BASE - Coinbase’s Ambition of On-chain Economy
After a year defined by comebacks and climaxes - Solana and BNB breaking their all-time highs, and Monad’s long-awaited airdrop announcement finally cooling off - the market’s spotlight has shifted into BASE.
In Q4, not quietly, but with conviction, Coinbase is crafting a narrative of continuity and construction—each new announcement from Coinbase hints at an ambition far beyond the usual “scaling solution” story. The company is positioning Base as the main infrastructure for the next phase of the economy onchain.
So, What’s Going On at Base?
BASE Token Exploration
It started when Jesse Pollak revealed that the network is exploring a network token at Basecamp. That single tweet sparked a wave of speculation — and more importantly, capital. TVL surged past $5 billion with new capital into the chain, giving builders fresh incentive to deploy apps while users chased both yield and future airdrop potential.
Momentum is compounding.
Coinbase’s Strategic Acquisitions
Coinbase made headlines with its acquisition of Echo, bringing onboard crypto personality Cobie and purchasing UpOnly NFTs for $25 million. Beyond the financials, it’s a signal: Coinbase is expanding beyond its institutional image. With Cobie’s credibility among “degen” circles, Coinbase gains a bridge to the culture layer of crypto — a rare move for a regulated giant.
Not just that, to expand Base beyond a developer playground into a true onchain economy, Coinbase acquired Echo, the platform founded by Cobie, along with his podcast project UpOnly NFTs, with a total valuation of $400 million.
This move wasn’t just about talent or branding; by merging Echo’s social and financial primitives with Base’s infrastructure, Coinbase gains a pathway to redefine how creators, startups, and users raise and trade value through a fairer, community-driven, verifiable ownership model.
Cobie’s addition also strengthens the cultural bridge between Coinbase and his “degen” circles, opening the door to a combination of Wall Street-grade structure with crypto-native distribution.
x402: The Agentic Payment Standard
Coinbase's lead engineer (programmer) has also introduced x402, an agentic payment protocol designed to make crypto the default settlement layer for AI and global apps. Working with major SaaS like Cloudflare, Vercel, and Amazon, Base is positioning itself as the AI payment rail of the internet — an infrastructure play that extends far beyond crypto. Even other ecosystems like Solana are aligning with the standard, a sign of cross-chain collaboration.
https://x.com/elastic_hub/status/1982034635447255161
The Banking Charter & DeFi Integration
Underpinning all of this is CEO Brian Armstrong’s very public fight for clear crypto regulation in the U.S. and the pursuit of a banking charter. Why does it matter? A charter would allow Coinbase to gradually and legally expand its DeFi and stablecoin rail into its retail app for millions of users.
https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1981789362242093202
What are included in BASE Network?
Base isn’t just another L2 blockchain, it’s a complete network stack — a coordinated suite of products from Coinbase designed to move an entire business journey onchain.
From infrastructure to applications to payments, Base acts as both a launchpad for builders and a gateway for the next generation of users to build, create, and earn in a fully onchain world.
BASE Chain
A Layer 2 network built on Ethereum’s proven Optimism technology. In simple terms, it inherits Ethereum’s security but operates as a dedicated express lane.
For Users: Experience lightning-fast transactions (1-second block times) at a fraction of the cost.
For Developers: Build scalable applications that can handle thousands of transactions per second.
But importantly, it serves as the bedrock of Coinbase’s ecosystem strategy: a secure, compliant, and scalable environment where all other Base products can interoperate natively.
BASE Build
This is BASE’s secret weapon and a colossal advantage for any startup.
While other chains offer developer tools, BASE Build is a comprehensive dashboard and toolkit that feels like a venture studio in a box. It provides the APIs, frameworks, templates, and analytics needed to go from idea to launched dApp at an incredible speed.
This drastically reduces the friction and capital required to build something great. For startup builders, this isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a reason why developers are choosing BASE blindly.
