Base Chain, Coinbase's layer-2 blockchain network launched in 2023, is doing well

Nansen data shows that Base has solidified its position as the biggest player in the layer-2 industry. Its weekly transactions jumped by 27% to 65.9 million

Key metrics for Base Chain, Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain network launched in 2023, are surging. The layer-2 juggernaut is seeing strong key metric growth and continues to gain market share.

According to Nansen data, Base has emerged as the biggest player in the layer-2 industry. Its weekly transactions soared by 27% to reach 65.9 million, a figure that dwarfs Ethereum’s (ETH) 9.4 million.

Furthermore, Base's active addresses experienced a substantial increase of 42% in the past seven days, to 9.7 million, outpacing Ethereum's 2.14 million and placing it above other well-known layer-2 networks such as Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism.

In other news, protocols on the Base Chain are approaching a $400 billion milestone, as per data from DeFi Llama.

Since its inception, protocols on the network have handled over $363 billion, with an additional $25 billion in the last 30 days alone. If this trend persists, it's likely that Base will cross the $400 billion level sometime in June or July.

The most active DEX network on the Base Chain is Aerodrome, which has processed an impressive $183 billion in transactions since its inception. Close behind is Uniswap (UNI) with over $130 billion in volume. Other prominent players in the network include PancakeSwap, Woofi, Javsphere, and Sushi.

The chain has also become the sixth biggest in decentralized finance or DeFi. Its total value locked has surged to $4.7 billion, placing it above other popular chains like Sui, Avalanche, Cardano, and Cronos.

The chain has managed to attract users due to its significantly lower transaction fees and faster speeds. It has also become a major player in the meme coin industry, with tokens on its ecosystem having a market cap of over $1.7 billion.

The most notable ones are Brett (BRETT), Toshi, Degen, and Ponke.

Chain resists pressure to airdrop

Coinbase has resisted measures to have a Base airdrop, which would give investors access to the $BASE token. Polymarket odds of such an airdrop are at just 2%, signaling that traders don’t expect it to happen in the second quarter.

A Base airdrop would be notable and likely valued at billions of dollars. Arbitrum, which is smaller than Base, has a fully diluted valuation of $3.9 billion, while Optimism has $3.07 billion. Polygon (POL) has an FDV of $2.46 billion, meaning that Base would likely spot a higher valuation.