Top 5 Facts You Need to Know About the Base Blockchain
Date: 2023-08-07 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: BLOCKCHAIN
The full-scale launch of the main network of the Base L2 solution from Coinbase will take place on August 9th.
In a few days, the developers will open public access to the Base L2 blockchain. According to the official description, it is a secure, low-cost, and developer-friendly sidechain that aims to bring a billion users to Web3.
1. Base is built on Optimism
Base is a second layer network built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. This is an EVM-compatible blockchain, under the hood of which is OP Stack, an open source application based on Optimism. Thus, Coinbase will use the competitor's code to create its own network.
Like other L2 blockchains, Base aims to solve Ethereum's scalability issues such as high gas fees and throughput.
In addition, Coinbase and OP Labs are collaborating on EIP4844, a sharding solution that has the potential to reduce network fees by 10x~100x. The crypto exchange has joined the OP Stack research team and said that a portion of Base's transaction fees will go to OP Collective.
2. Base won't have its own token
Many L2 blockchains have an internal utility token to improve market liquidity and reduce exchange fees. It often acts as a tool for decentralization and gives the right to vote on key development issues of the project.
However, project officials said that Base does not plan to issue its own token, but will use ETH to pay for gas. The reasons for this decision are unclear. It can be assumed that the exchange simply does not want to attract too much attention from the exchange regulator. Recall that in June, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against Coinbase for violating federal securities laws.
Despite the announcement of the exchange, inattentive traders began to actively buy up the coin with the ticker BASE. At the moment, its price has increased by 300%.
3. Base will become the center of a large ecosystem
The main goal of Base is to attract a billion users to the crypto economy. To achieve this, it will serve not only as a home for Coinbase's on-chain products, but also as an open ecosystem for new projects. With a huge user base of 110 million accounts and an impressive $80 billion in crypto exchange assets, the offer looks very attractive to developers.
So far, Base has entered into more than 50 partnerships with various companies - including Chainlink, QuikNode, Axelar, LayerZero, Gelato and Ribbon Finance. In addition, the exchange announced the launch of an official fund. It will invest in projects built on Base at an early stage.
4. Base is committed to decentralization
At the moment, the only sequencer on the Base network is Coinbase. This means that the server that receives transactions, validates them, and combines them into blocks exists in one instance and is controlled by one company.
But since decentralization remains the main concept behind OP Stack, this is only a temporary compromise. Over time, the blockchain will move to more sequencers.
5. Base will support account abstraction
The official Base documentation mentions Account Abstraction (AA). This feature eliminates the shortcomings of external accounts and allows you to create accounts with built-in failover mechanisms and other special transaction verification features. So, with the help of AA, you can create a multi-signature wallet or restore lost access with the help of another person. Gnosis Safe is working on the implementation of account abstraction in Base.
