Coinbase To Launch Own Ethereum L2 Scaling Network Called "Base"
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On February 23rd, Coinbase announced, via blog post, the launch of Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network.
The crypto giant, Coinbase, has described the Base network as "a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly Ethereum L2 built to bring the next billion users to web3".
The Base network will be built on the the OP Stack, which "is the standardized, shared, and open-source development stack that powers Optimism, maintained by the Optimism Collective".
As a result of this move, Coinbase will also be joining Optimism as a core developer for OP Stack.
“Today, we’re excited to announce the testnet launch of Base, an Ethereum layer 2 (L2) network offering a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly way for anyone, anywhere, to build decentralized apps or 'dapps' on-chain. We’re incubating Base inside of Coinbase, leveraging the last decade of our experience building crypto products, and plan to progressively decentralize the chain over time.”
- Will Robinson, VP of Engineering at Coinbase
Interestingly, Coinbase explicitly states that they "do not plan to issue a new network token".
This may bring relief to many to know that this network will be generally crypto-agnostic.
However, I do want to point out that the Optimism network also originally launched without a token, then eventually created one and airdropped it to the early adopters of the platform.
I believe it is very possible that Coinbase may be on the path to be creating their own cryptocurrency within the near future.
"Base has a vision to be an open ecosystem, seeded with Coinbase products, users, and assets. We’ll work with the broader community to bring the chain to life. We're thrilled to have an incredible community who will contribute to making Base a robust ecosystem."
- Will Robinson, VP of Engineering at Coinbase
In honor of the special announcement, Base is offering a free, unlimited edition mint of Base, Introduced "to celebrate the testnet launch and let everyone join the broader Base community".
The free NFT has been by minted by users almost 62,500 times in half a day.
However, when I went mint the NFT for free, a fee of 0.000777 ETH popped up and caught me off guard.
Not only that, but the gas fees on Ethereum are through the roof right now as users are flooding the network with transactions.
Since the "free" NFT is available to be minted until February 26th, I will just wait to see if the gas fees will go down in the next few days.
If you are interested in checking out the documentation for Base, I have left the direct link here:
What are your thoughts on this news?
Will Base becoming a powerful network in the future?
Do you think Coinbase will stay true to their word and not create a crypto token?
Did you mint the "free" NFT?
See ya!
:)
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