Base, the layer-2 network launched by Coinbase in 2023, is firing on all cylinders as its ecosystem growth gains steam. It has overtaken other popular L2 networks like Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism to become the biggest platform in the industry.
Base Blockchain overtook Cardano and Arbitrum
Base Blockchain has also overtaken most layer-1 networks like Cardano, Avalanche, Tezos, Cronos, and Near Protocol.
For example, Base has a total locked value of over $3.6 billion and a stablecoin market value of $3.6 billion. In contrast, Arbitrum, established in 2021, has a TVL of $3 billion and a stablecoin market value of $6 billion.
The most notable competitor to Base is Cardano, which has a market cap of over $30 billion today. Base has 416 DeFi dApps, while Cardano has just 40 dApps and a TVL of $460 million.
The same performance is happening in the Decentralized Exchange (DEX) industry, where Base has become a major player. Data shows it has handled over $180 billion in cryptocurrency volume since its inception.
Numerous decentralized applications (dApps) drive base Blockchain’s growth. Aerodrome has become one of the biggest DEX networks in the crypto industry, handling over $107 billion in transactions cumulatively and $31 billion in the last 30 days.
Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Swaap, and Sushi also thrive on the Base blockchain. Since expanding to the network in 2024, they have handled over $4 billion in volume.
Meanwhile, Base Blockchain is also seeing strong growth in other areas of the DeFi industry. Morpho Blue has gained a TVL of over $367 million in its network, a figure that is continuing to accelerate.
Moonwell, another lending protocol that expanded to Base from Polkadot, has also seen strong growth, with its TVL soaring to over $158 million. The other top players in the Base Blockchain network are Extra Finance, Overnight Finance, and Beefy.
Base would attract a high valuation in an airdrop
These numbers mean that the Base Blockchain would attract a substantially high valuation if it were to have an airdrop. A Polymarket poll places the odds of an airdrop in the first quarter at just 10%.
The best way to estimate the potential market cap of Base is to compare it with other layer-2 networks. Arbitrum, which is smaller than Base, has a market cap of $3.13 billion and a fully diluted valuation of $7.4 billion. Optimism has a market cap of $2.47 billion and an FDV of over $7.8 billion.
Therefore, there is a likelihood that Base would receive an FDV of at least $10 billion were it to launch an airdrop. That would be a big figure for Coinbase, which has a market cap of over $62 billion.
