Base Protocol DeFi Cracks Top 5 as TVL Explodes

• Base has cracked into the top five Layer 2 protocols as it continues to soar in success.
• Coinbase’s second-layer protocol surpassed a Total Value Locked of 2 billion dollars recently.
• Despite Base’s rapid rate of growth, it will need to work hard to stay playing amongst the big players.

Base has continued to shock the industry with its success as one of the fastest-growing layer-2 blockchains, recently replacing Arbitrum for a spot in the top 5.

The news comes after Base surpassed a Total Value Locked (TVL) of 2 billion dollars at the end of September.

The Rise of Base

Launched by U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase last year, Base has become a surprisingly major player in the Ethereum Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

Developed on the OP Stack, Base aims to make the Ethereum blockchain more scalable and efficient.

The Layer-2 protocol focuses on ease of onboarding, faster transactions, lower fees and features a suite of developer-friendly tools.

This had led the platform to rise as a go-to place for many high-profile partners, including Opensea, Uniswap and SeamlessFi.

Major Success for Base Protocol

Created just one year ago, Base has been breaking records and growing at unprecedented speeds.

Base currently has a TVL of $2.49 billion distributed across 366 protocols, cementing itself as one of top five most valued protocols.

The Layer-2 protocol is also leading in other metrics compared to its peers. Base currently has around 1.5 million daily active addresses — the highest activity level across Layer 1 rollups.

Another key to Bases’ success is arguably down to its creator, Jesse Pollack.

Pollack was recently appointed to head up the Coinbase Wallet while maintaining his role at Base, in a strategic effort to bring the two entities even closer together.

“Base and [Coinbase] share the same north star,” Pollock said in a post on X, “make it dead simple for the world to come onchain, and connect everyone who does to the incredible products being built across the entire onchain economy.”

Can Base Maintain Growth?

Despite the protocol’s rapid rate of growth, Base will need to work hard to stay playing amongst the big players.

The DeFi market remains a massively competitive battlefield with constant innovation. Having not stood out as a technological innovator, Base will have to continue to innovate to remain in the top ranks.

As Ethereum, Optimism and other Layer 2 solutions continue to grow, Base may have to do more than just relying on its initial key strengths to sustain its success.