Author: Zeneca Compiled by: Yangz, Techub News
Translator's note: Driven by the explosive growth of the AI token platform Clanker and Virtuals, the industry's attention to the Base ecosystem has seen a "surge". On November 26th local time, the trading volume on Base skyrocketed, reaching about 11.36 million transactions, the first time the daily trading volume has exceeded 10 million transactions (more than half of which were canceled. Jesse Pollak, the person in charge of the Base protocol, responded that the transactions were canceled due to front-running bots trying to frantically capture MEV, and plans to further expand Base).
In addition, the recent "bombing" of the Solana ecosystem Memecoin leader pump.fun due to a live broadcast incident has shown signs of capital flowing towards ecosystems like Base. Artemis data shows that the on-chain capital inflow to Base has reached $815 million in the past month, ranking first among all chains, while in contrast, Solana's net capital inflow is only $304 million. So, is the Base season coming?
If you've been following me on Twitter recently, you may have noticed that I've been posting more and more about Base. There are many reasons for this, but if I were to write a tweet, it would be too long, so here is a blog post.
In fact, the explosive growth of the Base ecosystem is not a new thing to me. Over a year ago, when Base was first launched, I analyzed it, and if you are unfamiliar with Base, I suggest you read that article. In addition, I also introduced Farcaster earlier this year, and if you are not familiar with it, I also suggest you read it.
In this article, I will elaborate on why I still remain bullish on Base, where my focus is, and how to participate in it. My goal is to provide an ecosystem overview and share some indicators that are making me increasingly confident that the "Base season" is about to come (if it hasn't already).
However, before we dive in, it needs to be said that most of the content covered in this blog post, as well as most of the content currently existing in the cryptocurrency space (especially regarding Memecoins), carries enormous risk and is a huge bubble that will almost certainly collapse. Like everyone else, I'm also trying to trade, and when I think it's topped out, I'll sell my positions. So far, I'm profitable.
Remember, don't be a stubborn "diamond hands" community member, and don't let others persuade you to hold. You have to do what's best for you, and if you make enough money to change your life, sell it, withdraw the money, and truly improve your life. I've been through too much in this industry, so I have to include this disclaimer before going into specifics. The following are my views, which may be wrong, untimely, or have many other reasons. DYOR!
Reason 1: Coinbase is great
Coinbase is one of the largest and most important cryptocurrency exchanges (and companies) in the world. If Coinbase lists a certain Memecoin, Memecoin traders around the world will be delighted. This is because Coinbase provides a convenient token trading channel for "ordinary people" or ordinary cryptocurrency enthusiasts, so they know what it means for a Coinbase listing (usually - an increase!).
Coinbase's mission is to increase the economic freedom of the world and bring 1 billion users into the on-chain world. Undoubtedly, if there are 1 billion blockchain users, Coinbase will be happy for the industry, but it is clear that they are specifically trying to get users to join their own Base chain.
In my view, most people still underestimate the scale of Coinbase's marketing machine and how important a company they are. As the largest exchange in the US, they have been fighting legal and political battles on behalf of the entire cryptocurrency industry.
When the US SEC decided to sue Coinbase last year, it was one of the few rare moments I've experienced in this industry where almost everyone was united behind the same cause, and nothing unites like a common enemy.
Furthermore, Coinbase is also special in that they seem to be a real company with good people from top to bottom. This is not to say that other exchanges are not or cannot be this way, it's just that Coinbase seems to have a particularly good vibe.
Overall, Coinbase is great.
Reason 2: ETH Season is Coming
When it comes to Base, the love-hate relationship with Ethereum cannot be ignored. In my view, the ETH Season is also about to arrive.
I know it's fashionable to bash Ethereum right now, but honestly, I really think it's a minority on CT who are pushing this narrative. Most real Bulls don't spend all day on CT. In fact, every chain gets bashed, but I think Ethereum has been bashed a bit too much. I don't deny that Ethereum has "lost" to Solana in many ways, especially over the past 12-18 months. It's slow, expensive, and its ecosystem seems fragmented compared to all the L2s (and L3s). But Ethereum is still the second largest blockchain by market cap, nearly 4 times the size of the third place chain. On defillama, which tracks 328 blockchains, Ethereum still accounts for over 50% of the TVL.
Ethereum's price performance has basically lagged behind all other coins this year, but I think that's about to change.
This is the ETH/BTC chart over the last 5 years or so. It's clear that Ethereum's performance has not been good in these years! But anyone who understands charts, markets, and investing will tell you that this is the time to buy, not sell.
