LBank Research Institute Layer2 Superchain Base Emerges as a Network Star with Social and MEME as Key Tools

Abstract
Base Chain, born with a golden key, is a rising star in the Layer2 space, supported by the top U.S. exchange Coinbase. With its focus on SocialFi and the thriving MEME culture, Base Chain stands out among its peers in the crypto market.
With the upgrade in Cancun and the approval of the ETH ETF, attention has also been drawn to the Layer2, LSD, and Restaking tracks. Among them, Base Chain in the Layer2 sector, with its low-cost, open-source features built on the OP Stack module and the support of Coinbase, has reached a Total Value Locked (TVL) of $7.7 billion in just 10 months. The latest data shows that in May, the profit on the Base Network chain reached $6.98 million, making it the most profitable Layer2 network, surpassing other networks like Blast and Optimism. The ecosystem has received widespread bullish expectations from crypto enthusiasts and large institutions, showcasing its strength.
In the following sections, LBank will review the development history, ecosystem interpretation, and key track analysis of Base, allowing more users to gain a deeper understanding of the highlights of Base Chain in the MEME and SocialFi fields.
Introduction to Base
Base is a Layer2 scaling solution developed by Coinbase, with technical support from Optimism’s OP Stack. It aims to create a more open, user-friendly, secure, and low-cost trading environment to achieve the scalability goals of the Ethereum network.
Base is built on Optimism’s OP Stack technology stack, creating an Ethereum Layer2 network using the Optimism Rollup scaling solution that is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It provides applications with seamless integration with Coinbase, a convenient fiat gateway, and a channel to tap into the millions of verified users in the Coinbase ecosystem.
Development History of Base
On February 23, 2023, Coinbase announced the launch of the Ethereum Layer 2 network Base based on OP Stack and established the Base Ecosystem Fund.
In February 2023, Coinbase announced the launch of the Base testnet.
On August 9, 2023, Coinbase officially launched the Base Network mainnet.
In August 2023, the MEME coin BALD on the Base chain saw a surge of over ten thousand times, achieving a market value of over a billion in just two days. However, a large withdrawal of liquidity on the second day led to a sharp decline, bringing advanced exposure to the Base chain.
On August 10, 2023, friend.tech officially went live on the Base chain, flooding the social network with invitation codes.
In August 2023, Base and Optimism jointly launched a governance and revenue-sharing framework, pioneering the Layer2 economic alliance.
On August 31, 2023, the DEX protocol Velodrome launched the Aerodrome forked DEX project on the Base chain.
On September 2, 2023, Aerodrome’s TVL reached $200 million, accounting for 50% of the total TVL on Base.
In October 2023, friend.tech’s TVL exceeded $50 million, with protocol revenue reaching 14,000 ETH.
On February 23, 2024, the social platform Farcaster Frames started using Base chain, and the official Based Frames underwent multiple Grants.
In May 2024, Farcaster completed a $150 million financing round, with protocol revenue reaching $1.54 million and total users surpassing 450,000.
Technical Features of Base
As an important component of the OP Stack, Base Chain has strong technical advantages. Firstly, Base leverages the security, stability, and scalability of Ethereum and incorporates Coinbase’s best practices to ensure smooth integration for developers from Coinbase, Ethereum Layer 1, and other interoperable blockchains into the Base chain.
Base adheres to decentralization and openness, welcoming all visionary creators. Built on Optimism’s open-source OP Stack, it ensures a permissionless, innovation-friendly environment. Base provides EVM-compatible services at ultra-low costs, allowing developers to set fee transactions for decentralized applications with simple APIs for account abstraction and secure multi-chain application building with user-friendly bridging.
Furthermore, Base and Optimism jointly introduced a governance and revenue-sharing framework:
A large portion of the 2.5% of the total revenue from sequencers on Base Chain (L2 transaction revenue minus L1 data submission costs) and 15% of the larger amount will be collectively owned.
The Optimism Foundation also offers Base the opportunity to earn up to approximately 118 million OP tokens in the next six years.
Secondly, with strong support from Coinbase, the AA wallet based on account abstraction is expected to improve accessibility to on-chain transactions for new users, providing a convenient on-chain transaction method for more users. The integration of Base with Coinbase’s products, users, and tools allows developers to access over 1.1 billion verified users and $800 billion in assets in the Coinbase ecosystem. This integration not only enhances user experience but also accelerates the widespread adoption of blockchain.
