Using Ethereum can feel like driving a sports car in traffic—powerful, but painfully slow and pricey.
In response, Layer-2 blockchains such as base Base are rolling out the express lane, slashing costs and wait times while still running on Ethereum’s trusted infrastructure.
In this beginner’s guide, we’ll show you how Base works and why it’s becoming a hotspot for onchain innovation.
The rise of Layer-2 blockchains
When Ethereum became the go-to blockchain for decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), it routinely encountered network congestion, resulting in high gas fees and slower transaction times—leading to a lot of frustrations. This is why Layer-2 (L2) blockchains have increasingly gained popularity.
Essentially, a Layer-2 blockchain is a secondary network built on top of Ethereum. It processes transactions offchain or in batches, then settles them on Ethereum—preserving the security of Ethereum while reducing network congestion and enhancing performance. This blend of security and performance makes Layer-2 solutions essential for scaling the Ethereum ecosystem and enabling mass adoption.
What is Base?
Launched in 2023, Base is a Layer-2 blockchain developed by Coinbase and built on Ethereum's optimistic rollup technology.
Some of Base's key features include:
- Ethereum compatibility: Base is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which means that developers can easily port their Ethereum applications to the network without needing to rewrite code. This opens the door for Ethereum developers to expand their reach and tap into Base's growing user base.
- Low fees and high throughput: Compared to Ethereum, Base is able to dramatically increase throughput and reduce transaction fees due to its optimistic rollup technology—making it an ideal network for applications that require frequent, low-cost transactions.
- Network security: Since Base is built on Ethereum, it leverages the network's infrastructure, which is battle-tested and trusted by millions of users and developers worldwide.
- Interoperability: Base is interoperable with other Ethereum-based Layer-2 solutions and networks, ensuring smooth interaction between different chains and platforms within the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
That said, Base faces strong competition from other Layer-2 solutions with established or emerging ecosystems.
Who are Base's competitors?
Base has entered a competitive landscape, which includes well-established brands such as Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Blast:
- Polygon, initially known as a sidechain solution, has evolved into a fully-fledged Layer-2 network with a well-established ecosystem that supports major DeFi, NFT, and gaming projects, as well as prediction markets such as Polymarket.
- Arbitrum benefits from early-mover advantages in the Layer-2 space, having attracted a strong developer base and user community, as well as many prominent DeFi projects such as GMX.
- Optimism is another prominent L2. With a large and growing number of DeFi applications and dynamic developer ecosystems, the network poses a strong competitive challenge to Base.
- Blast is a newer entrant in the L2 landscape, but it is quickly gaining traction. In particular, the network's emphasis on improving the developer experience makes it an emerging competitor to Base.
Despite facing tough competition from other Layer-2 solutions, Base is carving out its own niche with a growing ecosystem focused on DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and SocialFi.
The Base ecosystem
Base offers a growing ecosystem for NFTs, gaming, and SocialFi (e.g. friend.tech), but its true strength lies in DeFi.
In this context, Zora plays a particularly prominent role. Zora, an Ethereum-based platform launched in 2021, was initially designed to empower artists by enabling them to mint and sell their art as NFTs. In 2024, Zora expanded its accessibility by releasing a mobile app, allowing creators to mint and sell their content directly from their mobile devices. Now, Zora has introduced a new model that transforms every piece of content posted on its platform into a unique, tradable coin. These coins are launched on Base, with each coin having a default supply of 1 billion. For more on Zora, read our $ZORA airdrop guide.
Apart from Zora, Base hosts a growing ecosystem of DeFi platforms, providing numerous opportunities for trading, lending/borrowing, farming, and staking:
- Aerodrome and Uniswap (DEXs): Both Aerodrome and Uniswap are decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that leverage an AMM model. Simply put, these platforms enable you to access liquidity across multiple pools and swap tokens with low fees.
- Aave and Morpho (Lending/Borrowing): Aave and Morpho are decentralized lending/borrowing platforms where you can lend and borrow crypto assets with improved rates.
- Extra Finance (Leveraged Farming): Extra Finance is a decentralized platform that offers features such as leverage farming, market-neutral farming strategies, and LP rebalancing.
- Beefy (Yield Aggregator): Beefy helps you maximize your profits by automatically compounding yields from various DeFi protocols—unlocking higher returns.
While Base's ecosystem is flourishing, Coinbase is already looking ahead with plans to firmly establish the network in the growing onchain economy.
What’s next for Base?
Coinbase has ambitious plans to scale and develop Base and its associated ecosystem.
Future enhancements include:
- Increased decentralization: While Base currently benefits from Coinbase’s infrastructure, plans are underway to gradually decentralize the network and reduce reliance on a single entity for security and governance.
- Interoperability with other L2s: Coinbase is working to make Base more interoperable with other L2 solutions, ensuring a seamless experience for users and developers across various platforms.
- Partnerships and ecosystem growth: Coinbase also aims to foster partnerships with other blockchain projects, applications, and developers to enhance Base’s ecosystem. This includes expanding DeFi offerings, NFT marketplaces, and gaming applications.
As Coinbase works to expand Base’s footprint, Phantom’s Base support will make it even easier for you to gain access to its ecosystem of DeFi, NFTs, and gaming.
Getting started with Base and Phantom
Our Base support makes it easy for you to use your Phantom wallet to interact with Base's ecosystem, just as you already do with Solana, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Polygon.
Phantom offers browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, Brave, and Edge, as well as apps for iOS and Android to get started on Base.
- First, download Phantom. Then, create a new wallet.
Once you do that, you're ready to go!
How to bridge tokens to Base with Phantom?
If you already have a Phantom wallet and would like to bridge funds to Base, use our very own Crosschain Swapper. With our Crosschain Swapper, you can bridge tokens across Base, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, and Polygon right in your Phantom wallet.
FAQs
Base is a Layer-2 blockchain developed by Coinbase, built on Ethereum's optimistic rollup technology.
Base provides low fees, high throughput, and full Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, making it ideal for decentralized applications (dApps).
Among the many apps on Base, some of the most popular include Aerodrome, Uniswap, Aave, Morpho, Extra Finance, and Beefy.
Disclaimer: This guide is strictly for educational purposes only and doesn’t constitute financial or legal advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.
