Coinbase started as one of the alternative to the desktop wallets. And then slowly from decentralized to the centralized and then KYC walled wallet they have become. And this means that in near future there would be Binance like ecosystem around their exchange.
They recently started with their own blockchain, which is basically a layer 2 ethereum solution, with name - Base. And they have now aggressively started inviting the projects and the developers to make some dApps and the ecosystem of the apps around the chain.
I wanted to cover variety of the exchanges and their blockchains. So I am starting with the coinbase's Base chain. I am sure you'd find this useful for learning and also to take notes if you're using this for study.
Let's talk about the Base Chain.
Image Credit: Base
Base chain started with the codebase of the Optimism chain. Which is also one of the layer 2 solution of the Ethereum. But they have their own OP stack which is often used by other chains to develop blockchains with specific use case.
Coinbase wanted to do something that is open source, less fee, secure and also something that can be used by others. So they opted for the optimism stack and they are going to develop the chain under the name called - Base. You can even check the official homepage of the Base.
Considering this chain is forked out of the Optimism stack, you'd find all the use cases of the optimism into this chain. Like there is going to be very less fee and also there would be lot of features for the chain that would help extend it for the dApps use case.
Base chain offers interoperability across other chains, which is kind of unique selling point of the optimism stack. You may also see the feature of the cross chain usability and the operability as well. The chain is intended to be used for the dApps, NFTs, games, and the metaverse type apps. This would be probably the case that helps back the exchange.
Enough of the basic pitch for the chain. Let's talk about the real world use case in action. Because we all know that the chain is supposed to be used the right way in the real world. So here are some of the real world use case that have been implemented so far.
Alchemy (web3 developer platform), 0x(financial product), Aave(financial platform) and plenty of others which are known and popular, you can see the entire ecosystem covered by the BASE chain. This doesn't end at this point, there are going to be bridges and the swap points that would make chain more useful.
Currently Base chain is kind of limited to KYC based regions. And so it is difficult to reach out to variety of nations where there is no coinbase presence. However the tools built on the chain are always neutral to the usage. And so we have those tools and less fees as an added advantage. Which is pretty cool to see and observe.
Base chain being a fork of optimism is now a more reliable solution for the projects and the developers who happen to build around the exchange. Like those who want to become the swap and bridge, they would find it useful as they get some foot into the Coinbase platform. Hopefully we expect more innovations from them that cross the borders.