Rapid Fund Absorption, Continued Growth in On-Chain Data
Despite no coin issuance expectations, Base Chain remains a highly competitive network in the Layer2 space. According to L2BEAT data, Base Chain’s market share has reached 16.08% (as of June 5), with only a tiny 0.42% difference from OP Mainnet’s 16.50%. Additionally, a key indicator of a chain’s value is Total Value Locked (TVL), and currently, Base TVL has reached $7.6 billion, ranking third in Layer2 with a 6.56% year-on-year growth.
According to DefiLama’s data, the most significant growth occurred between mid-March and April when TVL increased from $695 million to $1.66 billion, achieving a growth rate of 138.85%, and currently maintaining around $1.7 billion in TVL.
Base’s daily trading volume is $313 million, although lower than Arbitrum’s $431 million and Solana’s $1.026 billion, it shows promising potential for a new chain launched less than a year ago.
Furthermore, user metrics are among the most important indicators of a network’s popularity and adoption. Based on user scale, the Base network has gradually accumulated a large number of active users following its mainnet launch, leveraging Coinbase’s massive user base of 1.1 billion.
According to BaseScan data, the total number of wallet addresses on Base Chain has reached 10.39 million (as of June 4, 2024), with 270,000 active wallet addresses in the last 24 hours.
Of particular note is the surge in new users, active users, and transaction volume on Base Chain in mid to late March, largely driven by the MEME frenzy at the time. The integration of EIP-4844 on March 14 led to a significant decrease in fees, and the announcement of NFT project Mfers founder Sartoshi on March 30 to issue his meme token mfercoin on Base Chain resulted in a miraculous 100-fold increase in just six hours.
Base Ecosystem Wealth Effect
According to incomplete statistics, the number of projects in the Base ecosystem has exceeded 300, covering a wide range of cross-chain bridges, wallets, oracles, node providers, and basic setups, as well as financial products such as DEXs, lending platforms, aggregators, derivatives, and unique MEME and Social native narratives, nurturing a distinctive Base ecosystem.
In tracking Total Value Locked, there have been two significant growth anomalies on Base Chain. The first spike occurred in September 2023, driven by the social growth explosion of Friend.tech and the appeal of DEXs, primarily Aerodrome. The second spike occurred in mid to late March 2024, with continued growth of Farcaster and increased liquidity following the Cancun upgrade, reduced gas fees, and the rise of MEME, further driving TVL growth.
The social protocols Frend.tech and Farcaster’s social proliferation and market dissemination, along with the strategic layout of their institution Paradigm, are key factors. Paradigm, as a top institution in the crypto space, excels in designing various financial mechanisms and market sentiment speculation, with its participation in NFT trading market newcomer Blur and Bitcoin collateral protocol Babylon.
Social Protocol Kingdom
If Friend.tech’s popularity in 2023 was just the beginning for Base Chain, then in 2024, the super social giant Farcaster’s disruptive social data, $150 million funding, and VC backing, along with Vitalik’s endorsement, have propelled Base Chain to lead in the SocialFi space, leaving its competitors behind.
According to the Base website, the social share and attractiveness of social platforms compared to other public chains have captured a larger market share. Behind this success is the financialization of attention economics and the unique social environment support, as the saying goes, “your network is your net worth,” social adoption on Base Chain is realizing mass adoption.
Next, the LBank Research Institute will detail popular social platforms on Base Chain for reference only, not as investment advice.
Farcaster, the Social Newcomer with VC Flocking
Farcaster is currently the leader in social products in the crypto market, with a valuation of $1 billion and total funding of $180 million, receiving praise from Vitalik and strong support from top VCs like a16z and Paradigm. As Variant said, the Farcaster community is like a condensed version of the early crypto community I (Jesse) joined ten years ago: optimistic, technical, ambitious, collaborative, and always online.
Massive funding, airdrop expectations, and other factors have led Farcaster to gain significant market attention early on. With the promotion of Frames’ functionality and the MEME frenzy, Farcaster has accumulated 460,000 users, with total protocol revenue reaching $1.65 million.
