational examination to promote healthy industry development.

SocialFi track

SocialFi projects bring new users and funds to the Base chain. friend.tech monetizes social value through Twitter account binding. Farcaster, as a decentralized social network protocol, provides a high-quality user experience through the Frames plugin. Warpcast is built on the Farcaster protocol, integrating elements of traditional social media with blockchain characteristics. The innovative distribution method of the DEGEN token further promotes the development of the Farcaster ecosystem.

Coinbase's Innovations on the Base Chain

Coinbase has launched the Based Agents service, allowing users to quickly create AI agents on the Base chain. Virtuals Protocol has become one of the most popular AI agent products on the Base chain, enabling direct interaction between AI agents and the market through tokenization channels.

Summary

Since its launch, Base chain has developed rapidly, showing outstanding performance in key indicators such as TVL, user growth, and transaction volume. Its ecosystem covers multiple popular tracks, including DeFi, Meme coins, and SocialFi. By partnering with Circle, it has enhanced user experience and cross-border payment efficiency. Base is also actively exploring the combination of AI and blockchain. With support from Coinbase, innovative technology applications, and a rich ecosystem of projects, Base has become one of the most promising Layer 2 solutions in the Ethereum ecosystem, providing strong infrastructure support for decentralized finance and Web3 development.