Base: the Layer 2 run by Coinbase

First, what is a Layer 2?

Ethereum mainnet is secure but expensive and slow (see the Ethereum guide). The idea of a Layer 2 is: execute transactions elsewhere, and hand the books back to Ethereum at the end.

It works like this. A Layer 2 runs its own “small chain” where users transfer and trade quickly and cheaply. Every so often it compresses hundreds or thousands of transactions into a batch and hands it to Ethereum as data. Ethereum does not re-execute these transactions, but it stores all the data and has a way to check whether the “ledger result” the Layer 2 submitted is correct.

There are two ways to check, and they are the main way Layer 2s are classified:

• Optimistic Rollups: the books are assumed correct by default. After submission there is a challenge period (usually 7 days) during which anyone who spots an error can submit a “fraud proof” to overturn it. That is why withdrawing to mainnet through the official bridge of these Layer 2s takes about a week. Base, Arbitrum and Optimism are all in this category.
• ZK Rollups: each submission comes with a mathematical proof (a validity proof) that Ethereum must verify before accepting it. There is no challenge period, so withdrawals are faster, but generating proofs is computationally heavy. zkSync and Linea are in this category.

Where Base came from

Base was incubated by Coinbase and opened to everyone in August 2023. Rather than writing it from scratch, Coinbase used Optimism’s open-source OP Stack and joined the Optimism-led “Superchain” (a group of Layer 2s sharing the same technology). In exchange, Base shares part of its sequencer revenue with the Optimism Collective.

With a US-listed company behind it and users funnelled straight from the Coinbase exchange, Base grew fast: during the 2024 wave of meme coins and social apps, its transaction volume briefly exceeded every other Layer 2.

At the time of writing Base has not issued its own token, and gas is paid in ETH. In 2025 the Base team said publicly that it was exploring a network token, but there is no confirmed plan or date. Treat any coin that claims to be “the official Base token” as fake until proven otherwise.

Who produces blocks: the sequencer

The role on a Layer 2 that “receives transactions, orders them and produces blocks” is called the sequencer. Base currently has one sequencer, run by Coinbase. Measured, it produces a block every 2.00 s.

A single sequencer means it could, in theory, refuse to include certain transactions, or go down and halt the whole chain. Base’s fallback: users can bypass the sequencer and submit a transaction directly on Ethereum mainnet, forcing it into the Layer 2 (with a delay of up to 12 hours).

How L2BEAT rates it

L2BEAT is an independent site that evaluates Layer 2s. It ignores price and hype and asks one question: if the operator misbehaves or disappears, can you still get your money back on your own? The answer comes in three stages (Stage 0 relies most on the operator, Stage 2 comes closest to “code only”), plus five specific risks.

What is on-chain today

Things worth noticing:

• The Layer 2 with the most money: $6.17B locked and $1.5B of 24-hour DEX volume, both the highest among the Layer 2s on this site.
• Stablecoins are mainly USDC: Circle, USDC’s issuer, is closely tied to Coinbase, and Base holds far more USDC than USDT.
• Lending and asset management dominate: lending protocols such as Morpho and Aave, plus “curators” who manage funds for users (Steakhouse, Gauntlet and others).

Strengths and trade-offs

Data and sources

• Live figures: DefiLlama (locked value, stablecoins, DEX, fees), L2BEAT (security stage, five risks, bridged assets) and a public Base node (measured block time).
• Mechanisms are based on the official Base and Optimism documentation and L2BEAT’s project pages.
• This guide is educational and is not investment advice.