Leading Projects on Base Chain in 2024
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more
Layer-2 blockchains are transforming the crypto landscape by enhancing the scalability and performance of Layer-1 networks like Ethereum. Among these L2 solutions, Base stands out, experiencing rapid growth thanks to its affordability and speed. (The fact that it was launched by Coinbase certainly helps.)
The bloockchain’s mission is to enhance Ethereum’s scalability, reduce transaction costs, and improve both user and developer experiences in decentralized applications (dApps).
Introducing Base
Base is a decentralized scaling solution for Ethereum, developed by Coinbase, the largest centralized crypto exchange in North America. Coinbase is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the ticker $COIN.
Despite being developed by a corporate entity, it operates as a decentralized network, with no direct intervention from Coinbase. It optimizes Ethereum transactions by consolidating them into batches and settling them off-chain before recording them on-chain, making the process significantly faster and cheaper.
Growth and User Adoption
Since its launch in August 2023, Base has emerged as one of the fastest-growing L2 solutions, driven by the increasing demand for Ethereum scaling options.
In a competitive L2 market, it has attracted a strong user base by offering developer-friendly tools and leveraging Coinbase’s extensive user network.
In March and April 2024, Base frequently had the highest number of daily active users among L2 solutions, though it has since been surpassed by Arbitrum. Data from Token Terminal indicates that daily active users on the chain have remained above 350,000 since the end of March 2024. The blockchain’s most popular use cases include memecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi), and social dApps.
Base’s Momentum in DeFi
The base has seen significant traction in the DeFi space, with its total value locked (TVL) skyrocketing from $437 million at the start of 2024 to over $1.6 billion by the end of April. The leading DeFi apps by TVL on Base are decentralized exchanges: Aerodrome and Uniswap. This growth is largely driven by the booming popularity of memecoins on Base, which has fueled trading activity on DEXs. Daily transactions on the blockchain have surged from under 500,000 in March 2024 to over 3 million in April.
Prominent Projects in the Base Ecosystem
Base emphasizes community engagement, branding itself as a blockchain network for the people. Its high performance, scalability, and large user base from Coinbase have attracted numerous social dApps and DeFi protocols. Here are some leading projects being built on blockchain.
Farcaster
Farcaster is an Ethereum-based social dApp ecosystem that provides infrastructure for censorship-resistant social apps. Founded in 2020 by former Coinbase employees Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan, Farcaster’s flagship product is Warpcast, a Twitter-like app where users can post “casts,” follow others, and “recast” posts.
Farcaster is also linked with a memecoin called Degen, which has served as the platform’s native token since its launch in 2023. While Degen is currently an ERC-20 token on Base, it is transitioning to a proprietary Layer-3 chain that relies on Base as its Layer-2 infrastructure. The base remains the most popular chain among Farcaster users.
Friend.tech
Friend. tech is a decentralized social app that allows creators to monetize their influence and connect with followers in a personalized manner. Launched in 2023, the Web3 app has attracted notable crypto influencers and NBA players. Although it experienced more success towards the end of 2023, Friend. tech began to recover in the second quarter of 2024.
Moonwell
Moonwell stands out as the leading DeFi lending app on Base. Currently, it boasts a TVL of approximately $97 million, with $69 million on Base and the remaining on Moonbeam.
The most active markets on Moonwell are stablecoins, Ethereum, and liquid staking tokens. Activity on Moonwell has been steadily increasing throughout Q2 2024.
Conclusion
Base marks a significant technological leap in the cryptocurrency landscape. It enhances Ethereum’s scalability, lowers transaction costs, and improves both user and developer experiences.
Leveraging roll-up technology, Base processes transactions efficiently, drawing a growing number of users. This rapid adoption is evident in its soaring TVL, which has exceeded $1.6 billion.
As the blockchain continues to expand its ecosystem, particularly in DeFi and social platforms, it presents substantial potential for investors. Although Base itself lacks a native token, investment opportunities exist through related projects and Coinbase’s stock ($COIN), offering indirect exposure to Base’s growth.