BASE App
While BASE Build powers developers, the BASE App connects them to users. It reimagines what was once Coinbase Wallet into a WeChat for web3: a single interface where you can chat with friends, post updates, trade assets, earn yield, play games, and coin everything. It’s the seamless, user-friendly gateway designed to invite millions to experience the on-chain world without realizing they’re doing so.
BASE team also views the BASE App as primary growth engine by positioning it as the core product offering within the Base ecosystem the App into a strategic distribution layer for builders. creating a powerful reason — another “why build on Base” — for builders to join the network.
BASE Pay
With BASE Pay, the payment infrastructure that ties the ecosystem to the real world. Working closely USDC as primary stablecoin partner, BASE Pay enables instant, near-zero-fee transactions, compliant for everything from transfers and in-app purchases to merchant payments and remittances.
It turns the Base network into a true economic engine, where users can earn, spend, and transact globally.
Each of these layers feeds into the next, forming a self-sustaining growth loop:
Base Chain provides secure, low-cost blockspace.
Base Build turns that infrastructure into applications and innovation.
Base App delivers those experiences directly to users, as a main distribution layer of the ecosystem.
Base Pay converts activity into real economic value.
As users transact, build, and spend within this network, liquidity and engagement increase — driving further demand for scalability and performance. In turn, that growth attracts more developers and businesses, reinforcing the cycle.
Ecosystem Building from the Inside Out
One thing that stands out about Base and Coinbase is their conviction in helping projects succeed —not just exist within the ecosystem —by strategically investing in them.
They make two key types of ecosystem investment:
Major Native Investments: Large-scale bets to build the fundamental playground, like Morpho (Credit Market), Aerodrome (Liquidity Core), Zora (Creator Economy).
Targeted Incubations: Smaller, strategic investments across diverse sectors to ensure a vibrant ecosystem, like Noice (Social tokenization), Giza (AI Yield Optimizer), Iron Fish (Privacy Layer)
The real value of an investment goes far beyond capital; teams gain something far more powerful: distribution and network. Backed teams are often featured across Base’s community campaigns, integrated into ecosystem events, and connected with strategic partners to accelerate.
But, you are looking to build on BASE? Start with this → Base - Base Launch Playbook
Or, you can really look into their BASE Batches Program → Base Batches 2025
Below is an important ecosystem landscape that you might want to check out
How Can We Position Ourselves on the Upcoming Token Launch?
To build up a strong position in the BASE ecosystem for a potential $BASE airdrop, you can consider following these steps.
Step 1: Your first and most crucial step is to get a BASE Name. This is your on-chain username and identity with a human-readable name (e.g., yourname.base.eth) instead of a cryptic wallet address.
→ Get it here: https://base.org/name
Step 2: Download the Base App and, crucially, use the same wallet where you hold your BASE Name.
Port some funds (ETH or USDC) into it. This app is your main portal to the entire ecosystem.
Literally just use the BASE App for everything.
Step 3: The Keyword is being “On-chain”.
Swap and provide liquidity on Aerodrome Finance, the central liquidity hub of Base. Then, farm yields with Morpho to put your assets to work. For more advanced strategies, try perpetual contracts on Avantis.
Post content on Farcaster (the native social layer) and mint or collect on Zora. Cross-engage with other creators. Your on-chain social graph is your resume.
This is specifically for Builders: Your proof is your product and reputation. Gain a score on Talent Protocol to showcase your skills and contributions. This is your verifiable CV for the on-chain world.
Step 4: Try out other products (Optional)
It is highly recommended to explore the miniapps within the Base App. Every interaction is a way that enriches your on-chain score. You can easily check the “search” button to start.
Closing
BASE is no doubt Coinbase’s massive play to move everything on-chain. It’s the big bet that matches the tech philosophy they’ve been pushing for years.
And when you check out the BASE ecosystem now on their social, you can feel the vibe of a new economy starting up, getting ready to be part of everyone’s life.
Let’s be real: BASE isn’t just another chain. It’s actually changing how people think about building and earning.
And yes, positioning for the token launch is important. But there’s a whole economy already running over there, and you can just earn on those on-chain apps.
So make sure you try it out.