Coinbase-Backed Base Network Overtakes Arbitrum, Leads Ethereum Layer-2 Landscape

The Coinbase-supported Base network has surpassed Arbitrum as the leading Ethereum layer-2 network by active addresses, reaching 1.48 million in the first nine days of April, narrowly beating Arbitrum One's 1.43 million. Despite Arbitrum's 30-day lead in active addresses, Base boasts the largest 30-day transaction count. Base's growth has been fueled by memecoin mania, although scammers have proliferated, leading to a surge in phishing scams and security vulnerabilities among memecoins on the network.

Coinbase-Backed Base Network Surges to Prominence, Overtaking Arbitrum in Ethereum Layer-2 Landscape

The Ethereum layer-2 scaling network, Base, has emerged as a formidable force within the decentralized finance ecosystem. Supported by the renowned cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Base has surpassed Arbitrum as the leading layer-2 network in terms of active addresses.

According to data from the platform Growthepie, Base has garnered over 1.48 million new active addresses during the first nine days of April. This marginally surpasses Arbitrum One's 1.43 million active addresses. Other notable layer-2 solutions, zkSync Era and the Optimism mainnet, follow closely with 1.21 million and 650,000 active addresses, respectively.

However, it is noteworthy that Arbitrum One retains a slight advantage over Base in the 30-day active address count, with 3.84 million active addresses compared to Base's 3.76 million. Arbitrum One, Base, zkSync Era, and the OP Mainnet have all experienced a decline in active users in the past 30 days, with Starknet and Mantle witnessing the most significant drops of 51% and 40%, respectively.

Base's surge in popularity has coincided with a substantial increase in its total value locked (TVL). As per data from L2BEAT, Base has recently surpassed the $4 billion mark in TVL, trailing only Arbitrum One and the OP Mainnet.

In addition to its impressive active address count, Base also boasts the highest 30-day transaction count at 53.1 million. This eclipses Arbitrum's 41.2 million and Ethereum's 37.9 million transactions over the same period.

The rapid growth of Base's active addresses can be partly attributed to the recent surge in memecoin mania on the Coinbase-supported network. BRETT and DEGEN stand out as the largest memecoins on Base, boasting market capitalizations of $720 million and $523 million, respectively. TOSHI and NORMIE have also gained significant traction as popular memecoins on the network.

However, Base's popularity has not come without its challenges. The network has been plagued by an influx of phishing scams, with an 18-fold increase in successful scam attempts from January to March. A recent analysis has also identified security vulnerabilities in 91% of Base memecoins, posing a substantial risk to users.

Coinbase officially launched Base in August 2022. The exchange serves as the sole sequencer of Base, granting it full control over the chain. However, Coinbase has expressed its commitment to gradually decentralize Base over time.