For the average user, Farcaster is a rapidly growing protocol aimed at building a “fully decentralized social network.” Compared to traditional social media, it stands out for its high-quality, low-noise community atmosphere. As an essential part of the Base ecosystem, Farcaster has spawned many products on its open protocol, such as the creator platform Paragraph, content monetization client Jam, community task platform Bountycaster, developer tools Neynar, largely thanks to the implementation of Frames’ features.
Fallen Aristocrat Friend.tech
Friend.tech is a decentralized social app based on Base Chain, combining fan economics with on-chain gaming. Similar to a web3 knowledge planet, it links asset issuance with social influence, allowing users to enter specific rooms to view content by purchasing the token “KEY,” with increasing quantity driving up the value of Key.
Within six months of its launch, Friend.tech gained popularity through niche marketing strategies like invitation code scarcity. However, product experience issues such as high transaction fees, excessive speculation, slow loading times, lag, delayed data updates, high slippage, and Bot manipulation have hurt user experience. As a result, its TVL dropped from a peak of $50 million to around $10 million.
MEME Wonderland, the New Favorite
As the most controversial and popular sector in 2024, MEME has continued to drive market enthusiasm, with the MEME explosion being the driving force behind Solana and Base Chain quickly rising above other networks. BASE, as a new network backed by COINBASE, seamlessly integrates with Ethereum’s vast infrastructure and user base, providing an ideal environment for MEME enthusiasts. This feature has quickly made BASE the new favorite among MEME enthusiasts.
Next, the LBank Research Institute will detail popular MEME coins on Base Chain for reference only, not as investment advice.
TYBG
TYBG, known as the MEME hub of Base Chain, is a MEME coin issued by The Based Institute, a research institution led and funded by Jesse Pollak. It aims to support the optimistic, rich, and Based proprietary culture in the Base ecosystem through research.
Currently, TYBG’s price is $0.0002448 USDT, with a market value of $30.18 million, ranking #928, with a maximum increase of 10,767.8%.
BRETT
Inspired by the character Brett from the “Boys Club” comic and a close friend of the iconic PEPE in the crypto world, BRETT stands out as one of the most important cultural idols. Brett’s character is known for his laid-back attitude and love for video games, resonating with fans worldwide. BRETT is contractless and lacks minting capabilities, ensuring that the token is entirely community-driven, with creators unable to create more tokens or manipulate token contracts.
Currently, BRETT’s price is $0.1394 USDT, with a market value of $1.363 billion, ranking #81, with a maximum increase of 16,207.8%.
DEGEN
Initially airdropped into Farcaster’s Degen community, DEGEN will continue to be airdropped to participants in the Base and Farcaster ecosystems. It is mainly used for social payments on the Base Chain.
Currently, DEGEN’s price is $0.02444 USDT, with a market value of $304 million, ranking #243, with a maximum increase of 109,003.7%.
Toshi
TOSHI is a MEME coin featuring “cats” as animals, named after Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong’s cat, aiming to create the largest cat community on the Base Chain.
Currently, TOSHI’s price is $0.0004311 USDT, with a market value of $18.3 million, ranking #330, with a maximum increase of 2,308,626.5%.
Conclusion
From a compliant U.S. exchange to a disruptor in the crypto ecosystem, Base Chain has opened up a new attempt at profitable trading platforms. In the first quarter’s financial report, it performed exceptionally well, with net revenue reaching $1.6 billion, a 116% year-on-year increase, far exceeding Wall Street’s expectations. In the first quarter of 2024, Base Chain achieved a TVL growth rate of 165.14%.
In the ever-evolving crypto landscape, Base has become a beacon of hope. With seamless integration with the AA wallet launched by Coinbase and the significant growth indicators driven by the explosive growth of memecoins, Base is poised for a new era of attention in the crypto field.
As Jesse Pollak said, “stay Based, stay onchain,” leveraging the high performance and low gas advantages of the OP Stack superchain, Base Chain is gradually building a Coinbase-themed ecosystem with a focus on social and MEME narratives. Backed by Coinbase’s hundreds of millions of users and its regulatory compliance advantages, Base Chain is still in its early stages. With the arrival of ETHETF and the growth of active metrics on Layer2 chains, Base is poised to follow in the footsteps of ecosystems like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Solana, ultimately achieving the goal of Mass adoption.