- Base, a Coinbase layer 2 on Ethereum, saw significant growth in March with a US$1.8 billion TVL driven by dexes and a leap in transactions to 2.1 million.
- The rise in daily transactions underscores Base’s expanding role in blockchain, reflecting positively on its adoption, scalability, and security.
- Amidst its growth, Base sees a memecoin craze and a reminder of the crypto world’s vulnerability to pranks, highlighted by a controversial April Fools’ stunt.
While all eyes have been on Bitcoin, its new all-time highs amid shiny new exchange-traded funds (ETFs), one network has been quietly gaining steam, but less attention to match this. Base, a layer 2 blockchain built by Coinbase, on Ethereum has seen a flurry of development in March.
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According to data from analytics platform DeFiLlama, Base has seen a surge in total volume locked (TVL) and daily volume. The US$1.169bn (AU$1.8bn) in TVL can be mainly attributed to popular dexes (decentralised exchanges) Aerodrome, Uniswap and lending & leveraged yield farming protocol Extra Finance.
Daily Transactions Surge
Meanwhile data from Dune, another popular analytics platform, shows a steep increase in user activity. Transactions on the Base network surpassed the 2 million mark in the last week of March. The start of April saw an unprecedented 2.1 million transactions—overshadowing previous highs in September 2023, when transactions only reached 1.4 million.
An increase in daily transactions on a layer 2 blockchain signifies not just the network’s technical performance but also its growing role in the broader ecosystem of blockchain and cryptocurrency. It reflects positively on the network’s adoption, scalability, security, economic model, and overall value proposition to both users and developers.
Memecoins Arrive on Base—And It’s No April Fool’s Joke
Some of the activity is no doubt due to the memecoin craze we are witnessing. First it was Bonk and WIF on Solana, now the wave of memecoins has hit Base. Both Solana and Base are exceptional networks with low transaction costs, especially when compared to the expensive Ethereum gas fees.
On that token, the biggest memecoins on Base are Degen, Brett and Toshi which have soared over the past few days.
And as the first of April just passed, a timely reminder that the crypto world as a whole, not just memecoins, is still fraught with danger. A dubious April Fools’ Day prank by a JuiceBox account—associated with an Ethereum-based crowdfunding protocol—stirred controversy yesterday.
Claiming to have secured a US$69 million (AU$106 million) deal with venture capital firm Paradigm, the prank by Briliegh.eth caused JuiceBox’s native token JBX to spike over 45%, as CoinMarketCap shows.
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The revelation that it was merely a joke, disclosed an hour later, led to a 25% drop in the token’s value. The stunt, widely criticised on social media, prompted discussions on the boundaries of humour in the volatile world of cryptocurrency.
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