Coinbase launches Ethereum layer-2 network with aim to onboard 1B+ users
“Base is designed to be a low-cost, secure, developer-friendly environment,” claims Coinbase and says it will serve as a bridge to bring more than 1 billion users into the crypto economy.
Secured with Ethereum and built with OPStake by layer-2 network Optimism, Base aims to eventually become a network for building decentralized applications and DeFi protocols. The Base is currently in its testnet phase, according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
1/ We’re excited to announce @BuildOnBase.
— Coinbase (@coinbase) February 23, 2023
Base is an Ethereum L2 that offers a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly way for anyone, anywhere, to build decentralized apps.
Our goal with Base is to make onchain the next online and onboard 1B+ users into the cryptoeconomy. pic.twitter.com/RmwZFJzGGs
As being the second largest crypto exchange, Coinbase has approximately 110 million verified users and has partnered with 245,000 enterprises in over 100 countries since 2012 when it was founded.
According to the announcement from Coinbase, Base is designed to be a bridge for users into the decentralized finance and crypto economy, offering access to other L1 ecosystems like Solana and making it interoperable with other chains. However, Base has not issued any native coin for its blockchain infrastructure and it will use ETH for transaction gas and other on-chain operations. It is also compatible with Coinbase’s products and tools as well as easy fiat on-ramping.
Base is built using the “OP Stack” from layer-2 scaling solution Optimism. It will start off highly centralized, however Coinbase has released a detailed plan regarding how the network will decentralize over time. The infrastructure of Base is completely open-source with inviting anyone to interact and build decentralized apps (dApps) on top of it. The company said it is joining the OP Stack core dev team to “ensure it’s a public good available to everyone.”
The company stated that Coinbase exchange will continue providing services with other networks, and Base itself will be “a bridge, not an island.” Coinbase wants Base to be an easy-to-use network for its users to get familiar with using crypto and encourage users to “start on Base, but go everywhere.”
While describing its plan to achieve decentralization for Base, Coinbase said that it is working with Op Labs and the Optimism Collective to decentralize the Optimism ecosystem by creating a “Superchain'' of connecting networks built on the OP Stack. By the end of 2023, Coinbase is planning to lead Base to “Stage 1” stating that the current version of Optimism is “Stage 0 Rollup.”
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