Base Ecosystem: Short Summary and Top Projects

Details: 21 June 2024

The on-chain activity of Base is experiencing an explosive growth, and we have compiled an updated overview of its ecosystem.

State of the Base ecosystem as of June 21, 2024. Source: DWF Ventures

What is Base

Base is an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) solution built on the OP Stack, launched in August 2023. The protocol quickly gained significant attention and liquidity, largely due to its association with Coinbase and the popularity of memecoin launches.

Base On-Chain Stats

As of June 2024, Base boasts around $7 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL), placing it second among 64 Layer 2 networks, according to L2Beat. Base has outperformed major L2s like Optimism and Blast in both TVL and profitability.

Base in L2s’ ranking by Value Locked. Source: L2Beat, the snapshot is made on June 21, 2024

Since March 2024, Base has led in on-chain profit, generating approximately $7 million in profit in May 2024, ranking it first among other major L2 networks. This growth is driven by a surge in on-chain transactions, reflecting a high level of activity on the Base chain.

The profits of Ethereum L2s. Source: Dune Analytics, @niftytable. The snapshot is made on Jun 21, 2024.

DeFi on Base

DeFi on Base has seen tremendous growth, with TVL tripling since March 2024, now sitting at around $1.6 billion, according to DefiLlama. The leading decentralized exchange (DEX) on the platform is Aerodrome, holding over $600 million in TVL. However, crypto derivatives on Base remain less developed, providing room for future expansion.

Memecoins

Base is among the top three blockchains for memecoin trading, which significantly contributes to its high on-chain activity. Popular memecoins include Based Brett and Mog Coin, both actively traded and supported by enthusiastic communities.

Base chain TVL. Source: DeFiLlama, The snapshot is made on Jun 21, 2024.

SocialFi

In the SocialFi space, Friend.tech, a Web3 social platform allowing content creators to connect with users through the use of keys, is built on Base. Additionally, the decentralized social network Farcaster has integrated with Base and achieved notable success.

NFT

The NFT ecosystem on Base is gaining momentum, with projects like doodles recently announcing migration of its avatar customization platform Stoodio from the Flow blockchain to Base. Given Base's strong retail traffic and smooth user experience, more NFT projects are expected to follow suit.

Onchain Summer

Base has also launched its second Onchain Summer Buildathon, designed to attract builders and creators to its ecosystem. The program offers over 600 ETH (around $2 million) in prizes, grants, and gas credits. Optimism has also committed 600,000 OP tokens to the initiative.

Overall

DWF Ventures is actively exploring investment opportunities within the Base ecosystem. If you are working on projects built on Base and wish to collaborate with a leading crypto venture capital fund, please reach out to DWF Ventures directly.