Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 network, Base, has fought its way back into the upper ranks of crypto projects, sorted by daily revenue. The network, which launched in August 2023, is once again generating enough fee activity to compete with some of the most established protocols in decentralized finance.
The numbers behind the comeback
According to DeFiLlama, Base recorded approximately $180,000 in 24-hour revenue, mostly from fees burned. That figure puts it back at the top of the revenue-generating protocols tracked by the analytics platform, a tier typically dominated by stablecoin issuers and application layer heavyweights.
Token Terminal paints an even rosier picture. Recent snapshots on that platform showed Base’s daily revenue numbers reaching $3.1 million, up 8.1% in the most recent measurement period. The discrepancy between the two data sources comes down to methodology: DeFiLlama focuses solely on fees burned, while Token Terminal captures a broader definition of protocol revenue, including sequencer fees.
Base has historically been among the top Layer 2 networks in terms of revenue, often surpassing peers such as Arbitrum and Optimism.
Why Base is important in the Layer 2 landscape
Base is built on the OP Stack, the same modular framework that powers Optimism. It was launched as a permissionless Ethereum Layer 2, meaning anyone can build and deploy smart contracts on it without approval from Coinbase or anyone else.
What makes Base unusual is its business origins. It is one of the few major Layer 2 networks directly supported by a publicly traded company. Coinbase, which trades on the Nasdaq, is essentially betting that owning a piece of blockchain infrastructure would be more valuable in the long run than simply operating as an exchange on someone else’s rails.
Stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle consistently occupy the highest revenue positions on the DeFi tracking platforms. Application layer protocols, such as lending platforms and decentralized exchanges, also tend to sit above infrastructure layers.
What this means for investors
Base doesn’t have a native token, so you can’t directly invest in the network’s success like you would buy ARB or OP. But the revenue flowing through Base adds value to Coinbase’s broader ecosystem. Higher base activity means more sequencer revenue for Coinbase and more users potentially flowing through the exchange’s products.
Ecosystem tokens that do benefit from Base’s growth include: $USDCCircle’s stablecoin, which serves as the main stable asset in the entire network. More Basic activity generally means more $USDC demand, which contributes to Circle’s revenue model and, by extension, Coinbase’s partnership economics with Circle.
Base’s advantage is its direct pipeline to Coinbase’s massive user base, estimated at tens of millions.