Franklin Templeton, an asset manager and issuer of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, said the Coinbase-nurtured Ethereum layer 2 network base has “hit a home run” at SocialFi, driven by activity from applications such as Friend.Tech.
According to a report from Franklin Templeton on Thursday, Base accounts for approximately 46% of all SocialFi transactions, eating into the market share of Polygon and BNB Chain in the niche. Activity on Base has been boosted by the recent launch of Friend.Tech’s native FRIEND token and the launch of version 2 last week.
Since launching last August, Friend.Tech has made a name for itself as a unique invitation-only networking service that leverages social tokens called “keys” that give users access to exclusive chats and content from creators.
According to DeFiLlama data, Friend.Tech’s total valuation is around $14 million. According to The Block’s pricing page, FRIEND is currently trading at $2.23. It has risen 15% in the last 24 hours, reaching a market capitalization of $208 million.
The combination of Base-based applications and direct integration with Coinbase users means the network is well-positioned to capture a “significant share” of SocialFi activity and remain a leader in the Ethereum Layer 2 sector, Franklin Templeton added.
Social-related transactions by network. Image: Franklin Templeton.
Ethereum Layer 2 Environment
According to The Block’s data dashboard, Base is currently outperforming its competitors in terms of revenue and transactions. Base generated more than 60% ($355,000) of total Layer 2 revenue ($583,000) on Thursday.
Built on top of Optimism’s OP stack, Base’s 7-day moving average daily transaction count is 2.5 million, which is nearly five times higher than Optimism itself as of yesterday and 1 million more than the other major bullish rollup, Arbitrum.
It also leads in terms of transaction count metrics compared to ZK Rollup Layer 2 alternatives.
Memecoin and stablecoins also dominate Base activity.
Franklin Templeton said SocialFi was a “key area” to watch in terms of adoption and growth of Base, but the asset manager attributed the increase in Layer 2 activity to a significant increase in the supply of Memcoin and Circle’s USDC stablecoin. . network.
Native memecoins, including BRETT, DEGEN, and TOSHI, have grown significantly in recent months, reaching market capitalizations of $309 million, $226 million, and $130 million, respectively, according to CoinGecko data. However, a widespread cryptocurrency market correction has resulted in significant declines in token prices since early April.
According to The Block’s data dashboard, USDC supply on Base has surged from about $100 million in December to $2.7 billion now, or about 11% of the supply held on Ethereum, the leading USDC stablecoin network. .
Franklin Templeton attributed the increase in USDC supply at Base to Coinbase’s announcement last December that it would offer free USDC transfers at Layer 2 using Coinbase Wallet.
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