In a post on X Platform, cryptocurrency research firm Token Terminal revealed that Coinbase’s second-layer blockchain network, Base, currently hosts around 80% of Uniswap’s monthly active traders.
Base launched in August 2023 and began rapidly gaining market share among decentralized exchange (DEX) traders in early 2024. According to data from Token Terminal, it has now replaced the Ethereum mainnet and competing blockchains, including Arbitrum One, another Ethereum layer 2.
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Data shows that Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Polygon previously dominated DEX trading activity. According to L2Beat’s data, Arbitrum remains the largest layer 2 blockchain with a total value locked (TVL) of around $17.2 billion, well ahead of second-place Bayes, which has a TVL of just under $7.2 billion. The L2Beat data is a broad TVL measure that includes native tokens like Arbitrum’s ARB, which was airdropped to users in 2023.
Coinbase developed Base in collaboration with Optimism, another layer 2 Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) using a similar technology stack. Base has since distinguished itself, especially among DEX traders, for its strong performance. As of July 31, Base was processing 42 transactions per second (TPS), according to L2Beat, while Arbitrum One was under 20.
Base also enjoys perks from its partnership with Coinbase, the most popular centralized exchange (CEX) in the United States, including “seamless Coinbase integration, easy fiat on-ramps, and access to millions of verified users in the Coinbase ecosystem,” Base’s documentation states.
According to DefiLlama’s July 31 data, over $250 million in Uniswap TVL has been transferred to Base. Aerodrome Finance, Base’s native asset and identified as “Base’s central liquidity hub,” has amassed nearly $670 million in TVL, according to DeFiLlama.
Base is competing fiercely with Arbitrum for a leading role in decentralized finance (DeFi) among Ethereum layer-2s, and will face additional competition from next-generation layer-2s such as zero-knowledge (zk) rollups in the coming years.
Zk-rollup is designed for faster processing times, near-instant finality for transactions, and improved security. Ethereum L2 Scroll, ZKSync Era, and Starknet are the leaders in the zk-rollup race. According to L2Beat, they have already accumulated over $3 billion in TVL.
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