TL;DR
- Base’s TVL has grown by 465% in 90 days, reaching $7.41 billion, overwhelmingly surpassing Arbitrum and Optimism.
- The implementation of EIP-4844 in March, which significantly reduced gas costs, has been crucial in attracting more activity to Base.
- Coinbase’s new smart wallet, which facilitates gasless transactions and preauthorized payments, could drive the mass adoption of DeFi.
Coinbase’s Layer 2 blockchain, known as Base, has reached an all-time high in its total value locked (TVL), there is a great anticipation among investors and users. This is largely due to the imminent launch of Coinbase’s new smart wallet, a tool that aims to revolutionize user interaction with decentralized applications (dApps).
In the past 90 days, Base’s TVL has experienced a growth of 465%, rising from $1.3 billion to $7.41 billion. This exponential increase sharply contrasts with the modest gains of its competitors, Arbitrum and Optimism. During the same period, Arbitrum’s TVL increased by only 13%, while Optimism registered a 12% decrease. Everything indicates that the exchange’s Layer 2 is on its way to positioning itself as the absolute leader.
The implementation of the EIP-4844 proposal in March has been a key factor. EIP-4844 introduced proto-danksharding, a technology that reduces gas costs on L2s, making transactions and operations more efficient and economical. This technical improvement has been crucial in attracting a greater volume of activity to Base.
Base Overwhelms the Competition
A fundamental component of the future success of the L2 is Coinbase’s new smart wallet, designed to facilitate the transition of users from centralized accounts to a decentralized environment. This browser-based on-chain wallet uses account abstraction to simplify transactions, enabling functions such as gasless transactions, preauthorized payments, and passkey signatures. These features are designed to significantly improve the user experience, removing many of the obstacles that have traditionally deterred users from adopting blockchain technologies.
The community speculates that the smart wallet could be a major catalyst for the mass adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi). Jesse Pollak, one of the main contributors, predicted on social media that by the end of the year, more than 90% of active on-chain users will be using smart wallets, thanks to the incorporation of millions of new users.
Although Coinbase’s new wallet is currently available only on the testnet, the transition to the mainnet is filled with expectations, which many anticipate could occur in June. This tool has the potential to redefine how users interact with dApps, offering a smoother and more accessible experience.