The time to swap ETH for BTC or SOL was 18-24 months ago. I'm not necessarily saying you should swap BTC or SOL for ETH right now, but it's definitely a better time than it has been in the past few years.
"Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." Yes, I'm quoting that old Buffett wisdom again, but honestly, it's just so accurate and applicable. The best time to buy SOL was during the peak of fear after the FTX collapse, and I admit I missed that opportunity (at least relatively speaking, I got in around $40 SOL).
I've always been a staunch bull on ETH. This may be incomprehensible to short-term traders, but there are reasons why I've stubbornly remained bullish on ETH. Many of the reasons people dislike Ethereum are related to usage friction, such as gas costs and slow transaction speeds. However, L2s have solved many of these problems and are catching up in the areas they were lacking.
Reason 3: Friction is Rapidly Disappearing
One of the reasons for Solana's recent success is their focus on consumer applications and end-user experience. They have made it as frictionless as possible, and it's undeniable that interacting with Solana is much simpler for the average person than with any other mainstream chain. Low fees, fast transactions are one aspect, but the mobile-friendly wallets like Phantom and applications like Moonshot have also had a huge impact on user onboarding.
Add in Memecoins, especially the huge success of pump.fun, and the resulting network effects, and it's no surprise.
But I believe many of these advantages are coming or about to come to Base as well. First, Phantom has announced support for Base.
I can't tell you how many conversations I've heard in dozens of discord/tg chat rooms over the past few weeks: "Oh, my Phantom wallet only has SOL, I don't know how to use Base." In my view, this is just one turning point, and in the future we will see more protocols/applications start to support Base, and more native Base applications will emerge.
Furthermore, many people have developed Ethereum PTSD after the crazy gas days of 2021 and the poor UI/UX of MetaMask. They haven't experienced interacting on Base with wallets like Rabby, Rainbow, Phantom, or Base's own native Coinbase wallet (where any USDC you hold earns a native 4.7% yield).
Reason 4: Investing is Investing in People
When it comes to traditional investment in companies or projects, I believe "investing is investing in people." The excellence of Base is inseparable from the team behind it.
If you want to trade on Base, you can be a fool like me and not use trading bots 90% of the time. However, you can also use bots, and there are already some bots that support Base, and more bots should appear soon. The two most popular bots are BullX and Photon.
The main DEXes for buying and selling tokens on Base are Aerodrome and Uniswap. Personally, I prefer to use the token aggregator LlamaSwap, as it can find the cheapest routes for me and get me the best prices.
The way Virtuals tokens work is a bit different, as all AI agents can only trade using the native VIRTUAL token. The simplest way to trade is through their website, but you can also use LlamaSwap to swap Virtuals tokens, as long as you select KyberSwap as the DEX.
If you want to find a wallet for all Base/EVM tokens, I personally recommend using Rabby, but I've heard that Rainbow Wallet is also very good. Of course, Coinbase also has its own wallet, but to be honest, in terms of functionality, it hasn't quite reached the level of the other two wallets. (Or maybe I'm just too stupid?)
Some thoughts on Solana, Base, and the competition between different chains
I've always thought it's incredibly stupid to view the competition between chains too intensely. Competitors can be friendly, like the US and Canada, or Australia and New Zealand. We can poke fun at each other, like Solana's downtime, Ethereum's high transaction costs, or "Cardano is just Cardano".
At the end of the day, if you're here to make money (I'd guess 99% of people are), then you should keep an open mind, try things out, and go with the flow.
If you're not so much concerned with making money, but more with the future of finance and the future of decentralization and censorship-resistance, then you should stick to your guns.
Among this latter group, you'll find varying degrees of extremism, like BTC maxis who think anything other than Bitcoin is an industry scourge; ETH maxis who think Solana is an industry disgrace; and Solana maxis who think ETH/Base is industry trash. Even within the Bitcoin maxis, there's a split, with some hating ETFs and MicroStrategy, while others are bullish on them.
So no matter where you stand, you'll find a group of people who think you're utterly stupid. That's life, and you can either let it develop, or, like me, just follow the money, follow the builders, follow the attention, and most importantly, follow your own curiosity.
I'd suggest you do the same. The best alpha isn't found by following my curiosity, my articles, or anyone else's - the best alpha is found by following your own curiosity, going down the rabbit hole, and thinking for yourself. That's how it's been, and that's how it will continue to be.
